Hello, my name is Akiyah Arnold and I attend Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, Ga. I was accepted into the nursing program here in 2022 and I am currently in the second semester of my junior year. I love the program so far and the way it has challenged me in ways I never knew were possible. The reason I chose nursing is because of my grandmother. For all of my life that I've known, I have been raised by a single parent(my mom) and my grandmother. Whenever my mom was struggling in any way, my grandmother always opened her home to us and raised my sister and me as her own. This was whether we needed a roof over our heads, food in our stomachs, or clothes on our backs. She always made sure we were taken care of. Over the years, my grandmother has had numerous surgeries and her health has been slowly declining. Ever since when I was in high school, she has been more dependent on us to help her with a lot of daily activities. She has many health problems such as Type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and numerous back, hip, and knee surgiers.No one in our entire family has a medical background and I always hated knowing how much she needed us and how little we knew to do outside of what the doctors say. Pursuing this career has always been a dream of mine but knowing that one day I will be able to give back to my grandmother the way she has been so good to me is my biggest motivator. I know this is the right career for me just from going to clinical sites and being able to interact with patients and learning how different people are and knowing that in some way I have made their life just a little better. Just being able to talk to various patients and interact with them regardless of their diagnosis is extremely heartwarming. Another reason why getting my degree is so important is because of the number of people counting on me to succeed. My grandmother constantly calls whenever she can just to check up on me and my grades and to make sure I am still headed on the same track I need to be. She has often even prayed for me at times when I told her it was hard and I wanted to give up. Nursing to me isn't about the money or the different places I get to travel. It is about the many different people I will get to meet and the smile I will have knowing I positively impacted them in some way. This scholarship will help me towards my goal by giving me that financial push i need. Many students obtaining this degree often times don't finish due to the amount of financial stress it puts on them. With this scholarship, it would give me some type of clarity that someone sees me and believes in the change I can one day make.

Hello, my name is Akiyah Arnold and I attend Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, Ga. I was accepted into the nursing program here in 2022 and I am currently in the second semester of my junior year. I love the program so far and the way it has challenged me in ways I never knew were possible. The reason I chose nursing is because of my grandmother. For all of my life that I've known, I have been raised by a single parent(my mom) and my grandmother. Whenever my mom was struggling in any way, my grandmother always opened her home to us and raised my sister and me as her own. This was whether we needed a roof over our heads, food in our stomachs, or clothes on our backs. She always made sure we were taken care of. Over the years, my grandmother has had numerous surgeries and her health has been slowly declining. Ever since when I was in high school, she has been more dependent on us to help her with a lot of daily activities. She has many health problems such as Type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and numerous back, hip, and knee surgiers.No one in our entire family has a medical background and I always hated knowing how much she needed us and how little we knew to do outside of what the doctors say. Pursuing this career has always been a dream of mine but knowing that one day I will be able to give back to my grandmother the way she has been so good to me is my biggest motivator. I know this is the right career for me just from going to clinical sites and being able to interact with patients and learning how different people are and knowing that in some way I have made their life just a little better. Just being able to talk to various patients and interact with them regardless of their diagnosis is extremely heartwarming. Another reason why getting my degree is so important is because of the number of people counting on me to succeed. My grandmother constantly calls whenever she can just to check up on me and my grades and to make sure I am still headed on the same track I need to be. She has often even prayed for me at times when I told her it was hard and I wanted to give up. Nursing to me isn't about the money or the different places I get to travel. It is about the many different people I will get to meet and the smile I will have knowing I positively impacted them in some way.

Hello, my name is Akiyah Arnold and I attend Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, Ga. I was accepted into the nursing program here in 2022 and I am currently in the second semester of my junior year. I love the program so far and the way it has challenged me in ways I never knew were possible. The reason I chose nursing is because of my grandmother. For all of my life that I've known, I have been raised by a single parent(my mom) and my grandmother. Whenever my mom was struggling in any way, my grandmother always opened her home to us and raised my sister and me as her own. This was whether we needed a roof over our heads, food in our stomachs, or clothes on our backs. She always made sure we were taken care of. Over the years, my grandmother has had numerous surgeries and her health has been slowly declining. Ever since when I was in high school, she has been more dependent on us to help her with a lot of daily activities. She has many health problems such as Type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and numerous back, hip, and knee surgiers.No one in our entire family has a medical background and I always hated knowing how much she needed us and how little we knew to do outside of what the doctors say. Pursuing this career has always been a dream of mine but knowing that one day I will be able to give back to my grandmother the way she has been so good to me is my biggest motivator. I know this is the right career for me just from going to clinical sites and being able to interact with patients and learning how different people are and knowing that in some way I have made their life just a little better. Just being able to talk to various patients and interact with them regardless of their diagnosis is extremely heartwarming. Another reason why getting my degree is so important is because of the number of people counting on me to succeed. My grandmother constantly calls whenever she can just to check up on me and my grades and to make sure I am still headed on the same track I need to be. She has often even prayed for me at times when I told her it was hard and I wanted to give up. Nursing to me isn't about the money or the different places I get to travel. It is about the many different people I will get to meet and the smile I will have knowing I positively impacted them in some way.