Empowering Motherhood Scholarship

Whenever someone asks me about myself two words come to mind: mom and nurse. I have been a nurse for almost 9 years. During my time in the healthcare industry I have had the opportunity to care for many different patients. I have cared for NICU babies and their families, laboring mothers and then their newborns, children and their families in outpatient clinics, and students in school ranging from preschool to high school. I have experienced firsthand just how beneficial or detrimental our healthcare system can be. During my time as a nurse one passion has remained constant, mental health. I have seen just how damaging a lack of affordable and accessible mental health care can be. Whether that was the mother of a drug dependent NICU baby, who desperately needed addiction counseling. Or the laboring mother who is going to deliver a baby that passed away in utero, that desperately needs bereavement therapy. Or the middle school student who has been bullied and ostracized for their sexual orientation, who can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel and feels there is no way out. Or the elementary school student who struggles with a mental illness, but whose parents are in denial that anything is wrong. I have seen each and every one of these scenarios. I have seen how the lack of mental health care can devastate an entire family unit. Our mental health system in this country is fatally flawed. There is a lack of providers, a lack of understanding, a lack of support. A stigma still runs rampant in our society. I became a mom in August of 2015. I have always had some anxiety; however, following the birth of my son my anxiety and depression became life changing. I couldn't see the light of motherhood, all I saw was darkness. Through all of my postpartum appointments, I was never asked how I was feeling emotionally, mentally. They checked my stitches and sent me on my way. I wasn't started on treatment until my son was almost a year old. That was a year of his life I feel like I will never get back. My goal is to become a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner so I can help moms to see the light. No mother deserves to be alone in the darkness. I believe I can make a difference in my community. After graduating I will focus my practice on maternal mental health care, with a focus on moms in underserved populations. Everyone deserves to have access to affordable, unbiased healthcare. But even more specifically, everyone deserves access to mental health care. Everyone deserves having someone to listen. Everyone deserves having someone on their team. I want to be that someone. I want to be part of the change. This scholarship would be so meaningful in helping me achieve my goal of becoming a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner. It would allow me to reach and serve the vulnerable individuals in my community. It would help me save lives.