I’m a Sophomore at Wallace State Community College in Hanceville majoring in Nursing. I graduated from high school back in 2011 and went on to attend college at the University of Montevallo. I knew I always wanted to be in healthcare from a little girl but let others influence me into majoring in teaching due to being pressed into scholarship associated with it. I hated it and changed to different majors trying to find something I loved. Nothing stood out to me and it led me into depression. This ultimately resulted in me failing out of the University of Montevallo and having to move back home. I tried to pick up the pieces and landed a PCT job I was led back to healthcare. I attended two nursing programs and did not progress because of financial issues and a bad car accident. I felt defeated and fought my way back and came to Wallace State and graduated with Respiratory Therapy. After graduating I received my certification in CRT and RRT. The one person that got me interested in the health field was my mother. Before my mother got pregnant with me, she was in nursing school but unfortunately after starting she had to withdraw because of her pregnancy. That didn’t stop her, and she was a caretaker who went into homes and helped the elderly. Watching her work and help others and love her job motivated me to want to go back to school to help others. My mother gave up a lot to take care of me as a single mother and my number one goal is to make her proud and finish what she didn’t get to. My mother passed away this past November from surgical complications linked to heart failure. I watched my mom pass and the negligence of nurses who didn’t know what to and it also fueled my fire to do nursing and become a competent nurse. I don’t want any families to experience what I experience. My plan after graduating is to go on to 4-year university to get my bachelor’s and master’s in nursing. I want to become a nurse practitioner and specialize in pulmonary to use both backgrounds. I would love to also hold health summits in my hometown and surrounding areas and educate them on their health and preventing respiratory diseases. More importantly, help others to get better and save lives. I have an uncle who has COPD, and I just don’t think he understands the importance of taking care of himself. My mother was recently diagnosed before her death with CHF which contributed to her death. People with these diseases need to be educated more and know the importance of managing their diseases and the disease process. I have had to cut back on working to manage to be in nursing school. I have no financial aid left to help offset the cost of school. With being in school so long and unfortunately not finding my purpose too late I have no aid left. Nursing school is expensive, and I will have to try to juggle working and school to manage to pay for it. With my mom passing, I was left with expenses from her funeral because her life insurance didn’t cover the whole cost. My mother also was a major contributor to my grandmother and uncles. My grandmother has dementia, and my uncles have various health issues. Getting this scholarship would help me to continue school. I could continue to help support my family and have one less worry.

I’m a second-semester nursing student at Wallace State Community College in Hanceville, AL. I’m currently a registered respiratory therapist with two years of experience and also have six years plus of experience as being CNA/PCT. It has always been a dream to go back to school for nursing but God had a different path for me to take to that dream. I began my undergraduate career as an education major with the thought I would teach. Part of me knew I wanted to do something to help give back and help others. I tried it but it just never clicked for me and actually, I became very depressed because I didn’t feel fulfilled. I left school and took a break which lead me to the hospital. I tried to be PCT and couldn’t immediately get a job so I started as housekeeping and worked hard till I was able to impress the managers and get a job as PCT. I worked as PCT and got my CNA license. I returned to school and took classes in nursing. I got into nursing school but ended up having financial issues and got into a bad car accident and lost my car and job. I got discouraged and took classes to raise my GPA. After working more, I was introduced to respiratory therapy applied to school attended and graduated in 2021. I have been working since but knew I wanted to learn and do more. Got into a mobility program in August 2022 but tragically lost my mom in November 2022 due to complications of surgery. I was an only child and the only one capable of pulling off a funeral. My mom was responsible for my grandmother and uncles so I had to pause school to take care of them and bury my mom. Returned in January 2023 and finished this first semester strong with B working full-time, managing my bills, and taking up responsibility my mom covered. My mom was a nursing major before having me but had to put her plans on hold to raise me as a single parent. My mom never got to live out her dream as a nurse but worked as a caretaker till her death. She prided herself in helping others and was a very selfless person. She is my main motivation for wanting to be a nurse. I also unfortunately watched her take her last breath and code. What made it worst was watching the nurses freeze up and I have to be one of the ones to call the code. This fueled my fire, even more, to want to be a nurse but not only a good nurse but be able to critically think in the hardest and life-or-death situations. I want to go on to work in ICU, where I would be able to bring my respiratory experience and experience with the vent. In ICU, you need to be able to be familiar with the vent because a lot of the time patients are ventilated through the ventilator. I bring in the experience of managing ETT tubes and being in ICU settings as a respiratory therapist. As continue to go through school, I make sure to devote the time and extra time to prepare. I keep my eyes open and use my strengths but also understand my weaknesses and where I have room to learn. With the help of this scholarship, I can continue on with my education. I am currently maxed out on financial aid and everything is on me to pay for school and support my family.

