My mom had her fair share of struggles as a single parent, but I never felt them as a child. My home was full of love and happiness. I miss the days when all my siblings and I lived in the crowded small house in the middle of downtown Los Angeles. As an adult I have taken responsibility for my mother, she is 76 and retired. There are constant struggles in our house- mom wants to keep the broken things “that still work” and she wants to re-use every margarine tub we finish. Although I love the fact that she is being eco-friendly, my house does not have enough room for all the things she wants to keep. She has a hard time letting go of things that she can still find use for. This is due the scarcity she faced as a child and as a single mother to five children. My mother consistently told me, “con la educacion todo se puede" with education anything is possible. She immigrated to the United States from Nicaragua to provide a better life for her children. I was the only one of my siblings born in the United States. As a young child I strived to get good grades, but as I entered high school I diverged from the straight and narrow path I had been walking on. I had chosen to work instead of continuing to college. I worked various retail jobs and was unsatisfied with each one. I hated admitting it, but my mom was right. I needed to go back to school to find a career. At the same time, I was trying to figure out my future, my mom was having issues getting the proper health care she needed. I decided to kill two birds with one stone and settled on medical assisting. I began working for a local nonprofit clinic called Northwest Human Services upon completion of the medical assisting program. NWHS mission is to provide residents of Marion County comprehensive medical, dental, psychiatry, mental and social services to those who need it most in the community- the underserved, homeless, low-income families, uninsured individuals, and migrant workers. My time at NWHS was spent learning and embracing their mission. NWHS works tirelessly to close the health gap disparities that are felt in my community. While working at NWHS, I used my bilingual skills to help interpret for the nurses. I helped interpret for wound care, diabetic education, newborn exams, medication education. My scope of practice as an MA was very limited- I wanted to keep helping people. I decided to further my education and begin nursing school. With my nursing degree I want to go back to NWHS and serve my community with a larger scope pf practice. I want to bring awareness to ACE’s and how they affect health in adult life. ACE’s are adverse childhood events, and they have been linked to the development of comorbidities in adult life. Economic hardship is the most common ACE reported nationally, followed by divorce or separation of a guardian. I want to continue my education until I receive a Master’s Of Nursing. This education and the use of trauma informed care- I believe will help the most vulnerable in my community further.

My mom had her fair share of struggles as a single parent, but I never felt them as a child. My home was full of love and happiness. I miss the days when all my siblings and I lived in the crowded small house in the middle of downtown Los Angeles. As an adult I have taken responsibility for my mother, she is 76 and retired. There are constant struggles in our house- mom wants to keep the broken things “that still work” and she wants to re-use every margarine tub we finish. Although I love the fact that she is being eco-friendly, my house does not have enough room for all the things she wants to keep. She has a hard time letting go of things that she can still find use for. This is due the scarcity she faced as a child and as a single mother to five children. My mother consistently told me, “Education is the only way to get ahead in life.” She immigrated to the United States from Nicaragua to provide a better life for her children. I was the only one of my siblings born in the United States. As a young child I strived to get good grades, but as I entered high school I diverged from the straight and narrow path I had been walking on. I had chosen to work instead of continuing to college. I worked various retail jobs and was unsatisfied with each one. I hated admitting it, but my mom was right. I needed to go back to school to find a career. At the same time, I was trying to figure out my future, my mom was having issues getting the proper health care she needed. I decided to kill two birds with one stone and settled on medical assisting. I began working for a local nonprofit clinic called Northwest Human Services upon completion of the medical assisting program. NWHS mission is to provide residents of Marion County comprehensive medical, dental, psychiatry, mental and social services to those who need it most in the community- the underserved, homeless, low-income families, uninsured individuals, and migrant workers. My time at NWHS was spent learning and embracing their mission. NWHS works tirelessly to close the health gap disparities that are felt in my community. While working at NWHS, I used my bilingual skills to help interpret for the nurses. I helped interpret for wound care, diabetic education, newborn exams, medication education. My scope of practice as an MA was very limited- I wanted to keep helping people. I decided to further my education and begin nursing school. With my nursing degree I want to go back to NWHS and serve my community with a larger scope pf practice. I want to bring awareness to ACE’s and how they affect health in adult life. ACE’s are adverse childhood events, and they have been linked to the development of comorbidities in adult life. Economic hardship is the most common ACE reported nationally, followed by divorce or separation of a guardian. I want to continue my education until I receive a Master’s Of Nursing. This education and the use of trauma informed care- I believe will help the most vulnerable in my community further.

I developed an interest in the health care field when I noticed my mother was not getting proper care. My mother is hard of hearing and needs an interpreter. Due to these barriers, her care was slipping through cracks and vital care and treatments were being missed. Unsatisfied with this I decided to involve myself in her care. Her care improved when I advocated for her. I came to the realization that my mom was not the only one whose care was slipping through the cracks, I imagined others going through the same thing. I was not sure what job I wanted in healthcare so a quick google search led me to Medical Assisting. I enrolled in a trade school and worked hard to graduate and pass my certification. I was hired at a nonprofit, Northwest Human Services NWHS. I worked at NWHS for 5 years. The mission statement of NWHS is serve underprivileged citizens with respect and compassion. I witnessed them fulfilling their mission every time I worked. NWHS had a sliding fee which helped members who were uninsured or underinsured pay less for the medical, dental, or mental health needs. The clinic had a drop-in center called HOAP, homeless outreach and advocacy project. HOAP provides showers, meals, transportation, case management, crisis intervention, resource information, community referrals and holiday activities for those members of the community that found themselves in difficult situations. I used my bilingual skills at NWHS to help the nurses provide education and care to the members who did not speak English. Having an in-person interpreter allowed for better understanding and better health outcomes. I want to keep providing and helping my community with an extended scope of practice. I will continue to work hard to close the health gap disparities in my community- along side NWHS. My goal is to return to the nonprofit as a nurse. I enrolled in my local community college and began taking pre-requisites for the nursing program. I was still working full time to take care of my mother; I was only able to take 1-2 classes per term. During this time, I also had a baby. I financially support two beings, and as the sole provider not working is not an option. I am currently enrolled full time in a nursing program and have continued to work while enrolled in school. This has caused a significant amount of stress as I try to juggle school, work, and motherhood. I have had to face moments where money is scarce, and my future uncertain. I have dealt with depression, anxiety, and anger. I am overcome with depression and sadness when I must choose work over spending time with my daughter. I have feelings of anxiety and guilt when my schoolwork slips, because I have had to pick up more work hours. I will continue to face these uncertainties because I must continue to work while juggling schoolwork and motherhood. This journey has not been a walk in the park. It has challenged me in many ways. I have felt defeated and have thought quitting would be easier. But I would not be of service to my community or my family if I did that. The journey of a thousand steps begins with one. I live by this and remind myself every day I am one step closer to providing a better life for my daughter and a closing health gaps in my community.

I developed an interest in the health care field when I noticed my mother was not getting proper care. My mother is hard of hearing and needs an interpreter. Due to these barriers, her care was slipping through cracks and vital care and treatments were being missed. Unsatisfied with this I decided to involve myself in her care. Her care improved when I advocated for her. I came to the realization that my mom was not the only one whose care was slipping through the cracks, I imagined others going through the same thing. I was not sure what job I wanted in healthcare so a quick google search led me to Medical Assisting. I enrolled in a trade school and worked hard to graduate and pass my certification. I was hired at a nonprofit, Northwest Human Services NWHS. I worked at NWHS for 5 years. The mission statement of NWHS is serve underprivileged citizens with respect and compassion. I witnessed them fulfilling their mission every time I worked. NWHS had a sliding fee which helped members who were uninsured or underinsured pay less for the medical, dental, or mental health needs. The clinic had a drop-in center called HOAP, homeless outreach and advocacy project. HOAP provides showers, meals, transportation, case management, crisis intervention, resource information, community referrals and holiday activities for those members of the community that found themselves in difficult situations. I used my bilingual skills at NWHS to help the nurses provide education and care to the members who did not speak English. Having an in-person interpreter allowed for better understanding and better health outcomes. I want to keep providing and helping my community with an extended scope of practice. I will continue to work hard to close the health gap disparities in my community- along side NWHS. My goal is to return to the nonprofit as a nurse. I enrolled in my local community college and began taking pre-requisites for the nursing program. I was still working full time to take care of my mother; I was only able to take 1-2 classes per term. During this time, I also had a baby. I financially support two beings, and as the sole provider not working is not an option. I am currently enrolled full time in a nursing program and have continued to work while enrolled in school. This has caused a significant amount of stress as I try to juggle school, work, and motherhood. I have had to face moments where money is scarce, and my future uncertain. I have dealt with depression, anxiety, and anger. I am overcome with depression and sadness when I must choose work over spending time with my daughter. I have feelings of anxiety and guilt when my schoolwork slips, because I have had to pick up more work hours. I will continue to face these uncertainties because I must continue to work while juggling schoolwork and motherhood. This journey has not been a walk in the park. It has challenged me in many ways. I have felt defeated and have thought quitting would be easier. But I would not be of service to my community or my family if I did that. The journey of a thousand steps begins with one. I live by this and remind myself every day I am one step closer to providing a better life for my daughter and a closing health gaps in my community.

