Jenna Potratz '24 pursues physician assistant studies following time at Concordia Nebraska

Seward, NE (02/09/2026) — Jenna Potratz '24 grew up in Seward and both of her parents and oldest brother attended Concordia University, Nebraska.

"I have always known about Concordia," she said "When I was choosing a college, I knew I wanted to go to a smaller school where I could grow in my faith. I knew from hearing about the experiences that both my parents and my brother had at Concordia Nebraska, it would be a great fit for me"

She has a bachelor of science in biology with minor in chemistry from the university.

"My favorite thing about my Concordia experience was the people I met at Concordia. The friends that I made at the university are truly some of my best friends, and I still talk to them quite often even though many of them live in different parts of the country," she said. "The professors, classmates and friends I met at Concordia helped me grow in my faith and as a person. I also loved my experience in the A Cappella choir, where I had the opportunity to go on two tours, one through the Midwest and one through the eastern United States."

Following graduation, Potratz worked as a certified nursing assistant at Madonna Rehabilitation Hospitals while she applied for physician assistant school. She began PA school at University of Nebraska Medical Center August 2025.

"Concordia is blessed with fantastic natural sciences professors. Not only did they prepare me well for my career through their classes, but they also taught their classes through a Christian lens, which helped me to learn what it means to live out my Christian faith in my various vocations," she explained. "Mr. Dr. Jurchen would often talk to students during lab periods and ask what their goals for the future were and would always give us advice and encouragement when we told him. For every professor, it was always clear that they truly cared about my education and wanted to see me succeed in my future."

She said the foundational knowledge she received from her classes at Concordia Nebraska helped prepare her for the rigor of PA school.

"Not only did the content of my classes prepare me well, but having the opportunity to have on campus jobs like working in the athletic training room and serving as an RA helped me learn how to manage my time well between classes and other commitments.

Potratz expects to graduate from PA school in December 2027. She said it can be easy to get overwhelmed by the amount of content she gets to learn, but it is very fulfilling to know that what she is learning now will be used to help her future patients. When she's not focusing on school, you'll find Potratz reading, running and spending time with family and friends.

"The first half of my program is training in the classroom through lectures and labs, but the second half is clinical rotations, where I will get to train at different clinical sites in many different specialties. After I graduate, I will take the Physician Assistant National Certifying Exam (PANCE) to become a certified PA," she explained. "Most of my day is in the classroom in a lecture style environment. Outside of my lectures and labs, I spend plenty of time studying for exams over the content that we have learned."

Potratz's father Kevin '93 father works at Memorial Healthcare systems in Seward, Nebraska, as an IT systems administrator and her mother Janelle (Schotte) '92 is a kindergarten teacher at Our Redeemer Lutheran School in Staplehurst, Nebraska. Her oldest brother Zach '22 teaches seventh grade religion and eighth grade history at Lincoln Lutheran. Her other brother Jacob works as a sales engineer at Western Irrigation Supply house in Ulysses, Nebraska, and her younger sister Brianna is a senior at Seward High School.

In addition to preparing her for PA school, Potratz said her time at Concordia Nebraska strengthened her faith.

"Concordia played a big role in helping develop my faith. Concordia is a place where it is easy to have meaningful conversations about faith with peers, faculty and staff, she said. "I found that these conversations challenged me but helped me to grow in my faith. I also tried as best as a could to make it a priority to go to chapel often and Praise on Wednesday evenings. My classes like Faith and Life and Old Testament also helped me realize that there was so much that I did not know about my faith, and that there are still many ways that I can grow in it."

About Concordia University, Nebraska

Concordia University, Nebraska, founded in 1894, is a fully accredited, coeducational university of The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod located in Seward, Nebraska, which currently serves more than 1,700 students. Concordia offers more than 100 undergraduate, graduate and professional programs in an excellent academic and Christ-centered community that equips men and women for lives of learning, service and leadership in the church and world. For more information, visit cune.edu.

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Concordia University, Nebraska

Jenna Potratz '24 pursues physician assistant studies following time at Concordia Nebraska

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