I am 42 and a life-long learner. Like many nurses, I am committed to learning as much as possible so I can better the lives of my patients and their families. I started my BSN while I was working full time and pregnant with my son. I finished it about a year and a half after he was born. I was the first one in my immediate family to complete a bachelor's degree. The more I went to school the more I fell in love with learning. I spent the majority of my nursing career in the Intensive Care Unit. In the ICU, I took the students and new nurses under my wing. I loved teaching and sharing knowledge. I knew I wanted to teach when I was in nursing school clear back in 2001. That dream was realized as I finished my MSN in nursing education in 2015. I started teaching immediately after and loved it. I was driven to complete my Doctor of Nursing Practice and finished that in 2019. I am still teaching undergraduate students and enjoy it very much. But, in my heart I knew I would go back to school for something, again. Even pushing 40, I knew I wanted to keep going. I was actually admitted in 2019 to a post graduate certificate program where I currently teach. However, life happens, my kids are very busy, and I decided it wasn't the right time. A turning point for me was in 2021. I teach a class called "Mission Nursing" and the class culminates with a mission trip to the mountains of Guatemala. I had only been on one mission trip, 11 years prior to Kenya. I had no idea just how much Guatemala would change me. While there, I felt pretty helpless since I was "just a nurse" and not a provider- and my Spanish is subpar. However, I was able to form relationships with those involved in the hospital ministry as well as the citizens of Canilla, Guatemala, who worked side by side with those in ministry. I have since led a couple more trips and went back on one surgical trip as a member and not a leader. In May of 2023, I led my third group of nursing students. It was this trip that I realized I wanted to go back to school. There is minimal mental health and addiction care in Guatemala. I felt a push to get back into the psych mental health program so that one day I could help provide those services in a place I have grown to love. I am about to lead my 5th and 6th trips to Guatemala in 2024 and my perspective has shifted since my first trip. While I strive to be a provider there someday, I am passionate about showing average Iowa students just what it is like to see and experience healthcare in the developing world. These nursing students go down and LEARN. Expanding their minds, their hearts, their grace, their love- it is all done with love- they unlock an entire new level of empathy…empathy that spills over in their day to day, their patient care, their ability to make those who are lost in the shuffle SEEN. This is why I continue to go. I want students to feel for those they are caring for. Someday when I am done with school, I will hopefully be seeing patients in Guatemala. For now, I am pushing forward in both my studies and in teaching and I hope to leave an impact on my students.