I developed an interest in the health care field when I noticed my mother was not getting proper care. My mother is hard of hearing and needs an interpreter. Due to these barriers, her care was slipping through cracks and vital care and treatments were being missed. Unsatisfied with this I decided to involve myself in her care. Her care improved when I advocated for her. I came to the realization that my mom was not the only one whose care was slipping through the cracks, I imagined others going through the same thing. I was not sure what job I wanted in healthcare so a quick google search led me to Medical Assisting. I enrolled in a trade school and worked hard to graduate and pass my certification. I was hired at a nonprofit, Northwest Human Services NWHS. I worked at NWHS for 5 years. The mission statement of NWHS is serve underprivileged citizens with respect and compassion. I witnessed them fulfilling their mission every time I worked. NWHS had a sliding fee which helped members who were uninsured or underinsured pay less for the medical, dental, or mental health needs. The clinic had a drop-in center called HOAP, homeless outreach and advocacy project. HOAP provides showers, meals, transportation, case management, crisis intervention, resource information, community referrals and holiday activities for those members of the community that found themselves in difficult situations. I used my bilingual skills at NWHS to help the nurses provide education and care to the members who did not speak English. Having an in-person interpreter allowed for better understanding and better health outcomes. I want to keep providing and helping my community with an extended scope of practice. I will continue to work hard to close the health gap disparities in my community- along side NWHS. My goal is to return to the nonprofit as a nurse. I enrolled in my local community college and began taking pre-requisites for the nursing program. I was still working full time to take care of my mother; I was only able to take 1-2 classes per term. During this time, I also had a baby. I financially support two beings, and as the sole provider not working is not an option. I am currently enrolled full time in a nursing program and have continued to work while enrolled in school. This has caused a significant amount of stress as I try to juggle school, work, and motherhood. I have had to face moments where money is scarce, and my future uncertain. I have dealt with depression, anxiety, and anger. I am overcome with depression and sadness when I must choose work over spending time with my daughter. I have feelings of anxiety and guilt when my schoolwork slips, because I have had to pick up more work hours. I will continue to face these uncertainties because I must continue to work while juggling schoolwork and motherhood. This journey has not been a walk in the park. It has challenged me in many ways. I have felt defeated and have thought quitting would be easier. But I would not be of service to my community or my family if I did that. The journey of a thousand steps begins with one. I live by this and remind myself every day I am one step closer to providing a better life for my daughter and a closing health gaps in my community.

I developed an interest in the health care field when I noticed my mother was not getting proper care. My mother is hard of hearing and needs an interpreter. Due to these barriers, her care was slipping through cracks and vital care and treatments were being missed. Unsatisfied with this I decided to involve myself in her care. Her care improved when I advocated for her. I came to the realization that my mom was not the only one whose care was slipping through the cracks, I imagined others going through the same thing. I was not sure what job I wanted in healthcare so a quick google search led me to Medical Assisting. I enrolled in a trade school and worked hard to graduate and pass my certification. I was hired at a nonprofit, Northwest Human Services NWHS. I worked at NWHS for 5 years. The mission statement of NWHS is serve underprivileged citizens with respect and compassion. I witnessed them fulfilling their mission every time I worked. NWHS had a sliding fee which helped members who were uninsured or underinsured pay less for the medical, dental, or mental health needs. The clinic had a drop-in center called HOAP, homeless outreach and advocacy project. HOAP provides showers, meals, transportation, case management, crisis intervention, resource information, community referrals and holiday activities for those members of the community that found themselves in difficult situations. I used my bilingual skills at NWHS to help the nurses provide education and care to the members who did not speak English. Having an in-person interpreter allowed for better understanding and better health outcomes. I want to keep providing and helping my community with an extended scope of practice. I will continue to work hard to close the health gap disparities in my community- along side NWHS. My goal is to return to the nonprofit as a nurse. I enrolled in my local community college and began taking pre-requisites for the nursing program. I was still working full time to take care of my mother; I was only able to take 1-2 classes per term. During this time, I also had a baby. I financially support two beings, and as the sole provider not working is not an option. I am currently enrolled full time in a nursing program and have continued to work while enrolled in school. This has caused a significant amount of stress as I try to juggle school, work, and motherhood. I have had to face moments where money is scarce, and my future uncertain. I have dealt with depression, anxiety, and anger. I am overcome with depression and sadness when I must choose work over spending time with my daughter. I have feelings of anxiety and guilt when my schoolwork slips, because I have had to pick up more work hours. I will continue to face these uncertainties because I must continue to work while juggling schoolwork and motherhood. This journey has not been a walk in the park. It has challenged me in many ways. I have felt defeated and have thought quitting would be easier. But I would not be of service to my community or my family if I did that. The journey of a thousand steps begins with one. I live by this and remind myself every day I am one step closer to providing a better life for my daughter and a closing health gaps in my community.

What career path are you pursuing? Additionally, how do you plan to make a positive impact on the world through your chosen career? I took an interest in healthcare during my early 20’s. My mother began having health problems that required frequent trips to various doctors and specialist. I would ask her about her appointments, and she would respond with “I don’t know, they only spoke to me in English, and I did not understand them.” Or she would say that the interpreter they used was over the phone and due to her hearing loss, she did not understand what they said. This had a significant impact on my life; my mother was not getting proper care. I started accompanying her to the appointments, but the medical jargon used flew right over my head. I enrolled in a medical assistant program, graduated, and began working at a non-profit family practice clinic. I worked for the non-profit for five years and took great pride in my work. I found satisfaction in learning how the clinic was closing the health disparities in my community. The non-profit had a sliding scale for patients who were uninsured or underinsured; it provided mental, dental and healthcare to patients regardless of socioeconomic background. I used my bilingual skills to help interpret for the nurses while they provided education, wound care, and various other services to the patients of the clinic. As a medical assistant my scope of practice is very limited. I wanted to continue learning and helping my community. I enrolled in the local community college and began taking pre-requisites for the nursing program. I want to continue my education until I earn my Master’s degree. I want to be a part of the 4% of Latinx woman with a Master’s degree. I want to help children and young adults who have high ACE scores. ACE’s are adverse childhood events. ACE’s have been linked to comorbidities and many illnesses that manifest later in life, such as diabetes, hypertension, anxiety, depression, alcoholism. I want to help educate and help treat my community members who suffer from ACE’s. I believe with my nursing education and bilingual skills I will be able to help my community members who are suffering from the effects of their ACE scores. A study found that economic hardship was the top ACE most children suffered from. I can relate to this because I was raised by a single mother, who was an immigrant who did now speak English, and had 5 children to raise. I want to return to work with the nonprofit clinic and continue closing the health disparity gap that is in my community. Their message has guided me through my medical assisting career, and although I left the clinic- I never left their mission. I have used trauma informed care as my basis for how I treat and care for patients. I look to my future with enthusiasm, the more I learn about nursing, and healthcare the more enthused I become.

In 2017 I was in the bathroom staring at a positive pregnancy test, my knees shook, my thoughts raced, my breathing was rapid, “I am going to be a mom.” When I uttered those words, my world did not come crashing down as I had thought. Instead, I experienced a wave of excitement and euphoria. As quickly as the wave of happiness swept over me, doubt began to settle in. I asked myself questions such as, “how am I going to care for a whole human?” “Am I responsible enough for this?” “Can I afford a baby?” I was raised by a single mom, and I watched her work very hard to give all her children an education and to provide financially. I value hard work and education because of my mother, and because I have experienced it first hand; education will move you forward. I did not plan to be a single mother; life happens when you are busy making plans. To care for my daughter, I must work full time. Currently, I have a medical assisting diploma that I received from a trade school. I have been a medical assistant for almost 10 years. I decided to further my education and become a nurse, because I enjoyed helping people. My scope of practice as a medical assistant is very limited. I began taking the prerequisite classes for nursing school. I like to think of myself as invincible because I took one of my finals while in labor. To make sure the work and school balance was manageable, I would only sign up for 1-2 classes per term. I dedicated myself to achieving A’s, in the pre-req courses. I studied while my daughter nursed, while I pumped, and recorded lectures and listened to them while rocking my daughter to sleep. During the anatomy and physiology courses, I connected what I learned to real life by studying my daughter, this helped me tremendously! Working full time, going to school and being a mother, I felt like a tightrope walker in a three-ring circus. I have dedicated so much time, and effort into achieving my dream of becoming a nurse. There are days I must choose between time with my daughter or picking up a shift at work to provide for her. The mom guilt shatters my heart, and the depression rolls in with the intrusive thoughts. “You are not a good mom!” “You left your daughter behind!” “You are going to fail!” with all my might I push these thoughts out of my head and trudge forward. Failure is not an option for us. “An education is the most important thing you can get,” that is what my mother would tell me on the days I did not want to go to school. She immigrated here from Nicaragua and instilled in me the value of hard work and learning. The same values I hope to sow in my daughter. With my nursing degree I plan to help my community by working to close or at least minimize the health disparities that are present. I plan to use my bilingual skills to help the BIPOC community that tends to suffer more from health disparities present in the community. I want to continue my education, earning a Master of Nursing, I want to be a part of the 4% of Latinx women who have completed a Master degree. I want to educate my community on the health effects that ACE scores have on young children, and work with children and young adults who have high ACE scores.

