Jerry Garrett and Starlinne Sullivan Memorial EMS Scholarship

I am 30 years old Freshman here at Wallace State with a major in Nursing. I graduated from Wallace State in May 2021 as Respiratory Therapist. I had a long journey to get to this point, from having to withdraw from nursing school for bad wrecks and the loss of my mom. I felt defeated and fought my way back and came to Wallace State and now I am here to accomplish my dream to go back to school to do nursing. I feel like God took me down a different path that led me back to nursing. My mother was a big key in my desire to major in nursing. Before my mother got pregnant with me, she was in nursing school but unfortunately after starting she had to withdraw because of her pregnancy. Watching her work as a caregiver, while helping others along with her love for the job motivated me. I watched my mother take her last breath, but unfortunately, watching nurses not know what to do also gave me the motivation to be a highly educated and capable nurse. I want to have the knowledge and skills to be able to think critically and fast because people’s lives are in your hands. I want to be able to bring comfort to families to know everything was done to help their family members. After completing the program, I want to work on the floor as a full-time RN and Flexi RRT. Using my knowledge of respiratory and ICU will help and bring me into nursing with an edge up. I will be able to relate to different fields of study. I want to help educate and help with the relationship with RN to RT relationship. Bringing in experience with both I can educate both about the need to work together and how essential we both are. There is some division between the two and I want to help to educate and correct it. I think sometimes they forget we are a team, and we need each other. I would love to educate different hospitals and hold summits to bring the two groups together. I also want to contribute my knowledge and educate people about respiratory diseases like COPD, CHF, and asthma. I would love to have health summits in my hometown and in my home state to educate them on their health and prevent respiratory diseases. More importantly, help others to get better and save lives. I have an uncle that has COPD that is struggling and just doesn’t get the importance of managing the disease. It saddens me because I see the disease can cause long-term issues and death. My mother was diagnosed with CHF before her death in November 2022, which helped lead to her unexpected death. There is just not enough information out there locally or resources for low-income people. People with these diseases need to be educated more and know the importance of managing their diseases and the disease process. I want to help save as many people as possible and educate them. With this scholarship, I could focus on completing the coursework and studying. I have no extra funds due to being maxed out of financial aid along with paying the remaining balance of my mom’s funeral and taking up the responsibility of my family that my mother was handling.

I am an undergraduate student attending community college during the fall semester of 2022. While I was in high school, I was blessed with the opportunity to enroll in Career and Technical Education programs such as JROTC and Health Science: Medical Professions. My greatest aspiration is to pursue a goal in nursing. There are several reasons for my motivation to become a nurse, but I am most motivated by nurses' willingness to go above and beyond for their patients. I choose to seek a career in nursing because I wanted to do something that will challenge me, interests me, and make a difference in people's lives every day. I developed a strong interest in nursing during my internship at the height of the pandemic by witnessing nurses on site involved in a wide array of patient care aspects. I had the opportunity to go around different units of the hospital to view the vast duties and responsibilities that nurses take upon themselves. I was blown away by the dedication and pleasant nature of the hospital nurses, who performed their jobs gracefully and masked their fatigue and burnout with smiles and kindness. It is in my community's best interest for me to pursue a career in nursing because it is rapidly growing with a population of much diversity. As a first-generation Hispanic American, my community needs nurses who can culturally and verbally connect and speak with Hispanic/Latino patients. I want to set an example to my community and be seen as an inspiration for people to join healthcare, especially first-generation Hispanic immigrants. A goal I set for my career is having patients' needs met, this includes but is not limited to patients who may be considered a minority- from immigrants, POC, LBGTQ, Black people, and women. Another goal I aim to achieve in my career is to always remain educated in healthcare. Healthcare is constantly changing, and I believe that a great nurse must remain educated on the subject of healthcare. Lastly, I aspire to provide patient health care excellency throughout my nursing career. I am willing to accomplish this aspiration by not only having character but by impacting patients in a positive way to surpass the care they may have expected. Health care is vital in a patient's life and can determine how stable their life may remain after receiving such care. Assisting patients beyond their needs can aid the patient in improving the conflict that may be restraining them from their own goals.

Recently the phrase “not all heroes wear capes” as been more relatable than ever before. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic the world’s first responders and nurses carried a weight like never before. They went through daily stressors and challenges that finally showed the world the importance of our healthcare workers. Healthcare workers have carried this weight of responsibility longer than these past few years though. Whether caring for newborn babies or dressing a bullet wound, nurses have always been the backbone of our healthcare facilities. My dream is to help others and one day make a mark on the world like so many others have been able to do in the nursing profession. I have always enjoyed learning about human behavior and actions ever since I was very young. I recently began pairing my interest with the knowledge of the human body to learn more about how I can help others. I started in the certified nursing assistant program in my 10th grade year of high school. By my senior year I was able to learn over 25 skills and put my knowledge and training to work at a Veteran’s home. Doing my clinicals at the veteran’s home was the first time that I got to see the impact I made on others. Whether it was aiding a resident in eating or simply walking them to the game room, I was able to put a smile on their face. This is the rewarding part of nursing that is often not talked about. Everyone is quick to talk about the dirty aspects and possible violence, but no one truly knows what being a nurse is all about. At the end of the day the best thing a nurse does is bring joy to a patient in a time of stress. I hope to one day work in the ICU or ER unit of a hospital. This part of the hospital has always drawn me because it is often an area where it is hard to feel hopeful as a patient or family member. I know because I have spent many times in the hospital with my uncle who has had over 5 heart attacks and 2 strokes. His biggest factor in surviving was feeling hopeful, and I know there have been so many good nurses who gave him hope. I wish more than anything to give this hope to those in need and make a positive impact on the world.