Meet three future Knight nurses who were honored among the university’s top-achieving students, making an impact beyond the classroom through research, leadership and community service.
Awardees
- Allyson Crighton, Order of Pegasus
- Abrianna Lalle, Order of Pegasus and Founders’ Day Award
- Ilana Logvinov, Order of Pegasus
Their backgrounds and career goals are unique, but they are driven toward a common calling to care for others in the nursing profession.
This week these three UCF College of Nursing students also shared a stage and spotlight – honored among the university’s best and brightest during the annual Founders’ Day ceremonies.
All three nursing students are among the 56 across UCF to be awarded the Order of Pegasus — the university’s highest student honor recognizing those who are making an impact on the world and have demonstrated exemplary academic achievement, university involvement, leadership and community.
One senior nursing student was also honored with a Founders’ Day Award for exceptional academic performance, leadership, and community.
Meet the College of Nursing awardees below.
Allyson Crighton, Order of Pegasus
Allyson Crighton has made a lasting impact in the UCF community and beyond.
“Receiving the Order of Pegasus means the world to me,” says Crighton, a senior on the Lake Nona campus. “It is truly an honor to be recognized by nursing faculty and university leaders with such a prestigious distinction.”
Crighton has maintained a 3.98 GPA in UCF’s rigorous Traditional BSN program while balancing clinicals, working part-time as an emergency department advanced nurse tech, conducting independent research, leading the Student Nurses’ Association (SNA), and being actively involved in several other university organizations.
“It was important for me to become involved and pursue research,” says Crighton. “I wanted to challenge myself beyond the classroom and make a meaningful impact in healthcare.”
In addition to Order of Pegasus, Crighton has received academic honors and multiple nursing scholarships — many recognizing her academic achievements, research and service.
Within SNA, Crighton was inducted into the national Leadership University Honor Society and helped lead UCF Orlando to its 11th Diamond Chapter Award – the state’s top honor and among the achievements she’s most proud of.
As president, Crighton leads the chapter’s service, advocacy, and student mentorship initiatives — from health fairs and food drives to inspiring high school students and shaping policies to improve patient care.
“To me, SNA at UCF has been a place where purpose meets action and compassion becomes community,” she says.
It’s the moments of connection — the nervous new nursing student she encouraged or gratitude from a community member receiving health education — that mean the most. “Those remind me why I chose nursing: to serve with heart and integrity,” Crighton says.
She was inspired to pursue a nursing degree after witnessing nurses care for her mother when she was hospitalized. That experience also inspired her Honors Undergraduate Thesis.
“I was 10 and felt powerless to help, so I played her favorite song and for a brief moment, a small smile appeared on her face,” Crighton says.
For her independent research, she’s studying music’s effect on agitation, delirium, and anxiety in critically ill patients receiving respiratory support. Her research is exploring evidence-based interventions to address the physical and emotional needs of patients to improve outcomes, reduce sedation, and support holistic well-being.
After graduating this May, Crighton plans to work in a cardiac surgical intensive care unit and continue her education with a graduate degree.
“UCF’s College of Nursing has been the heart of my journey — where knowledge met compassion and service became purpose,” Crighton says.
Abrianna Lalle, Order of Pegasus and Founders’ Day Award
Senior Abrianna Lalle has followed her passion in research and seized opportunities at UCF to empower individuals and improve patient care.
“Receiving this award is an honor that reflects back on not only me, but a whole profession full of hardworking, compassionate nurses who take care of people at their most vulnerable,” Lalle says.
At UCF, while balancing her studies and earning President’s Honor Roll and Dean’s List distinctions, Lalle has played intramural sports, volunteered in service initiatives throughout Central Florida and for nearly two years, has worked as a clinical research associate scholar with Limbitless Solutions.
For Lalle, who has always been interested in science and healthcare, the opportunity was a perfect fit.
“It has allowed me to explore research while gaining experience interacting with patients and it taught me how to advocate for my patients,” she says.