In 2017 I was in the bathroom staring at a positive pregnancy test, my knees shook, my thoughts raced, my breathing was rapid, “I am going to be a mom.” When I uttered those words, my world did not come crashing down as I had thought. Instead, I experienced a wave of excitement and euphoria. As quickly as the wave of happiness swept over me, doubt began to settle in. I asked myself questions such as, “how am I going to care for a whole human?” “Am I responsible enough for this?” “Can I afford a baby?” I was raised by a single mom, and I watched her work very hard to give all her children an education and to provide financially. I value hard work and education because of my mother, and because I have experienced it first hand; education will move you forward. I did not plan to be a single mother; life happens when you are busy making plans. To care for my daughter, I must work full time. Currently, I have a medical assisting diploma that I received from a trade school. I have been a medical assistant for almost 10 years. I decided to further my education and become a nurse, because I enjoyed helping people. My scope of practice as a medical assistant is very limited. I began taking the prerequisite classes for nursing school. I like to think of myself as invincible because I took one of my finals while in labor. To make sure the work and school balance was manageable, I would only sign up for 1-2 classes per term. I dedicated myself to achieving A’s, in the pre-req courses. I studied while my daughter nursed, while I pumped, and recorded lectures and listened to them while rocking my daughter to sleep. During the anatomy and physiology courses, I connected what I learned to real life by studying my daughter, this helped me tremendously! Working full time, going to school and being a mother, I felt like a tightrope walker in a three-ring circus. I have dedicated so much time, and effort into achieving my dream of becoming a nurse. There are days I must choose between time with my daughter or picking up a shift at work to provide for her. The mom guilt shatters my heart, and the depression rolls in with the intrusive thoughts. “You are not a good mom!” “You left your daughter behind!” “You are going to fail!” with all my might I push these thoughts out of my head and trudge forward. Failure is not an option for us. “An education is the most important thing you can get,” that is what my mother would tell me on the days I did not want to go to school. She immigrated here from Nicaragua and instilled in me the value of hard work and learning. The same values I hope to sow in my daughter. With my nursing degree I plan to help my community by working to close or at least minimize the health disparities that are present. I plan to use my bilingual skills to help the BIPOC community that tends to suffer more from health disparities present in the community. I want to continue my education, earning a Master of Nursing, I want to be a part of the 4% of Latinx women who have completed a Master degree. I want to educate my community on the health effects that ACE scores have on young children, and work with children and young adults who have high ACE scores.

In 2017 I was in the bathroom staring at a positive pregnancy test, my knees shook, my thoughts raced, my breathing was rapid, “I am going to be a mom.” When I uttered those words, my world did not come crashing down as I had thought. Instead, I experienced a wave of excitement and euphoria. As quickly as the wave of happiness swept over me, doubt began to settle in. I asked myself questions such as, “how am I going to care for a whole human?” “Am I responsible enough for this?” “Can I afford a baby?” I was raised by a single mom, and I watched her work very hard to give all her children an education and to provide financially. I value hard work and education because of my mother, and because I have experienced it first hand; education will move you forward. I did not plan to be a single mother; life happens when you are busy making plans. To care for my daughter, I must work full time. Currently, I have a medical assisting diploma that I received from a trade school. I have been a medical assistant for almost 10 years. I decided to further my education and become a nurse, because I enjoyed helping people. My scope of practice as a medical assistant is very limited. I began taking the prerequisite classes for nursing school. I like to think of myself as invincible because I took one of my finals while in labor. To make sure the work and school balance was manageable, I would only sign up for 1-2 classes per term. I dedicated myself to achieving A’s, in the pre-req courses. I studied while my daughter nursed, while I pumped, and recorded lectures and listened to them while rocking my daughter to sleep. During the anatomy and physiology courses, I connected what I learned to real life by studying my daughter, this helped me tremendously! Working full time, going to school and being a mother, I felt like a tightrope walker in a three-ring circus. I have dedicated so much time, and effort into achieving my dream of becoming a nurse. There are days I must choose between time with my daughter or picking up a shift at work to provide for her. The mom guilt shatters my heart, and the depression rolls in with the intrusive thoughts. “You are not a good mom!” “You left your daughter behind!” “You are going to fail!” with all my might I push these thoughts out of my head and trudge forward. Failure is not an option for us. “An education is the most important thing you can get,” that is what my mother would tell me on the days I did not want to go to school. She immigrated here from Nicaragua and instilled in me the value of hard work and learning. The same values I hope to sow in my daughter. With my nursing degree I plan to help my community by working to close or at least minimize the health disparities that are present. I plan to use my bilingual skills to help the BIPOC community that tends to suffer more from health disparities present in the community. I want to continue my education, earning a Master of Nursing, I want to be a part of the 4% of Latinx women who have completed a Master degree. I want to educate my community on the health effects that ACE scores have on young children, and work with children and young adults who have high ACE scores.

In 2017 I was in the bathroom staring at a positive pregnancy test, my knees shook, my thoughts raced, my breathing was rapid, “I am going to be a mom.” When I uttered those words, my world did not come crashing down as I had thought. Instead, I experienced a wave of excitement and euphoria. As quickly as the wave of happiness swept over me, doubt began to settle in. I asked myself questions such as, “how am I going to care for a whole human?” “Am I responsible enough for this?” “Can I afford a baby?” I was raised by a single mom, and I watched her work very hard to give all her children an education and to provide financially. I value hard work and education because of my mother, and because I have experienced it first hand; education will move you forward. I did not plan to be a single mother; life happens when you are busy making plans. To care for my daughter, I must work full time. Currently, I have a medical assisting diploma that I received from a trade school. I have been a medical assistant for almost 10 years. I decided to further my education and become a nurse, because I enjoyed helping people. My scope of practice as a medical assistant is very limited. I began taking the prerequisite classes for nursing school. I like to think of myself as invincible because I took one of my finals while in labor. To make sure the work and school balance was manageable, I would only sign up for 1-2 classes per term. I dedicated myself to achieving A’s, in the pre-req courses. I studied while my daughter nursed, while I pumped, and recorded lectures and listened to them while rocking my daughter to sleep. During the anatomy and physiology courses, I connected what I learned to real life by studying my daughter, this helped me tremendously! Working full time, going to school and being a mother, I felt like a tightrope walker in a three-ring circus. I have dedicated so much time, and effort into achieving my dream of becoming a nurse. There are days I must choose between time with my daughter or picking up a shift at work to provide for her. The mom guilt shatters my heart, and the depression rolls in with the intrusive thoughts. “You are not a good mom!” “You left your daughter behind!” “You are going to fail!” with all my might I push these thoughts out of my head and trudge forward. Failure is not an option for us. “An education is the most important thing you can get,” that is what my mother would tell me on the days I did not want to go to school. She immigrated here from Nicaragua and instilled in me the value of hard work and learning. The same values I hope to sow in my daughter. With my nursing degree I plan to help my community by working to close or at least minimize the health disparities that are present. I plan to use my bilingual skills to help the BIPOC community that tends to suffer more from health disparities present in the community. I want to continue my education, earning a Master of Nursing, I want to be a part of the 4% of Latinx women who have completed a Master degree. I want to educate my community on the health effects that ACE scores have on young children, and work with children and young adults who have high ACE scores.

The future I envisioned for myself was fabulous. I saw myself as the cool rich aunt, the one who traveled and returned with gifts from all around the world. My sisters Miriam and Karina had multiple children, I called them my rent a kids. Each one has taken ownership of a piece of my heart. I became an aunt at the age of 9 and bonded with my nieces instantly. The afternoons when I got home from school were spent dressing them up, and playing, teaching them how to climb. My sisters would say that I was like a second mom to the girls. When my nephew was born many years later, our little threesome became a foursome; my little wolfpack. I constantly said, “I will never have kids.” My little wolf pack was enough for me. In 2017 I was in the bathroom staring at a positive pregnancy test, my knees shook, my thoughts raced, my breathing was rapid, “I am going to be a mom.” When I uttered those words, my world did not come crashing down as I had thought. Instead, I experienced a wave of excitement and euphoria. I did not plan to be a single mother; life happens when you are busy making plans. To care for my daughter, I must work full time. Currently, I have a medical assisting diploma that I received from a trade school. I have been a medical assistant for almost 10 years. I decided to further my education and become a nurse, because I enjoyed helping people. My scope of practice as a medical assistant is very limited. I began taking the prerequisite classes for nursing school. I like to think of myself as invincible because I took one of my finals while in labor. To make sure the work and school balance was manageable, I would only sign up for 1-2 classes per term. I dedicated myself to achieving A’s, in the pre-req courses. I studied while my daughter nursed, while I pumped, and recorded lectures and listened to them while rocking my daughter to sleep. During the anatomy and physiology courses, I connected what I learned to real life by studying my daughter, this helped me tremendously! Working full time, going to school and being a mother, I felt like a tightrope walker in a three-ring circus. I have dedicated so much time, and effort into achieving my dream of becoming a nurse. There are days I must choose between time with my daughter or picking up a shift at work to provide for her. The mom guilt shatters my heart, and the depression rolls in with the intrusive thoughts. “You are not a good mom!” “You left your daughter behind!” “You are going to fail!” with all my might I push these thoughts out of my head and trudge forward. Failure is not an option for us. “An education is the most important thing you can get,” that is what my mother would tell me on the days I did not want to go to school. She immigrated here from Nicaragua and instilled in me the value of hard work and learning. The same values I hope to sow in my daughter. With my nursing degree I plan to help my community by working to close or at least minimize the health disparities that are present. I plan to use my bilingual skills to help the BIPOC community that tends to suffer more from health disparities present in the community. I want to be part of the 4% of Latino women with a Master's degree.

