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The Bright Sisters—Shannon and Rosie  by Weslynn Chubb  Public Relations If Sister Sledge ever needed a mascot for their hallmark song, “We Are Family,” Shannon Smith, 37, and Rosie Pinckney, 30, would be the perfect sisters for the job.  The two sisters earned their Bachelor's of Science in Nursing while attending MUSC simultaneously, and today, May 18, they will don their cap and gowns together to receive their Masters of Science in Nursing from the university.  Despite their similar studies, however, Smith and Pinckney took different and quite distinctive paths that eventually led them both to MUSC. With three other sisters as nurses already preceding her, Pinckney graduated from Walterboro High School in 1989 and decided to study nursing based on a  feeling of family camaraderie.  “It was something I planned on, just following my sisters' steps,” Pinckney said on her decision to pursue a degree in nursing.  Shannon Smith Smith's inspiration was of a different source, however. In the same year that Pinckney graduated high school, Smith was diagnosed with ovarian cancer.  Already settled in a full-time career as an accountant, Smith was motivated  to return to school and study nursing by the care she received from the nurses, who reminded her of her original desire to pursue the career.  “After the cancer, I said, 'I've got to go back and do what I really wanted to do in the first place,'” she said.  So in 1989, the sisters, who also refer to themselves by their maiden name of Bright, enrolled in the College of Nursing. During their undergraduate studies, the duo found themselves in many of the same classes, and in 1995, they received their Bachelor's diplomas. Upon returning to study for their master's in 1998, Pinckney decided to study childhood adolescent psychiatry, while Smith focused on adult clinical nursing.  Rosie Pinckney with daughter, Courtney. During their studies, they have both been actively involved in the hospital, as well. Pinckney is employed part-time by a grant for “Think First For Kids,” a national non-profit organization whose mission is to prevent spinal cord and neck injuries  among children. Working as a program  nurse specialist within the chapter at MUSC under the direction of chairperson, Marie Lobo, Ph.D., she trains teachers to effectively teach children about water, park, transportation and other safety topics.  Smith, on the other hand, has been working at MUSC for nine years, where she now works as a staff nurse in Inpatient Digestive Diseases on 10 West.  They were both inducted into Sigma Theta Tau this year, an international nursing honors society.  As for future goals, Pinckney aspires to work with chronically ill children and their families, a desire she attributes to her  personal experiences with her 4-year-old daughter, Courtney, who has Down syndrome. She would also like to pursue a degree in business and open her own daycare for children with special needs.  Smith would like to return to the classroom in a few years and study for her Ph.D. Instead of being the student, she hopes to enter the teaching profession.  Aside from their professional goals and endeavors, they have both been busy with their personal lives, as well. Pinckney gave birth to her second daughter, Jasmine, on April 17, and Smith is busy preparing for the high school graduation of her children, C.J. and Christi.  They are both members of the Bright Trumpeteers, their family singing  group consisting of their other nine sisters and two brothers, who perform at  church functions.  Pinckney and Smith seem to have a knack for hard work and a caring spirit, which is evident in their professional and personal lives. They list caring and patience as the top qualities needed for their profession, and these traits are ones that they claim are inherited.  “When you think about it, it's in our blood,” said Smith.  And indeed, the amazing sisters seem to possess some special quality that  unites them in their family bonds as well as their call to the nursing  profession. The only regret is that the sisters are only about 30 years too  late to sing their song of sisterhood to the famous tune. Their story is one that would make Sister Sledge shake in their platform shoes.