Personally, I have a lot of things that inspire me to get into the field of nursing, but my main motivation would be my mother. My mother worked as a RN my whole entire life. As a kid, I could see how passionate she was about her field of work, and I quickly realized I wanted to have the same career. By the age of four, I was set on being a RN. My mother worked tirelessly and sometimes around the clock to take care of patients. She moved from a hospital setting to work as a field case manager for a company that helps with workers compensation. I would see her working from the time she got back from medical facilitates with patients to late into the night to help get their paper work straightened out to get the help that they need. Unfortunately, on September 20, 2018 my mom passed away on the job from an Aortic Dissection due to her extremely high blood pressure. I would go with my mom frequently when she went to work and I saw the whole thing happened. The motivation that I had grew exponentially to do what my mom couldn't finish in her career. Before my mom passed, she wanted to expand her nursing career into doing research for different disease like cancer. She wanted to take nursing to a whole other level. A few months before she passed, she graduated from Chamberlin University with her Masters in Nursing. As far as carrying on the same traits as Cindy, my goal is to help people. As nurses, I believe we all aim to help people, but I also believe the way that you help them is impactful. You can find a lot of people who can diagnose and prescribe meds to a patient, but checking in on patients and making sure that they're doing well all together is important. Being someone that truly cares can make a big impact on a person. I want to embody that in my career. Currently, I'm going into my junior year at my local community college and I plan to graduate from there with 3 Associate's Degrees (Public Health, Nursing, Mathematics & Science) and transfer to either a Cal State or a UC in hopes of being admitted into a Nursing program their. After I graduate with my Bachelor's I plan to continue my studies in Nursing. I want to go into a Master's Program for Nursing to advance myself and I feel that I'd be able to help more people this way. I hope to have a life long career in this field and to be a nurse that patients will appreciate.

Having a career in the medical field has sparked my interest from the age of four. My mother worked as a registered nurse my whole life, and I saw how passionate she was about her job. She worked in hospitals and worked as a field case manager in her career. She often took work home with her, as some cases hit close to home. Her main goal was to help people and she ended up going back to school in 2016 to get her Masters Degree in Nursing. She graduated in June 2018 and wasn't able to put her Master's into Nursing. In September of 2018, she passed away on the job unexpectedly. She had big dreams of doing research for companies about diseases like cancer and she also wished to use her degree in the film industry. She wanted to gather information about diseases and formulate diagnoses for different shows like CSI. She was my big inspiration to make a career in the medical field. As I get older, I realize that how much this is becoming something I see is needed. As a nurse, I plan to create a safe environment for the people under my care and to provide for them to the best of my ability. I want to be able to make a positive change. During the height of the pandemic, I saw how much hospitals relied on nurses and I quickly realized that this is what I wanted to help work with. My dad asked me if I wanted to truly pursue this career. He didn't want to lose his daughter in another possible pandemic. I told him that this was my passion, to be on the front lines providing help to people who need it because who else is going to fill that gap? Currently I'm at my community college going into my junior year and I plan to graduate with 3 Associate's Degrees by Summer of 2023 and transfer to either a Cal State or UC to be admitted into their Nursing program. Earlier this year, I was admitted into my schools honor society, Phi Theta Kappa for having a 4.0 GPA (currently have a 3.89 GPA). If I do get this scholarship, it will help me purchase materials for school that I need in terms of textbooks, and it would help with the cost of transportation to school as well. Thank you for awarding me the time to apply to this scholarship.