“If you are not going to school or studying, you are going to be working.” I can still hear those words in my dad’s thunderous voice. He would say that phrase to me whenever I would complain about schoolwork or school. My entire childhood I was reminded ceaselessly that higher education was the only way to make a better life for myself. My dad is a self-taught mechanic, he cannot read or write but he can fix any gas car put in front of him. This confused me as a child, how can someone who does not read or write fix cars and own a business? I graduated high school with no ambition or inspiration for furthering my education. So, I did the only thing I knew how to do, I worked. I worked for many years in cornucopia of retail stores and disliked it very much. I stumbled on Medical Assisting while googling “careers that pay well and do not take a lot of schooling.” I completed my higher education for medical assisting and began working for a nonprofit clinic. I was immediately hooked! I took great pleasure in helping others. I was in awe of the nurses who would triage, respond to codes, insert IV’s, clean wounds, and would provide education for the patients. I wanted to be like them, and my journey to complete my nursing degree began. Higher education is important to me because without it I would not be able to help people. I want to help marginalized communities, where health disparities greatly exist. I learned about marginalized groups through my work with a nonprofit, Northwest Human Services. Specifically, I want to work and help children who have high ACE scores. ACE stands for adverse childhood event. I began going to therapy and learned about ACEs through my therapist. I was taken aback, I had a “normal” childhood, in therapy I realized that I suffered from generational trauma. It became my mission to help those like me. My community and culture stigmatize mental health. I want to educate and help minimize the stigmas that are attached to mental health. I will work on finding ways to educate my community on the importance of mental health. When I began working as a Medical Assistant, I was able to provide financially for myself and my mother. I have learned about 401’s, the stock market, life insurance, and high yield savings accounts. When my financial hardships lessened, I was able to teach myself financial literacy. I had no formal education regarding financial literacy, but like my dad I believe that a person can teach themselves. I taught myself how to budget my money and learned to invest and save. Learning about finances is allowing me to plan for my future, I strive for financial independence. A trait I am hoping to pass on to my daughter. Higher education is important to me because it has given me the ability to provide for my daughter as well as motivation to help others. Having two people who are completely dependent on me financially is at best overwhelming and at worst daunting. I look forward to completing my degree and helping the communities that need it the most.

For as long as I can remember, I have had some form of body dysmorphia. I look back on pictures from three to five years ago and think, “why did believe I was fat in these pictures?” I was a teenager when celebrities like Paris Hilton and Lindsey Lohan graced the covers of magazines. I was bombarded with images of how I should look, and articles that had the latest magical diet. This led to an unhealthy relationship with food and weight. I gained weight during my pregnancy in 2017, and I kept gaining weight after my daughter was born. Lack of self-care and motivation culminated into an unhealthy physical self. I reached a breaking point when my physical health began affecting my mental health. I decided to change what I “did not like” about myself. I began my journey for physical growth by enrolling in a gym. Spoiler alert, it ended quickly. I tried to do too much too fast. I was under the impression that losing weight would bring me happiness. After my first failed attempt to improve on my physical self, I researched and made a plan with attainable and measurable goals. The first goal I set was to make it to the gym three times a week. It was small and attainable goal and I managed it. After about six weeks, my new goal was to challenge myself by lifting more weight or trying more complicated exercises. I noticed I responded well to movement. I enjoyed my weekly hours in the gym. Not only was it helping me grow physically, mentally it did wonders as well. My depression and anxiety lessened. This growth spilled over in other areas. When I began to feel better physically, I worked more efficiently. Over the last year in my physical growth journey, I learned that self-care is important. Listening to your body when it needs rest, moving your body, and treating yourself with love can go a long way in improving your physical wellbeing. The beginning of this journey was tough mentally and physically, and it will continue to challenge me. Seeing the positive changes all around me has motivated me to continue this path matter how challenging it my become. I maintain my mental health by doing activities I enjoy and taking time to disconnect from technology and social media. Some of my activities for mental health include therapy, camping, journaling, and spending time with loved ones. I attempt to disconnect from technology at least once a week; I am surrounded by computers at school and work, and this is sometimes impossible. Camping gives me a way to disconnect without putting any extra effort; usually wherever we go we lose service. Whenever I return from camping, I feel as cliché as this might sound, rejuvenated. I began therapy almost one year ago. It has helped me learn ways to cope with anxiety, depression, and stress. My therapist and I set goals and I plan on how I will achieve those goals. One of the coping mechanisms I began during therapy was journaling. I have filled many notebooks with my thoughts; it has helped me tremendously. I used to linger in thinking traps and beat myself up mentally. I learned how to speak to myself with love and kindness. My relationship with my loved ones has always been a pillar of strength. We are a very close-knit multigenerational home. I would have lost my marbles many years ago if my loved ones had not been the solid foundation, I built my life on.

My mother worked full time and took care of her five children, without fail she took care of all our needs. My mothers biggest lesson to all of us was “Education is the way to a better life.” This was not only geared toward a college education, but anything that helped us learn and become better versions of ourselves. I am a first-generation college student. Obtaining a college education seemed like a daunting task. My mother was unable to provide or help me financially when it came to furthering my education. I had to figure it out on my own. Through trial and error, I learned about interest rates, the difference between loans, grants, and scholarships, and subsidized and unsubsidized loans. I decided to go to school and receive my Medical Assisting diploma at a local trade college. Tuition cost fifteen thousand dollars. Taking on that immense debt was overwhelming, I had anxiety thinking that I would never be able to pay it back. My classes were in the evening, and this allowed me to work during the day and weekends. I began paying back my student loan while I was in school. Every extra penny that I came across went straight into repaying the loan. When I finished the program, I had repaid about one quarter of my loans. I worked for a non-profit and I qualified for loan deferment program. While I was in the process of deferment, I continued to make payments. I managed to pay my loans off quickly by doing this. Nursing school is significantly more expensive and this time around I have more financial obligations. I am a single mother and take care of my mother. I am financially responsible for both. I am working full time and when I begin nursing school, I will have to cut my hours down to part time. I am applying for loans and have applied to an innumerable number of scholarships. I will continue to work through nursing school. The Ruthie Brown scholarship will help surmount the financial difficulties nursing school will bring. I have been fortunate enough to have a small nest egg of savings that will help me through my first term. To repay my loan, I will seek assistance from Health Resources, and Services Administration. HRSA offers scholarship, loan, and loan repayment programs to individuals and awards grants to organizations. Participants are awarded payments totaling sixty percent of their outstanding qualifying educational loan balance in exchange for a two-year commitment in an area of health professional shortage area. When I finish my nursing degree I want to return and work to the nonprofit clinic where I began my healthcare career. Lucky for me, the nonprofit clinic I worked at is on the list of qualifying clinics for the loan repayment commitment through HRSA.

There are many reasons a person might have to pursue higher education. Wanting a purpose, discovering a way to contribute to society, and to work in a career that does not feel like work. I am a daughter of immigrants and a first-generation college student. Furthering my education is not just a dream but a necessity. My mother has always supported, guided, and tried to help me in life the best way she could. I watched my mother take care of me and my five siblings, while working full time to meet our basic needs. Time has turned the tables and now I take care of her One of my motivations to further my education is financial freedom. I have been working as a medical assistant for nine years. This career allowed me to gain financial independence. I learned how to budget, save, and invest. I want to further my education to expand my earning potential. I am the head of my household and in that position, I am financially responsible for my mother and daughter. I am a single mother, and I want to show my daughter that I can and will support her. I want to show her that it is possible to improve life when the odds are against oneself. It is known that workers who have a bachelor’s degree, typically have half the unemployment rate of those with just a high school diploma. Furthering my education will help me achieve a level of job security that will be fundamental to my family. I am motivated to further my career to keep helping people. As a medical assistant my scope of practice is very limited. I have worked in many different clinics and different specialties. I have reached the point where I am no longer learning in my position. When I began working as a medical assistant, I worked at a nonprofit clinic. Their mission resonated with me deeply. They filled the health gap disparities in my community. My goal as a nurse is to return to the nonprofit clinic and help my community with my skills. I want to continue my education until I receive my Master's degree and focus on helping children and young adults who have suffered from trauma and have high ACE scores. ACE stands adverse childhood event. ACE’s have been linked in increasing the probability of diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, obesity, depression, anxiety and many more. Nursing school will come with its own set of challenges. Financial, mental, and physical challenges. Mental health is very stigmatized in my community and culture. In my childhood I would be told that I had nothing to be sad about. Through therapy I learned how to handle triggering events. I have learned to check in with myself to control any overstimulation. Therapy has taught me how to cope with depression, anxiety, and guilt. To maintain by body, I do a physical activity. I work out for my body and my mental health. My depression and anxiety lessen. This growth spilled over in other areas. I learned how to cook food that complimented each other nutritionally. With increased mobility I noticed my aches and pains went away. I improved my mobility, which helped me improve the exercises I would work on in the gym. When I began to feel better physically, I worked more efficiently. I learned that self-care is important. Listening to your body when it needs rest, moving your body, and treating yourself with love can go a long way in improving your physical wellbeing.

