Julia Hejl

Dear Mr. Shirley, I wanted to express my gratitude for your generous Nancy B. Shirley Memorial scholarship for nursing majors. It means a lot to me and will help me in my endeavors to become a pediatric critical care nurse. I am entering my last year of school at Northern Arizona University's College of Nursing, pursuing a double degree in Nursing and Spanish. This scholarship will help me focus on my studies and learn everything I can to be a great nurse. I hope to give back to others and make a positive impact in my community as you have given to me and others pursuing a career in nursing. Thank you again for helping me in my journey to become a nurse. I am honored and so appreciative to be a recipient of this scholarship. Sincerely, Julia Hejl

Shiella Alvarez

First and foremost, thank you for this life-changing opportunity for me to alleviate some financial burden with school. I have to admit, after going to school for two years, getting my ADN, and then passing my NCLEX, I thought I was untouchable. I knew I had my BSN program in the Fall of 2023 to continue my education, and I was set with a per-diem job to support my husband as I continued with school. To my surprise, the per diem position did not guarantee a paycheck every two weeks, and I quickly started to look for a part-time position in the hospital. After a few months of job searching, I lost sight of my goal. I felt defeated as I thought getting my RN license would solve everything. Then I woke up to this news, which pushed me to refocus. Thank you for my second wind at success. I truly appreciate this kind gesture and will continue to keep my eye on the prize.