Jase Davidsaver RN Memorial Scholarship

When I was six years old, I was raped by my cousin, it wasn’t something that was a one time, it happened a consecutive number of times nor was it my first time being raped. It was something that I struggled with a lot growing up because I felt I had nobody to talk to and I didn’t want to tell my family, so it was a secret that ate me up inside. I became very shy and antisocial because I felt like I was the only person that could help me. Over the years I started to learn to live with what happened to me, but I pushed it to the back of my mind and tried to not think about it. When I hit 16, I started to become more aware of the things I should do since I was raped, which one being getting tested for STD’s. I opened up to my nurse about it and she was very supportive helping through the process and comforting me in a way I didn’t know I needed till then. I knew I wanted to be a nurse growing up and I took classes in high school that correspond with the nursing field such as biomedical, but at this moment, my decision was set in stone because of my nurse. I knew that the way she comforted me, I could do that for someone else that had been in the same predicament as me, and maybe I’m not able to help every single rape victim out there, but if I could just give comfort to one I would be more than grateful because I know how it is trying to hold yourself together by yourself after a traumatic event like that. Which that doesn’t only include rape victims that includes anyone that has gone through something or someone that just needs that comfort because a good nurse could change the perspective of a patient in the best way. The traumatic event I had to go through really changed the course of my life, also what I want to do with my life. My career goal is to become a forensic nurse and I do feel like that stems from my rape, but I would love to help and give patients comfort and care because that’s something I never got when I had to go through the same experience as them.