For as long as I can remember, I have had some form of body dysmorphia. I look back on pictures from three to five years ago and think, “why did believe I was fat in these pictures?” I was a teenager when celebrities like Paris Hilton and Lindsey Lohan graced the covers of magazines. I was bombarded with images of how I should look, and articles that had the latest magical diet. This led to an unhealthy relationship with food and weight. I gained weight during my pregnancy in 2017, and I kept gaining weight after my daughter was born. Lack of self-care and motivation culminated into an unhealthy physical self. I reached a breaking point when my physical health began affecting my mental health. I decided to change what I “did not like” about myself. I began my journey for physical growth by enrolling in a gym. Spoiler alert, it ended quickly. I tried to do too much too fast. I was under the impression that losing weight would bring me happiness. After my first failed attempt to improve on my physical self, I researched and made a plan with attainable and measurable goals. The first goal I set was to make it to the gym three times a week. It was small and attainable goal and I managed it. After about six weeks, my new goal was to challenge myself by lifting more weight or trying more complicated exercises. I noticed I responded well to movement. I enjoyed my weekly hours in the gym. Not only was it helping me grow physically, mentally it did wonders as well. My depression and anxiety lessened. This growth spilled over in other areas. I gained interest in how food would affect my body. I learned how to cook food that complimented each other nutritionally. I began to heal my relationship with food. I learned about functional movements and mobility training. With increased mobility I noticed my aches and pains went away. I improved my mobility, which helped me improve the exercises I would work on in the gym. When I began to feel better physically, I worked more efficiently. Over the last year in my physical growth journey, I learned that self-care is important. Listening to your body when it needs rest, moving your body, and treating yourself with love can go a long way in improving your physical wellbeing. The beginning of this journey was tough mentally and physically, and it will continue to challenge me. Seeing the positive changes all around me has motivated me to continue this path matter how challenging it my become.

There are many reasons a person might have to pursue higher education. Wanting a purpose, discovering a way to contribute to society, and to work in a career that does not feel like work. I am a daughter of immigrants and a first-generation college student. Furthering my education is not just a dream but a necessity. My mother has always supported, guided, and tried to help me in life the best way she could. I watched my mother take care of me and my five siblings, while working full time to meet our basic needs. Time has turned the tables and now I take care of her. One of my motivations to further my education is financial freedom. I have been working as a medical assistant for nine years. This career allowed me to gain financial independence. I learned how to budget, save, and invest. I want to further my education to expand my earning potential. I am the head of my household and in that position, I am financially responsible for my mother and daughter. I am a single mother, and I want to show my daughter that I can and will support her. I want to show her that it is possible to improve life when the odds are against oneself. It is known that workers who have a bachelor’s degree, typically have half the unemployment rate of those with just a high school diploma. Furthering my education will help me achieve a level of job security that will be fundamental to my family. Lastly, I am motivated to further my career to keep helping people. As a medical assistant my scope of practice is very limited. I have worked in many different clinics and different specialties. I have reached the point where I am no longer learning in my position. When I began working as a medical assistant, I worked at a nonprofit clinic. Their mission resonated with me deeply. They filled the health gap disparities in my community. My goal as a nurse is to return to the nonprofit clinic and help my community with my skills. I want to continue my education until I receive my Master's degree and focus on helping children and young adults who have suffered from trauma and have high ACE scores. ACE stands adverse childhood event. ACE’s have been linked in increasing the probability of diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, obesity, depression, anxiety and many more. Challenges that I will face in my journey for higher education are strictly financial. I have a great support system in my mother and family who will help with my daughter when I need it. I am the only income earner in my household and as such I must continue to work while I am attending nursing school. This scholarship will give me a step up and will relieve some of those financial burdens.

I sought therapy in 2021, when my relationship with my daughter became strained. I was very reactive, annoyed, and confused as to why my daughter did not do what I wanted her to do. I used bribes and threats to gain her compliance, without success. I yelled to get her to listen. I needed help and I needed it fast. In my therapy sessions I learned why I reacted harshly to many of my daughters’ behaviors. I learned how to cope with my triggers, depression, anxiety, and guilt. Reaching out and getting the help I needed improved my relationship with my daughter. Mental health is very stigmatized in my community and culture. In my childhood I would be told that I had nothing to be sad about. I was provided food and shelter, what more did I need? Whenever I would cry my dad would retort with “Your mother is not dead, you have no reason to cry.” When my daughter would cry, I found it very triggering especially when she reached her toddler years. As a child I was not allowed to show many emotions, when my daughter began showing her range of emotions, I was stunted. I did not know how to help her understand her emotions. Through therapy I learned how to handle triggering events. I have learned to check in with myself to control any overstimulation. Therapy has taught me how to cope with depression, anxiety, and guilt, this helped me succeed in my goals of becoming a better parent. Getting mental health help is one thing and applying what one learns and maintaining mental health is another. I have learned to maintain mental health by journaling, asking for help, setting boundaries, physical activity, and self-care. Journaling has helped me think about things or situations more clearly. Whenever I feel a stressful event clouding my judgement, I write down my feelings and thoughts. After a few moments of manic scribbling, I can put my thoughts in order. After my daughter was born self-care went out the window. My daughter and work took up all my time. I did not realize that not taking care of my needs was deteriorating my mental health. I believed that my needs did not matter. I began taking care of myself through physical activity. I move my body in many ways. I work out lift weights, swim, take walks practice functional mobility and frequently stretch while I am at work. I also listen to my body when it needs a break. Being active helps my mental health tremendously. Walking in a park or my neighborhood helps to clear my head. Lifting weights when I am angry allows me to channel my anger in a healthy way. Even working out when I am having great day makes me feel amazing afterwards. Getting help with my mental health allowed me to become a better parent. I learned how to label my emotions and learned the underlying reasons of those emotions. I did not want to continue with the strained relationship my daughter and I had. I want her to be an emotionally intelligent adult. I am learning how to be an emotionally intelligent adult. Mental health is very stigmatized, and I had my doubts before I began therapy. Therapy has been very rewarding.

I sought therapy in 2021, when my relationship with my daughter became strained. I was very reactive, annoyed, and confused as to why my daughter did not do what I wanted her to do. I used bribes and threats to gain her compliance, without success. I yelled to get her to listen. I needed help and I needed it fast. In my therapy sessions I learned why I reacted harshly to many of my daughters’ behaviors. I learned how to cope with my triggers, depression, anxiety, and guilt. Reaching out and getting the help I needed improved my relationship with my daughter. Mental health is very stigmatized in my community and culture. In my childhood I would be told that I had nothing to be sad about. I was provided food and shelter, what more did I need? Whenever I would cry my dad would retort with “Your mother is not dead, you have no reason to cry.” When my daughter would cry, I found it very triggering especially when she reached her toddler years. As a child I was not allowed to show many emotions, when my daughter began showing her range of emotions, I was stunted. I did not know how to help her understand her emotions. Through therapy I learned how to handle triggering events. I have learned to check in with myself to control any overstimulation. Therapy has taught me how to cope with depression, anxiety, and guilt, this helped me succeed in my goals of becoming a better parent. Getting mental health help is one thing and applying what one learns and maintaining mental health is another. I have learned to maintain mental health by journaling, asking for help, setting boundaries, physical activity, and self-care. Journaling has helped me think about things or situations more clearly. Whenever I feel a stressful event clouding my judgement, I write down my feelings and thoughts. After a few moments of manic scribbling, I can put my thoughts in order. After my daughter was born self-care went out the window. My daughter and work took up all my time. I did not realize that not taking care of my needs was deteriorating my mental health. I believed that my needs did not matter. I began taking care of myself through physical activity. I move my body in many ways. I work out lift weights, swim, take walks practice functional mobility and frequently stretch while I am at work. I also listen to my body when it needs a break. Being active helps my mental health tremendously. Walking in a park or my neighborhood helps to clear my head. Lifting weights when I am angry allows me to channel my anger in a healthy way. Even working out when I am having great day makes me feel amazing afterwards. Getting help with my mental health allowed me to become a better parent. I learned how to label my emotions and learned the underlying reasons of those emotions. I did not want to continue with the strained relationship my daughter and I had. I want her to be an emotionally intelligent adult. I am learning how to be an emotionally intelligent adult. Mental health is very stigmatized, and I had my doubts before I began therapy. Therapy has been very rewarding.