I am 30 years old Freshman at Wallace State Community College in Hanceville, AL with a major in Nursing. I graduated from high school back in 2011 and went on to college at the University of Montevallo. I knew I always wanted to be in healthcare from a little girl but listening to others I majored in teaching due to being pressed into a scholarship associated with it. I absolutely hated it and changed to different specialties which lead me to depression. I was at the point I stopped going to class and stayed in the house because I didn’t feel fulfilled. This ultimately resulted in me failing out of the University of Montevallo and having to move back home. After leaving and getting a job as PCT I went back to what I loved. I attend two nursing programs and did not progress because of financial issues and a bad car accident. I felt defeated and fought my way back and got into Respiratory Therapy school and graduated. 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 gave me the motivation. 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. 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 grow into other states 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 just want to help with the healthcare field to bring all divisions together and educate others about different disease processes. I may save someone from preventable loss and diseases. The loss of my mother made me want to help others and carry on with what she did. I feel like God called me to help in the way I know I can.

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. There are two other major keys I want to be able to help in healthcare and for the better of patients is helping with RN and RT relationship and education. 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 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 grow into other states 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 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. My mother took care of my grandmother who has dementia and my uncles who have various health issues. This would help not only my family but be able to achieve my goal of reaching others and educating them.

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. There are two other major keys I want to be able to help in healthcare and for the better of patients is helping with RN and RT relationship and education. 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 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 grow into other states 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 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. My mother took care of my grandmother who has dementia and my uncles who have various health issues. This would help not only my family but be able to achieve my goal of reaching others and educating them.

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. There are two other major keys I want to be able to help in healthcare and for the better of patients is helping with RN and RT relationship and education. 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 grow into other states 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. My mother took care of my grandmother who has dementia and my uncles who have various health issues and can’t work and need reminders about appointments and help financially because they can’t work. This would help not only my family but be able to achieve my goal of reaching others and educating them.

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 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 30 years old Freshman here at Wallace State with a major in Nursing. I graduated from high school back in 2011 and went on to college at the University of Montevallo. I knew I always wanted to be in healthcare from a little girl but let others influence me into majoring in teaching due to being pressed into scholarship associated with it. I hated it and changed to different specialties which lead me to depression. This ultimately resulted in me failing out of the University of Montevallo and having to move back home. After getting a PCT job I was led back to healthcare. I attend two nursing programs and did not progress because of financial issues and a bad car accident. I felt defeated and fought my way back and came to Wallace State and graduated with Respiratory Therapy. It has always been a 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. It is for the better of the patient that the team works 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.

I am 30 years old Freshman here at Wallace State with a major in Nursing. I graduated from high school back in 2011 and went on to college at the University of Montevallo. I knew I always wanted to be in healthcare from a little girl but let others influence me into majoring in teaching due to being pressed into scholarship associated with it. I absolutely hated it and changed to different specialties which lead me to depression. This ultimately resulted in me failing out of the University of Montevallo and having to move back home. After getting a PCT job I was led back to healthcare. I attend two nursing programs and did not progress because of financial issues and a bad car accident. I felt defeated and fought my way back and came to Wallace State and graduated with Respiratory Therapy. It has always been a 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. My plan after graduating is to go on to 4-year university to get my bachelor’s and master’s in nursing. 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 want to become a nurse practitioner and specialize in pulmonary to use both backgrounds. I would love to also hold health summits in my hometown and surrounding areas and educate them on their health and preventing respiratory diseases. I have an uncle that has COPD and struggling. My mother was diagnosed with CHF before her death which contributed to her 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. With the help of the scholarships available here, I could focus more on school and be able to back off work. I have now had to take on the responsibility of covering the cost of my mother’s funeral and the family expenses that my mother covered. I have no financial aid left to help offset the cost of school, no help from family, and no current scholarships

