Clayton James Miller Scholarship

Since birth, I have been immersed in the healthcare world, including the countless nights visiting my father in the fire station, hearing stories of emergency medical crises at family dinners, and playing doctor to my stuffed animals. Naturally, this special interest continued to develop through childhood as I spent time interviewing medical professionals about their jobs and lives, taking many of the volunteer opportunities that had to do with patient care. In high school, I began to refine my career interests through shadowing and occupying my summer in the local hospital. The goal of this volunteer experience was to fill paid indirect patient care positions in the off-season. Following a selective application process, I completed an interview and training session before being matched into a position on account of student strengths. After a few days of training, I was instructed to transport patients to and from life-saving surgeries. Observing the raw emotions that patients and their loved ones experienced demonstrated to me the impact of interactions in the hospital, especially positive ones. A quick smile from a patient led me to feel that I had made a difference, even if it was small. The hours I spent learning to follow the commands of senior staff provided a glimpse into the many hours of shadowing and clinicals I would complete in nursing school. Watching, interacting, and learning about the thousands of employees required to keep the hospital functioning was an eye-opening experience for me. In my spare time, I learned to ask questions about work-life balance, stress, and rewards of certain careers. Toward the end of the summer, I spent time reassuring a husband that his wife was in good hands during her surgery. She had recently been diagnosed with a form of cancer, and the procedure was taking much longer than expected. As I waited for my ride home to arrive, the man approached me and thanked me for my patience and support that day. The way those words touched my heart reassured me that healthcare, while demanding, was a career for me. At that time, I was completely unaware that I would return to that hospital as a patient. Seeing familiar faces and understanding the emotion and effort put into my own fluid resuscitation allowed me to put complete faith in the staff. Most importantly, it allowed me to experience respect and gratitude like never before. The opportunity to begin my journey into the healthcare workforce truly reshaped my perspective on the meaning of nursing, and for that reason, I will mark it as one of my most impactful experiences.