I maintain my mental health by doing activities I enjoy and taking time to disconnect from technology and social media. Some of my activities for mental health include therapy, camping, journaling, and spending time with loved ones. I attempt to disconnect from technology at least once a week; I am surrounded by computers at school and work, and this is sometimes impossible. Camping gives me a way to disconnect without putting any extra effort; usually wherever we go we lose service. Whenever I return from camping, I feel as cliché as this might sound, rejuvenated. I began therapy almost one year ago. It has helped me learn ways to cope with anxiety, depression, and stress. My therapist and I set goals and I plan on how I will achieve those goals. One of the coping mechanisms I began during therapy was journaling. I have filled many notebooks with my thoughts; it has helped me tremendously. I used to linger in thinking traps and beat myself up mentally. I learned how to speak to myself with love and kindness. My relationship with my loved ones has always been a pillar of strength. We are a very close-knit multigenerational home. I would have lost my marbles many years ago if my loved ones had not been the solid foundation, I built my life on. My physical health is maintained by movement. Moving my body looks different day to day. It ranges from intense difficult workouts to a pleasant walk in the park with my daughter. At work, on my breaks I take walks outside or laps inside the building depending on the weather. I also have a sit/stand desk which allows me to stand for most of my day. I throw in frequent stretch breaks throughout the day. As I got older, I noticed aches and pains I started including functional mobility into my movement routines. I listen to my body and what it needs, if my body needs a break because I am going through something difficult, I take as much time as I need. I also recuperate by resting, I strive for plenty of sleep but sometimes motherhood calls and those nights are long and restless. My nutritional health ebbs and flows. I take care of my health by packing my own lunches for work, I avoid eating out. Sugary drinks have been a hard habit to kick- I do drink plenty of water during the work week but the weekend is filled with sugary drinks. Orange soda is my weakness. At home I have fruits and vegetables easily accessible for snacks. I am learning how to cook foods that complement each other nutritionally. I am also teaching myself how to cook vegetables in a way that is appealing to a four-year-old. My daughter and I grew our own garden and she enjoyed picking fruits and veggies from the plants. She ate snap peas off the vine, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, cucumbers all fresh from the garden. Growing my own little harvest was rewarding and tasted even better.

“If you are not going to school or studying, you are going to be working.” I can still hear those words in my dad’s thunderous voice. He would say that phrase to me whenever I would complain about schoolwork or school. My entire childhood I was reminded ceaselessly that higher education was the only way to make a better life for myself. My dad is a self-taught mechanic, he cannot read or write but he can fix any gas car put in front of him. This confused me as a child, how can someone who does not read or write fix cars and own a business? I graduated high school with no ambition or inspiration for furthering my education. So, I did the only thing I knew how to do, I worked. I worked for many years in cornucopia of retail stores and disliked it very much. I stumbled on Medical Assisting while googling “careers that pay well and do not take a lot of schooling.” I completed my higher education for medical assisting and began working for a nonprofit clinic. I was immediately hooked! I took great pleasure in helping others. I was in awe of the nurses who would triage, respond to codes, insert IV’s, clean wounds, and would provide education for the patients. I wanted to be like them, and my journey to complete my nursing degree began. Higher education is important to me because without it I would not be able to help people. I want to help marginalized communities, where health disparities greatly exist. I learned about marginalized groups through my work with a nonprofit, Northwest Human Services. Specifically, I want to work and help children who have high ACE scores. ACE stands for adverse childhood event. I began going to therapy and learned about ACEs through my therapist. I was taken aback, I had a “normal” childhood, in therapy I realized that I suffered from generational trauma. It became my mission to help those like me. My community and culture stigmatize mental health. I want to educate and help minimize the stigmas that are attached to mental health. I will work on finding ways to educate my community on the importance of mental health. When I began working as a Medical Assistant, I was able to provide financially for myself and my mother. I have learned about 401’s, the stock market, life insurance, and high yield savings accounts. When my financial hardships lessened, I was able to teach myself financial literacy. I had no formal education regarding financial literacy, but like my dad I believe that a person can teach themselves. I taught myself how to budget my money and learned to invest and save. Learning about finances is allowing me to plan for my future, I strive for financial independence. A trait I am hoping to pass on to my daughter. Higher education is important to me because it has given me the ability to provide for my daughter as well as motivation to help others. Having two people who are completely dependent on me financially is at best overwhelming and at worst daunting. I look forward to completing my degree and helping the communities that need it the most.

In 2019 when news of a new virus wreaking havoc in Wuhan, China emerged and the leaders of the United States informed us that two weeks was all we needed to stop this virus, I believed them. I trusted in our leadership. Fast forward three years later and we are still dealing with this not so new virus and all its different variants. Covid 19 became so politized that it was difficult to discern what was true and what was false. I trusted what I saw. I saw people in my community who did not care about spreading covid and calling it a hoax, I saw families devastated and rampaged by covid, I saw companies become extremely wealthy, I saw essential workers, frontline workers and others struggle to make ends meet. I watched friends become enemies, and I watched as a global pandemic became so politized that millions of people lost their lives. Learning how to navigate my job as a medical assistant in the beginning of covid was nothing short of a whirlwind. Clinic policies changed every day. One day we were not allowed to wear masks because it “scared the patients.” The next day masks were mandated, but we had to reuse the same one for weeks at a time. The next week, our PPE was removed from the stock room, and we had to check it out from our administrator’s office. Every mask, glove, face shield, and gown, were accounted for. Our roles changed every day. I would work as a Medical Assistant one day, the next I would screen people at the entrance. I would work in the pharmacy running prescriptions out to cars, and then come back from lunch to be moved to a greeter role. I never knew what my position would be until I reached work that same day. At home life was not any less stressful. I worried about my mother who was a senior and has many comorbidities and my young daughter with her vulnerable immune system. Since I was constantly exposed to covid at work, I was the one who ran the errands for the household. I would change out of my work scrubs and into different clothes outside under my carport. My work shoes were left outside, and I rushed inside to shower. Groceries were scrubbed before being put away. My family became my pillar of strength. I began to facetime regularly with my siblings that lived in California. The first time I hugged my siblings after all the adults were vaccinated was nothing short of magical. I held on to them so tight as tears welled up in my eyes from complete and utter disbelief that I was holding them once again. Covid changed the way I view my life, my career and my family. I strive for a work life balance because I am terrified of not seeing my loved ones again. I began therapy to help with the stress covid left in its wake. Years of stress, work, and politics gave me so much anxiety and depression. Therapy has helped me manage my stress and anxiety. More than ever, I want to help those in areas of health disparities. I want to continue my education and earn my Master of Nursing and work with professionals who align with my goals and views.

I come from family of immigrants, my mother and father were born in Nicaragua. They met and were married in the United States. My mother tells me stories about crossing the border. She remembers walking miles upon miles carrying my brother Michael, who at the time was only three years old. She remembers wrapping him up in her skirt to keep him warm at night while they slept. She remembers my brother Robert’s worn-out shoes that barely held together by the time they reached Mexico. She was arrested with my two siblings by border patrol. She claimed asylum and was eventually liberated. My father’s stories are always centered on building his mechanic business from scratch. He recalls working a minimum wage 9-5 and after a long day of work, he would wander the streets of Los Angeles collecting cans. He would get shopping carts full of cans and sell them. In Los Angeles, back in the day, cans would be weighed when you returned them. He collected enough cans and made enough money to buy himself his first tire changing machine. In time he created a successful business that allowed him to say he achieved the American Dream. My parents were assiduous in their journey to succeed. They whole-heartedly believe that one can truly lift oneself from their bootstrap. They ceaselessly reminded me that getting an education should be my number one priority. My father regularly refers to himself as dumb because he cannot read or write. I personally believe he is somewhat of a genius. He taught himself how to fix card with no formal education. He claims his goal in life is to see me educated with an outstanding career. It took some time to deduce what I wanted to be; it changed multiple times. I finally settled on nursing. Specifically, I want to obtain a Master of Nursing so I can help children and young adults who have high ACE scores. ACE stands for adverse childhood events. My parents suffered from ACE’s. They were food insecure, lived-in poverty, abused through no fault of their own, and lived through a country that was war torn. Generational trauma has been well studied, it can be silent, covert undefined, surfacing through nuances and inadvertently taught. When I became a parent, my relationship with my daughter became strained. To maintain a healthy relationship with her I sought therapy. That is where I learned about generational trauma and ACE’s. This inspired me, not only to help myself but others like my parents. Mental health in my community is very stigmatized. When I told my mother I was seeking out therapy, she did not understand why. Knowing children of immigrants and of the BIPOC community can be affected by generational trauma and ACEs guided me to investigate how I can use my nursing career to help. I want to work with communities who suffer from heath disparities. My biggest inspiration for this goal is Dr Nadine Burke Harris. She is the founding physician of the Bayview Child Health Center. Dr. Burke was tasked with the goal to develop programs to end health disparities in San Francisco. Her multidisciplinary approach focuses on undoing chemical, physiological, and neurodevelopmental results of ACEs.