My experience with mental health used to fluctuate like a roller coaster after my mom passed, but I have my mental health in better control than I used to. Even before my mother passed in 2018, I would find myself in deep sadness, dissatisfied with how my life was moving. It was so stagnant, the same routine every day. I didn't see a real benefit in life because nothing was ever going on. When my mom passed away, I entered a place I didn't even know was possible. An unexplainable sadness, the weeping of my soul, the late nights, always trying to sleep my sadness away. I found myself seriously thinking about overdosing one night and as I walked down my stairs, it felt like God stopped me. "What am I doing?" I couldn't answer that question. That night I asked the Lord to help me. My life did a complete 180. Looking back at that now, I don't think I could let myself get that low no matter what life brings my way. At my worst, I found the Lord, and he gave me something new I had never experienced. Getting up every morning, I thank the Lord for the gift of a day. I know that as long as I have the Lord, everything will be okay. This affected my relationships positively. I was more genuine and didn't put up a fence. I became more outgoing which was something my old introverted self refused to do. I've met some amazing people and they've helped change me for the better. Finding the Lord in my mental health problems has tricked me down into every aspect of my life. I strive to work to my best ability and always put my best foot forward. I was a Junior when my mom passed and that next semester of school, I earned a 4.0. I earned another 4.0 the last semester of my senior year and I hold that same GPA right now in college. I know that I have the full support of my immediate family to back me up in anything I want to pursue. I'm currently planning to transfer to Tuskegee University to major in Nursing and continue on my mom's legacy. She always put her best foot forward and I want to do the same. Now that I have some control over my mental stability, I can manage different emotions as they come. I know that I cannot let myself get too far off. I'm constantly reminding myself of the gifts life has awarded me. The family I have, the opportunity to higher education, a supportive family, great friends, and best of all God. I keep the bible verse Philippians 4:13 at the front of my mind. I know I can do all things when I have Christ on my side, whether that be overcoming overwhelming sadness, frustration, anger, and the trials of life. Through all of this, I've learned that it's good and normal to experience moments of sadness, but it's how you deal with it that changes things. I can't stay sad, mad, or even happy forever. I had to learn to keep my eyes on the positive so that the negative didn't start to define my life.

As a black female in America, I've seen and heard a lot. I've been protected from things because I'm not only female, but I am black. I first learned the word racism in Kindergarten after watching Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have A Dream Speech". Back then, I had no conception of what my race had to struggle through just to have some of basic freedoms and be seen as equal. At age 18, I'm realizing that I still have a lot to learn. Police brutality against unarmed black people has been on the rise in the last 10 years in America. "Can I even walk down the street without my character in question?" Something only a black person could relate to on a personal level. We still don't have equality which never fails to amaze me. Racism still exists in this day and age. At this point we are all human and our skin shouldn't change the way we get treated. All of this has become embedded in who I am today. It's apart of me I can't take away. Being seen as unequal and being treated like so has contributed to the frustration my soul can't let go of. As a someone black in America, it's important that I uplift the members of my community from the battles we face in society today. It's also important that I spread the message on how damaging racism can be. It trickles down into our personal lives, education, and jobs. Having equal opportunity and fair treatment would start to erase the racial disproportion that is seen in all parts of society.

One quote that means a lot to me is Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me". That bible verse stays at the forefront of my mind in all situations I face in life, good or bad. When I have problems in my family life, in school, or my mental health is not the best, I always look to that scripture to help me keep in mind that I will make it through. Ever since I was a kid, my family always surrounded me with that scripture. Whenever I had a rough day my mom would tell me, "remember you can do all things through Christ". As I'm getting older and journeying through life, I see how much I need that scripture. It's a great source of encouragement.

With the pandemic came the gift of quarantine. Over this past year, I’ve had the opportunity to reflect on why and how I do what I do, the driving force behind it all. I’ve questioned what career I want to go into and the medical field always struck a chord with me. Nursing tacks back to my maternal grandmother and many of my family members are nurses. As a kid, I had a keen interest in learning about the human body. Trips to the library to pick up books on the human body filled my summer breaks. In the fifth grade, I was able to recite all twenty-six parts of the heart and even freehand it. Over quarantine, I pondered on the question “what field of medicine will suit my interests the most?” At last, I found my answer. As a teen, I had the gift of my other being a registered nurse. I traveled to work with her daily, so I got to see firsthand the frustrations and the joy that nursing brought. On September 20, 2018, I went to work with my mom like any other day. She fell ill that morning but still went to work. Unfortunately, she had lost consciousness at work and ended up passing away later that day. The last few memories I have of my mom was her working as a nurse. She remained dedicated to the very end at that’s something I found very admirable. Still wondering what field I wanted to go into, I felt like I had a duty to serve my mother going into nursing. She was so caring towards her patients and wouldn’t let her situation dictate how she treated her patients. She was able to create this atmosphere where her patients clicked with her. She was very personable and had a deep desire to ensure the well-being of her patients. Until her dying day, she showed me how to be the best nurse. My mother remains my constant motivation and inspiration to go into nursing. The main goal I have in nursing is to provide the same level of care my mother would provide. From the blood, sweat, and tears, to the long nights working on case reports, she cared about her job. She wouldn’t let her emotions trickle into the room with her patients, but when she came home, you could see it written on her face. You could tell how exhausted she was, but hearing her patients thank her made it worth it to her. From figuring out ways to get her patients to appointments to explain their needs to the doctors, she is what I aspire to be. In her final years, she went back to school to get her master's in Nursing. She showed me that with Christ, all things are possible. She reminded me of that all the time, and that’s what I cling to get me through school. I’m currently enrolled as a freshman at my community college, but I plan to transfer to Tuskegee University this year to go to their nursing program. Being allowed to be a nurse will bring more than meets the eye. Nursing for me is something more than a job, but will bring me the chance of continuing the great legacy my mother left me with.

