Changing Roles: Haylee Booms Smith Transitions from ICU Nurse to Full-Time Wife and Mother
Written by Doug Goodnough
Haylee Booms Smith, ’17, was used to changing roles as a member of the Hillsdale College volleyball program. Early in her career, she contributed as a middle hitter on the Chargers’ squad that made it to the NCAA Division II Sweet 16 in 2012. As a junior and senior, she was asked to move to outside hitter, where she earned all-conference honors in 2014.
After graduating, she continued to change roles. She returned to school to complete her nursing degree and eventually served as an ICU nurse at Hillsdale Hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, she is a wife and mother of three young children as her husband completes divinity school in the Los Angeles area.
“That was a big culture shock,” Smith said of her family’s transition from Hillsdale to California. “L.A. is very much the opposite (of Hillsdale).”
However, her husband, Rhett, ’17, a former Chargers basketball player, is working toward his divinity degree at The Master’s University and Seminary, which is affiliated with Grace Community Church and led by nationally known evangelist and pastor John MacArthur. She said they lean on their faith and the Grace church family to adjust to life in California.
“Our church is kind of a big bubble,” she said. “We’re really plugged in at the church.”
A Spanish major at Hillsdale, Smith originally thought of attending medical school. She decided on nursing and was part of the first BSN graduating class at Spring Arbor University in 2020. She graduated right as the pandemic was ramping up, so she immediately put her nursing degree to use at the Hillsdale Hospital.
“It honestly was great for me, because I got to work. I got to be trained,” she said. “There’s never a time of just waiting around and not having anything to do. It’s just being thrown right into it. And the nurses at Hillsdale are great. I learned a ton from them. I felt like I was really serving my community.”
After the couple’s first child was born, she decided to step away from nursing, and the family moved to Los Angeles in 2021 so her husband could attend school. Smith said she eventually will return to nursing when her children are a little bit older, but for now, she enjoys her full-time role as a wife and mother. The couple has a son, Ransom, 3; a daughter, Salem, 2; and a two-month-old son, Silas.
“They’re all great kids,” she said. “They definitely keep us busy. I’m thankful that we are out in L.A. during this time when my husband is in school because there are so many people from our church we can get together with. L.A. has so much to do, whether it’s outdoors or museums.”
Still ninth place in career blocks for the Chargers, Smith said she fondly remembers her volleyball career, especially Head Coach Chris Gravel.
“He does such a great job of training his athletes not only on the court, but also off the court,” said Smith, who served as an assistant coach one year under Gravel after her playing days were over. “He was training us to be volleyball players, but more importantly, he was training us to be well-mannered human beings. He really invested in us as people. He would put the end goal out there, but then help us and try to lead us along so that we were doing the work and learning on our own.”
The Marysville, Michigan, native said volleyball brought her to Hillsdale, but once on campus, she realized how special a place it was.
“I committed to Hillsdale for the volleyball team, but then once I got there, I just loved the school and everything it stands for,” Smith said. “They’re just really great people, and they all want to succeed. I loved my time at Hillsdale, and there are a lot of people out here in our church circle who know Hillsdale. We always speak very highly of it.”
Doug Goodnough, ’90, is Hillsdale’s director of Alumni Marketing. He enjoys connecting with fellow alumni in new and wonderful ways.
Published in December 2023