During my teenage years, a healthy lifestyle meant, a skinny or fit body, working out every day, and eating a calorie deficit. I am so thankful that my idea of healthy has dramatically changed. Through many trials and tribulations, I learned that being healthy meant more than what your body looked like. I began working out to get skinny, I wanted to look exactly like the tabloid models did in the early 2000’s. This was for many reasons not healthy- I am naturally curvier. No matter what I tried my hips never became smaller, my waist never cinched, my breast remained large. I developed an unhealthy relationship with food, I stressed about calories nonstop. I had my daughter in 2008 and learned that unless I made changes to my lifestyle, she was going to end up with the same mentality I had. Instead of working out to get skinny, I worked out to get stronger. I began working out to be able to carry my little human longer. I researched core exercises to fix my diastasis recti. I began incorporating mobility exercises so I could squat down with my toddler and not feel the ache in my hips. When my temper and her temper began to clash, I searched for therapy, and mindfulness techniques that would help me slow down in the moment. Now you can find my four-year-old taking deep breathes when she is stressed or upset. I no longer obsess about calories, instead I learned how to pick whole foods that compliment each other. I am teaching myself and my daughter that food is medicine. Food is healing, there are no bad or good foods. We have been growing a garden and learning how to grow our own food has inspired us to eat more of the food we grow. The satisfaction of picking a veggies and herbs and making them into a dish is phenomenal. I stretch and practice mobility work in the morning when I wake up. Incorporating small and frequent walks during the day breaks up the monotony of computer work. A healthy lifestyle has helped me in many ways. I can handle stressful situations better. I am learning to become a better cook. I have learned how to body is all connected in some way shape or form. Being healthy means being a good influence on my daughter, giving me the most satisfaction. I have noticed I am happier, less stressed, and I have increased feelings of self-worth.

I want to be financially literate to teach my child how to gain wealth. I want to help people by working as a nurse. I want to help animals by having a sanctuary.

My goal in life is to help people who are in need and to take care of my mother. While I am currently providing for her financially, I want to make her dreams come true. One of those dreams of hers, is retiring back in her home country Nicaragua. I have been providing for my mom financially for about six years. I took over taking care of her after the divorce from my dad. My mother as cliché as this might sound has been my rock, my support, and my best friend. I always joke that our umbilical cords are still attached. I never understood how unwavering her love for me was until, I had my very child in my arms. I colleague once told me a child is the literal manifestation of your heart living outside of your body. My daughter has reshaped my life in many ways. Firstly, she made me realize that my inner child needed healing. Our relationship became tumultuous when she entered her toddler years. The more I tried to control her and her behavior the more control I felt I lost. I researched therapy and found that in beginning to heal my inner child I was able to connect more with my effervescent toddler. I gave up bribes and coercion for connection and play. Secondly, she has motivated me to further my education. There is no way with the rising cost of living that I would be able to fully support my daughter and mother on my income alone. I am going to continue my education until I receive my Master of Nursing. Thirdly, being a single mom meant I had to become financially literate. My mother did not have financial literacy and that is the reason I am taking care of her now. My daughter has motivated me to become financially literate so I can understand and build wealth, and I am teaching her as I learn. Lastly, she has helped me adapt to change easily. Plans are never executed perfectly with children. Something always happens, and at first this would derail me completely. I have learned to roll with the punches. I have learned to forgive more easily and to love more fiercely. My mother has been my biggest supporter during my path to higher education. She has helped me in many ways. She will watch my daughter for me so I can save money on day care, and she helps me save money by packing a lunch for me. When I must pick up over time because my check is going to be short, she is willing to watch my daughter an extra day.

I recently got accepted into the nursing program at Chemeketa Community College. I wanted to work with Nurses without borders and work in areas of war, like Yemen or Syria. I had a baby in 2018 and those plans changed- I could not leave her but I still wanted to help people. When my child turned into a toddler our relationship became a little strained, we were “butting heads,” and constant power struggles. I could not stand the thought of our relationship waning, so I poured my heart and soul into finding a solution. I came across Dr Bruce Perry and Dr Nadine Burke authors who have researched and worked with children who have high ACE (adverse childhood event) scores, and the light clicked. I realized I had some ACE scores and that was causing the issues with my parenting. I began therapy and started my healing journey. In that journey I researched more about ACE scores and found “my calling.” Dr. Burke, explains that she came across children who were misdiagnosed with defiant disorder, ADD, ADHD, failure to thrive etc., when the underlying trauma was causing the issues. Trauma that is unresolved and usually unnoticed by medical professionals and even parents because “children are resilient”. I resonated with this because I had trauma that I did not know about. Trauma that was causing my quick reactions to anger, the constant need to be in control, the feeling of failure when my child was anything but happy. I realized after how unrealistic this had been of me. I truly, deeply and whole heartedly believe that helping children and young adults who have these high scores is investing in our future.

I recently got accepted into the nursing program at Chemeketa Community College. I wanted to work with Nurses without borders and work in areas of war, like Yemen or Syria. I had a baby in 2018 and those plans changed- I could not leave her but I still wanted to help people. When my child turned into a toddler our relationship became a little strained, we were “butting heads,” and constant power struggles. I could not stand the thought of our relationship waning, so I poured my heart and soul into finding a solution. I came across Dr Bruce Perry and Dr Nadine Burke authors who have researched and worked with children who have high ACE (adverse childhood event) scores, and the light clicked. I realized I had some ACE scores and that was causing the issues with my parenting. I began therapy and started my healing journey. In that journey I researched more about ACE scores and found “my calling.” Dr. Burke, explains that she came across children who were misdiagnosed with defiant disorder, ADD, ADHD, failure to thrive etc., when the underlying trauma was causing the issues. Trauma that is unresolved and usually unnoticed by medical professionals and even parents because “children are resilient”. I resonated with this because I had trauma that I did not know about. Trauma that was causing my quick reactions to anger, the constant need to be in control, the feeling of failure when my child was anything but happy. I realized after how unrealistic this had been of me. I truly, deeply and whole heartedly believe that helping children and young adults who have these high scores is investing in our future.

I recently got accepted into the nursing program at Chemeketa Community College. I wanted to work with Nurses without borders and work in areas of war, like Yemen or Syria. I had a baby in 2018 and those plans changed- I could not leave her but I still wanted to help people. When my child turned into a toddler our relationship became a little strained, we were “butting heads,” and constant power struggles. I could not stand the thought of our relationship waning, so I poured my heart and soul into finding a solution. I came across Dr Bruce Perry and Dr Nadine Burke authors who have researched and worked with children who have high ACE (adverse childhood event) scores, and the light clicked. I realized I had some ACE scores and that was causing the issues with my parenting. I began therapy and started my healing journey. In that journey I researched more about ACE scores and found “my calling.” Dr. Burke, explains that she came across children who were misdiagnosed with defiant disorder, ADD, ADHD, failure to thrive etc., when the underlying trauma was causing the issues. Trauma that is unresolved and usually unnoticed by medical professionals and even parents because “children are resilient”. I resonated with this because I had trauma that I did not know about. Trauma that was causing my quick reactions to anger, the constant need to be in control, the feeling of failure when my child was anything but happy. I realized after how unrealistic this had been of me. A story that has stayed with me is from Dr. Perry. He was brought in to consult with a mother and her infant daughter- the baby kept getting diagnosed with failure to thrive. She was referred to multiple specialist- she would gain weight and grow but as soon as she was discharged and sent to her mother’s care, she would decline in health. Suspecting child abuse/neglect the specialist called Dr. Perry. After doing some digging, he figured out that the mother herself had a high ACE score, she was neglected as a child and therefor inadvertently would neglect her daughter. She would get easily frustrated, would give her daughter attention by feeding and somewhat playing with her. No more than the bare minimum- this mom who had been abused was trying to take care of a baby without realizing that she did not know how or never had any role models of “good moms” around. Without the help of the ACE score, Dr. Perry would not have been able to figure this out. I believe that ACE scores are vital to childhood health, even for “healthy” children and young adults. I am hoping to continue my education until I receive a Master of Nursing. I am a single mother who work full time to support my daughter and my mother. Now that I will be attending school full time, I will have to change from working full time to part time to make sure that I succeed. This scholarship will give me a huge step up, it will give me the boost that I need to be successful.

I recently got accepted into the nursing program at Chemeketa Community College. I wanted to work with Nurses without borders and work in areas of war, like Yemen or Syria. I had a baby in 2018 and those plans changed- I could not leave her but I still wanted to help people. When my child turned into a toddler our relationship became a little strained, we were “butting heads,” and constant power struggles. I could not stand the thought of our relationship waning, so I poured my heart and soul into finding a solution. I came across Dr Bruce Perry and Dr Nadine Burke authors who have researched and worked with children who have high ACE (adverse childhood event) scores, and the light clicked. I realized I had some ACE scores and that was causing the issues with my parenting. I began therapy and started my healing journey. In that journey I researched more about ACE scores and found “my calling.” Dr. Burke, explains that she came across children who were misdiagnosed with defiant disorder, ADD, ADHD, failure to thrive etc., when the underlying trauma was causing the issues. Trauma that is unresolved and usually unnoticed by medical professionals and even parents because “children are resilient”. I resonated with this because I had trauma that I did not know about. Trauma that was causing my quick reactions to anger, the constant need to be in control, the feeling of failure when my child was anything but happy. I realized after how unrealistic this had been of me. A story that has stayed with me is from Dr. Perry. He was brought in to consult with a mother and her infant daughter- the baby kept getting diagnosed with failure to thrive. She was referred to multiple specialist- she would gain weight and grow but as soon as she was discharged and sent to her mother’s care, she would decline in health. Suspecting child abuse/neglect the specialist called Dr. Perry. After doing some digging, he figured out that the mother herself had a high ACE score, she was neglected as a child and therefor inadvertently would neglect her daughter. She would get easily frustrated, would give her daughter attention by feeding and somewhat playing with her. No more than the bare minimum- this mom who had been abused was trying to take care of a baby without realizing that she did not know how or never had any role models of “good moms” around. Without the help of the ACE score, Dr. Perry would not have been able to figure this out. I believe that ACE scores are vital to childhood health, even for “healthy” children and young adults. I am hoping to continue my education until I receive a Master of Nursing. I am a single mother who work full time to support my daughter and my mother. Now that I will be attending school full time, I will have to change from working full time to part time to make sure that I succeed. This scholarship will give me a huge step up, it will give me the boost that I need to be successful.