I want to pursue higher education because I know that it's not readily available to my culture in history. As a black woman in America, I understand that we had to fight for equality and are still struggling to be seen as equal. Something as important as higher education wasn't something we had access to, but thankfully in this generation so many of us do. I want to pursue higher education to do what's most fulfilling to me. In 2018, my mom passed away and she was my rock, the person I knew I could go to anything for. She was a nurse and right now, that's the most practical field for me to go into. There's always a spot open for nurses. As a child, I had an extreme hunger for learning about the human body. In the fifth grade, I knew all 26 parts of the heart by name. I drew the human heart so many times, I can practically freehand it. I know that with nursing, I'll be able to put my knowledge about the human body into action to help other people. I come from a family of people in the medical field, but I'm keen on Nursing. I'm currently a freshman in college, and I plan to transfer out of state to a university to get my degree in Nursing. I know that higher education is the format that I'll need to propel myself into nursing. I currently am not participating in any extracurriculars, but I love to research theology and science in my free time. I enjoy seeing how science meshes with my Christian faith and writing about my findings. The theory of general relativity, the law of causality, and the big bang theory are some of my favorites topics to study. I like to line them up and see how they prove God's existence. It's something very fascinating to me. When I look at what I'm truly passionate about, I always find myself turning back to the medical field and writing based around theology/science. I'm planning out how I'm going to go to school for biblical studies so that I'll have some credibility in my writing. Funny enough, my mother's side of the family had the gift of scribe, so you could say writing is a skill that's been passed down. I use writing as my creative and emotional outlet. If you ask anybody, I'm more fluent in the language of writing than I am speaking. I can articulate a different set of emotions through writing, making it very therapeutic for me. If I could make enough money to live life comfortably as a writer, I would do it in a heartbeat. The medical field has always been a topic that brings up excitement for me, so I could see myself going into that full time. I have other passions which include the composition of both music and dance, but I find myself always planning for Nursing and bible school. Through both writing and nursing, I know that I'll have the ability to affect many lives positively so that's a big plus for me. I'll be able to live out what I'm most passionate about and that's what's most important to me.

With the pandemic, quarantine forced me to look inward and work on self-improvement. I realized how much I needed God as well. Before I moved away to college, I wanted to make sure that I was as prepared as possible, both mentally and spiritually. I realized how messed up I was. I began to start working through some of the things that made me depressed and went straight to their root. I learned that I have trouble communicating how I feel at times because I don't like hurting anyone's feelings. Instead of talking openly about something I don't feel is right, I'll hide my feelings and that creates so many more issues. It's like a domino effect. I try to be more open with the people closest to me because I don't have anything I need to hide from them. I can't mope around complaining about not being heard when I'm not communicating issues in the first place. I also realized that to overcome this irrational fear of communication, I would have to lean on the Lord. I began to be in my word and I pray more now than ever. I forgot that Philippians 4:13 says that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Whenever I feel scared, I lean on that word. Communication is an important tool that we all need to use at some point and time. Learning how to communicate effectively will only propel me on to better things in the future. It will not only help me in my relationships, but also in the workplace and in society. Even if things are going well, you still have to be able to communicate things that are important to you.