“I quickly found my place alongside amazing research peers. It is also so rewarding to see my direct impact on our bionic families and contribute toward changing the narrative surrounding limb differences,” Lalle says.
As a Limbitless Scholar, Lalle has been involved in IRB-approved research projects, presented research findings at ten conferences, and has a publication currently under review.
Her proudest research moment was this past fall when she presented on the evaluation of multi-gesture control training at the Southern Biomedical Engineering Conference, where she also gained feedback from industry professionals and collaborated with other disciplines.
Lalle has also gained valuable hands-on experience in the College of Nursing’s Traditional BSN program at Lake Nona and will be graduating this August with 765 hours of clinical experience. She credits the rigorous curriculum and clinical experiences with passionate nurse preceptors and educators with preparing her for practice.
“I have so many fundamental memories that will stick with me forever and guide my nursing career,” says Lalle. “I helped a young boy who came into the children’s ER and transformed his experience by taking the time to celebrate his birthday. I comforted a woman as we transferred her husband to hospice care by listening to her fears. I will use each experience to improve my patient care capabilities.”
After graduation, she plans to pursue a position in a NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) or emergency department setting – and plans to continue her research and education to become a nurse practitioner.
“UCF has given me an opportunity to pursue areas of discipline I haven’t explored or considered before,” Lalle says. “I found the perfect fit with nursing as my major, and have explored subtracts such as clinical research and NICU care.”
Ilana Logvinov, Order of Pegasus
Nursing Ph.D. student Ilana Logvinov is advancing nursing science to improve practice and safety and inspiring future generations.
“The Order of Pegasus symbolizes not an endpoint in my academic journey, but the culmination of resilience, curiosity, and commitment to making meaningful change,” Logvinov says.
A first-generation college graduate and Ukrainian immigrant, Logvinov has persevered to overcome many obstacles over her more than 20-year nursing career to get to this moment — a testament to her work ethic and commitment to excellence.
While pursuing her doctoral degree in UCF’s online program for nurse scientists, and maintaining a 4.0 GPA, Logvinov has advanced in her career at the Mayo Clinic in Florida from a research program manager to research scientist. She also serves as an assistant professor of nursing and anesthesiology at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine.
At UCF, Logvinov has been able to broaden her research expertise and pursue innovative scholarship through faculty collaboration and mentorships.
“This foundation enabled me to transform perioperative care for thousands of older adults while elevating UCF’s global reputation in nursing research,” she says.
Her research, which focuses on perioperative care, frailty, and vitality in older adults, has been shared in five peer-reviewed publications, and 12 national and international conferences.
Through her funded research, Logvinov is addressing a critical issue in surgical care: frailty in older adults. She is working on changing perioperative practice to improve surgical safety for older adults at the Mayo Clinic in Florida and beyond. She is also leading a national Delphi study on frailty assessment tools to advance evidence-based surgical care across the U.S.
Her service to the profession extends into leadership roles, serving as a UCF Nursing Ph.D. student representative, a NextGenMed mentor of high school students, an editorial reviewer for more than 20 international journals, and an associate editor for the Journal of PeriAnesthesia Nursing.
For Logvinov, her most meaningful service has been with the Southern Nursing Research Society where she serves as newsletter editor, conference planning committee member, and chair of the student network leadership team to empower emerging nurse scientists across the region.
“These efforts have amplified the student voice within the society and created sustainable pathways for leadership development, scholarly engagement, and regional connectivity,” she says.
For her outstanding contributions, she has earned multiple scholarships, has been named a national Jonas Scholar, and most recently, was inducted as a professional member of the National Academies of Practice.
Logvinov will graduate with her Nursing Ph.D., her second doctoral degree, this spring after successfully defending her dissertation, “Redefining vitality in later life: A multidimensional perspective from older adults.”
While her credentials will change, her commitment to advancing nursing science and mentoring future leaders will remain steadfast.
Article by Julie Harper ’01
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