I'm 30-year-old a non-traditional student at Wallace State Community in Hanceville, AL with a major in Nursing. I have been working in the medical field since 2015 and got my certification as Nursing Assistant in 2016 and obtained my registered respiratory therapist certification in 2021. I have experience in settings: nursing homes, rehab, ICU, and L-Tach. It has always been a dream to go back to school to do nursing. I feel like God took me down a different path that led me to respiratory therapy. I currently work as Respiratory Therapist at LTACH. 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. That didn’t stop her, and she is a caretaker in goes into homes and helps the elderly. Watching her work and help others and love her job motivated me to want to go back to school to help others. 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 will continue to work as a respiratory therapist as I pursue my dream. 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. Within ten years, I want to go back and get my Nurse Practitioner and specialty in Pulmonology. I 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, and I just don’t think he gets the importance of taking care of himself. 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, in 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. With the help of the scholarships available here, I could focus more on school and be able to back off work. Getting this scholarship would get me one step closer to my goals and focus on completing coursework.

I'm sophomore here at Wallace State with a major in Nursing. I have been working in the medical field since 2015 and got my certification as Nursing Assistant in 2016 and I’m RRT 2021. I have experience in settings: nursing homes, rehab, ICU, and L-Tach. It has always been a dream to go back to school to do nursing. I feel like God took me down a different path that led me to respiratory therapy. I currently working as Respiratory Therapist in NICU. My plans at Wallace this fall are to pursue nursing through the mobility program RT-RN program. I will continue to work as a respiratory therapist as I pursue my dream. 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 especially in hospitals in Alabama. I want to go back and get my Nurse Practitioner and specialties in Pulmonology. I want to contribute my knowledge and educate people about a respiratory disease like COPD 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, and I just don’t think he gets the importance of taking care of himself. It saddens me because I see the disease can cause long-term issues and death. My mother also has just recently been diagnosed with CHF and needs help with treatment. 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 can impact the community by education through my knowledge with both career paths. With the help of the scholarship, I can focus more on my studies because I won't have to work as much. I have no financial aid left and could use the help.

I'm sophomore here at Wallace State with a major in Nursing. I have been working in the medical field since 2015 and got my certification as Nursing Assistant in 2016 and I’m RRT 2021. I have experience in settings: nursing homes, rehab, ICU, and L-Tach. It has always been a dream to go back to school to do nursing. I feel like God took me down a different path that led me to respiratory therapy. I currently working as Respiratory Therapist in NICU. My plans at Wallace this fall are to pursue nursing through the mobility program RT-RN program. I will continue to work as a respiratory therapist as I pursue my dream. 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. Within ten years, I want to go back and get my Nurse Practitioner and specialties in Pulmonology. I want to contribute my knowledge and educate people about a respiratory diseases like COPD 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, and I just don’t think he gets the importance of taking care of himself. It saddens me because I see the disease can cause long-term issues and death. My mother also has just recently been diagnosed with CHF and needs help with treatment. 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. The one person that got me interested in the health field was my mother. Before my mother got pregnant with me, she was in nursing school but unfortunately after starting she had to withdraw because of her pregnancy. That didn’t stop her, and she is a caretaker in goes into homes and helps the elderly. Watching her work and help others and love her job motivated me to want to go back to school to help others. My mother gave up a lot to take care of me as a single mother and my number one goal is to make her proud and give her this degree. Another big motivator has been my job and watching the lives that have been saved and the people that have been helped. I want to learn more and be able to bring my RT experience to nursing. My goal would be to be a nurse practitioner and specialize in pulmonary. With the help of the scholarships available here, I could focus more on school and be able to back off work. I will have to cut back on working and I still must manage a household. I have no financial aid left to help offset the cost of school. Getting this scholarship would get me one step closer to my goals.