In the future, I plan to graduate from Tuskegee University with a degree in Nursing. I have a whole line of nurses on my mom's side of the family so I plan to continue that on. Currently, I'm in the process of taking classes at my local community college to transfer to Tuskegee University. After graduating, I hope to go on to provide care for individuals who need it. That's my main goal in life. As a kid, I always wanted to grow up to help people in any way, shape, or form. The medical field seems like the most practical and easiest way to do that. I also want to dabble in writing and maybe even get my degree in biblical studies. I feel like these two paths are the ones that are cut out for me and what excite me the most. The potential I know society has is what makes me excited about this world. I feel like everybody was born with a specific purpose, and if these purposes get lived out, so many people would be impacted positively. I plan to give back to others by living out my God-given purpose. In a field like nursing, you can be put in the position to care for someone's life. The care nurses provide their patients affects them directly and that makes the field so much more meaningful. As far as potential writing may go, I want to write about Christ and what he's done for me. Spreading my testimony might help the next person dealing with some of the same trials as me. My mom passed away on September 20, 2018, and God changed my life in a split second. He came through and was there for me when I needed it. To help somebody else realize the power God has would be the ultimate way to give back.

In the first semester of my junior year of high school, my mother passed away unexpectedly and it crushed me. She was my best friend and ultimate motivator and in the blink of an eye, I lost it. "Ma, I have your purse" was the last thing I said to my mom, but I had so much more. I didn't get the chance to say goodbye and that affected me for months after she had passed. I went through a deep depression after she died and I contemplated suicide because my days were filled with crying myself to sleep. My mom and I were like two peas in a pod. I went everywhere with her and she was the parent I could do almost anything in front of. Months before she passed, she told me when she did pass, to move on my life and to live it for the Lord. In the months after her death, it was hard to live that out, because I couldn't grasp the idea that she did die. After realizing that I had lost hope in everything, I turned to the Lord one night, and my life changed forever. It was the Lord who brought me out of that trial. My mom always encouraged me to get to know God for myself, but the need for that didn't kick in until after her passing. I didn't realize my need for him until after my mom died. To be completely honest, keeping God first helped me more than I thought it would. I stayed on track in school. I didn't hang out with the wrong crowd because I kept in constant contact with the Lord. If I was struggling with sadness or frustration, I'd talk to my dad or stepmom about it and they always led me back on the right track. My family was always there as my support and always touching base with them kept me focused on my end goal. I have constant motivation from my mom and the rest of my family to keep pushing through regardless of the trials. I ended up bouncing back in school in the second semester of my junior year. I had a 4.0 GPA for the first time in high school and continued to do so in my senior year. I'm currently attending a community college due to the pandemic, but I'm still pushing a 4.0 there as well. I've been accepted to Tuskegee University where I plan to transfer in the Fall of this year. I owe all of that to the Lord and what he's allowed me to go through. I work harder and I always have a goal I'm trying to meet, whether it be academic or something I want to do in my life. At Tuskegee, I plan to go into their Nursing program and continue the nursing legacy on my mom's side of the family. My mom showed that I can truly do all things through Christ who strengthens me and I will hold on to that until my last breath.

In the first semester of my junior year of high school, my mother passed away unexpectedly and it crushed me. She was my best friend and ultimate motivator and in the blink of an eye, I lost it. "Ma, I have your purse" was the last thing I said to my mom, but I had so much more. I didn't get the chance to say goodbye and that affected me for months after she had passed. I went through a deep depression after she died and I contemplated suicide because my days were filled with crying myself to sleep. My mom and I were like two peas in a pod. I went everywhere with her and she was the parent I could do almost anything in front of. Months before she passed, she told me when she did pass, to move on my life and to live it for the Lord. In the months after her death, it was hard to live that out, because I couldn't grasp the idea that she did die. After realizing that I had lost hope in everything, I turned to the Lord one night, and my life changed forever. It was the Lord who brought me out of that trial. My mom always encouraged me to get to know God for myself, but the need for that didn't kick in until after her passing. I didn't realize my need for him until after my mom died. That experience keeps me motivated and focused now more than ever. I have constant motivation from my mom and the rest of my family to keep pushing through regardless of the trials. I ended up bouncing back in school in the second semester of my junior year. I had a 4.0 GPA for the first time in high school and continued to do so in my senior year. I'm currently attending a community college due to the pandemic, but I'm still pushing a 4.0 there as well. I've been accepted to Tuskegee University where I plan to transfer in the Fall of this year. I owe all of that to the Lord and what he's allowed me to go through. I work harder and I always have a goal I'm trying to meet, whether it be academic or something I want to do in my life. At Tuskegee, I plan to go into their Nursing program and continue the nursing legacy on my mom's side of the family. My mom showed that I can truly do all things through Christ who strengthens me and I will hold on to that until my last breath.