I recently got accepted into the nursing program at Chemeketa Community College. I wanted to work with Nurses without borders and work in areas of war, like Yemen or Syria. I had a baby in 2018 and those plans changed- I could not leave her but I still wanted to help people. When my child turned into a toddler our relationship became a little strained, we were “butting heads,” and constant power struggles. I could not stand the thought of our relationship waning, so I poured my heart and soul into finding a solution. I came across Dr Bruce Perry and Dr Nadine Burke authors who have researched and worked with children who have high ACE (adverse childhood event) scores, and the light clicked. I realized I had some ACE scores and that was causing the issues with my parenting. I began therapy and started my healing journey. In that journey I researched more about ACE scores and found “my calling.” Dr. Burke, explains that she came across children who were misdiagnosed with defiant disorder, ADD, ADHD, failure to thrive etc., when the underlying trauma was causing the issues. Trauma that is unresolved and usually unnoticed by medical professionals and even parents because “children are resilient”. I resonated with this because I had trauma that I did not know about. Trauma that was causing my quick reactions to anger, the constant need to be in control, the feeling of failure when my child was anything but happy. I realized after how unrealistic this had been of me. A story that has stayed with me is from Dr. Perry. He was brought in to consult with a mother and her infant daughter- the baby kept getting diagnosed with failure to thrive. She was referred to multiple specialist- she would gain weight and grow but as soon as she was discharged and sent to her mother’s care, she would decline in health. Suspecting child abuse/neglect the specialist called Dr. Perry. After doing some digging, he figured out that the mother herself had a high ACE score, she was neglected as a child and therefor inadvertently would neglect her daughter. She would get easily frustrated, would give her daughter attention by feeding and somewhat playing with her. No more than the bare minimum- this mom who had been abused was trying to take care of a baby without realizing that she did not know how or never had any role models of “good moms” around. Without the help of the ACE score, Dr. Perry would not have been able to figure this out. I believe that ACE scores are vital to childhood health, even for “healthy” children and young adults. I am hoping to continue my education until I receive a Master of Nursing. I am a single mother who work full time to support my daughter and my mother. Now that I will be attending school full time, I will have to change from working full time to part time to make sure that I succeed. This scholarship will give me a huge step up, it will give me the boost that I need to be successful.

My mother had me when she was 42 years old. Growing up she was always mistaken for my grandmother. I would reply proudly, “That is my MOM!” My mother being older never bothered me. She immigrated to the United States from Nicaragua, she met my dad, got married and had me. When we moved to Oregon from California my mom had to work in canneries, and at a factory where she was a seamstress. She like many other immigrants, was not able to save up for retirement- my father became a self-employed mechanic who took care of my mother when she ended up retiring. Fast forward a decade and a few years and there is a nasty divorce. My mother could not afford to live on her own. After the divorce I began taking care of her and her finances. She won our house in the divorce and had it transferred to me. I had a baby in 2018 and have been the sole caregiver for her and my mother. My mother is 74 years old now and has a myriad of health issues. I make her appointments and take her to them; I am actively involved in her care. In between caring for my mother and caring for my daughter, I lost myself. My world revolved around making sure they were ok. I lost my identity and lost touch with my friends. I never felt like I could leave my daughter at the sitters, and my mom at home alone, while I went out and enjoyed some ME time. Caring for both impacted me in many ways, having two people dependent on me means that I must work to support both. My medical assisting career has been good but with rising cost of living I had to make a choice to return to school. Not only to better support my family financially but to also find myself again. I know that I want a career where I can help children and young adults who have high ACE scores and with nursing, I can do that Having to go back to school will be a financially stressful, I am going from working full time to part time. To say that I am not worried about how we will make it the next two years would be a lie. The Cariloop Caregiver Scholarship would help immensely. The journey of a thousand steps begins with one and this is my first step.

It started with cigarettes and the need to fit in. I wanted to be as cool as her, my best friend at the time. We will call her Lexi. I would pick up Lexi every morning to go to our local community college. She would hop in my car with a cigarette in one hand a black coffee in the other because it helped her lose weight. During this time, I started to feel more independent- my father was very strict. Going to college gave me a little taste of freedom that I longed for my entire teenage years. Not realizing that the freedom I wanted was not where I was headed. Lexi and I began skipping our classes and leaving campus to smoke weed with friends that we had met at the college. I obtained employment at a local retail store and the money I made at the time seemed like so much. Quickly I traded classes for extra shifts and began hanging out with the “pot smokers” more and more. Eventually, this path took me to my first rave- where I was enthralled and enamored by the music, lights and people. Weekend raves became my thing- I worked hard during the week to party all weekend. I began partaking in recreational drugs at the raves I attended. I was living life according to myself. I was having a blast making friends and listening to music. I ended up meeting a man, who we will call Lee. Lee was charming, handsome, exciting, fun, and he swept me off my feet immediately. School at this point was no longer on my mind. I worked and partied with Lee. Unbeknownst to me Lee was an addict. What started off as recreational drug use became an everyday occurrence. The drugs themselves also turned into “harder drugs.” I eventually found myself- in debt, with no job, smoking crack in a bedroom of a motel six. I lost touch with all my friends. My family did not know what was going on, I did a good job at hiding my addiction. I would come home after my parents were asleep and I would leave my house before they woke up. I do not recall what snapped me out of this drug induced stupor. It was not when Lee would get abusive, and it was not because I ran out of money. There was something inside of me that snapped one day and yelled ENOUGH! I quit drinking and doing drugs cold turkey, what my mother thought was a bad case of the flu was the pain and agony of withdrawals. Maybe she knew deep down inside, maybe she tried to lie to herself, but she never said anything about drugs to me. I remained clean for a year and then decided that I wanted to work in the medical field. I went back to school and completed a Medical Assisting Program. I worked for a nonprofit clinic right out of school, that helped people regardless of socioeconomic status or ability to pay. I saw firsthand the need of the communities and how this clinic met those needs. I recently gained acceptance to a Nursing Program, and I hope on using my skills as a nurse to help those in need as well. I want to work with children and young adults who have high ACE scores. Investing in our children is investing in our future.

I grew up a child of Nicaraguan immigrants. I remember from an early age taking on the responsibility of translating papers, calls, messages, letters for my parents. My mother worked full time to help support her 5 children. My dad remembers the days he would go out in the streets of Los Angeles after working a full day to collect cans for extra money. He collected enough cans to buy himself his first piece of machinery to open his mechanic shop. My dad did not learn how to read or write but he taught himself mechanics and has had a successful mechanic shop for over 15 years. My parents always told me with hard work and education anything is possible. When my daughter turned into a toddler our relationship became a little strained, we were “butting heads,” and had constant power struggles. I could not stand the thought of our relationship waning, so I poured my heart and soul into finding a solution. I came across Dr Bruce Perry and Dr Nadine Burke authors who have researched and worked with children who have high ACE (adverse childhood event) scores, and the light clicked. I realized I had some ACE scores and that was causing the issues with my parenting. I began therapy and started my healing journey. In that journey I researched more about ACE scores and found “my calling.” Dr. Burke, explains that she came across children who were misdiagnosed with defiant disorder, ADD, ADHD, failure to thrive etc., when the underlying trauma was causing the issues. Trauma that is unresolved and usually unnoticed by medical professionals and even parents because “children are resilient”. I resonated with this because I had trauma that I did not know about. Trauma that was causing my quick reactions to anger, the constant need to be in control, the feeling of failure when my child was anything but happy. I realized after how unrealistic this had been of me. I truly, deeply and whole heartedly believe that helping children and young adults who have these high scores is investing in our future. I am hoping to get my Master of Nursing and bring more awareness and knowledge to Ace scores. I do not know if I want to be more on the mental health side or the clinical setting side yet. I have volunteered with my community when I worked with Northwest Human Services, a nonprofit located in Salem, Oregon. They would provide resources such as Tdap, and Flu immunizations, toiletries, assistance with applying for state insurance or EBT, and sometimes food at what they called outreach locations. NWHS mission is to help anyone in need of medical, dental or mental health regardless of socioeconomic status or ability to pay. I hope to go back and work with NWHS after getting my RN degree, their mission has resonated with me in my medical assisting career. When I left NWHS I saw that there was a huge need for bilingual nurses, and I am hoping to fill that need. I was one of the few M.A’s that was bilingual and would often have to interpret for Spanish speaking patients. With my increased knowledge and bilingual skills I hope to improve the community outreach and care that Spanish speaking patients receive.

When my daughter turned into a toddler our relationship became a little strained, we were “butting heads,” and had constant power struggles. I could not stand the thought of our relationship waning, so I poured my heart and soul into finding a solution. I came across Dr Bruce Perry and Dr Nadine Burke authors who have researched and worked with children who have high ACE (adverse childhood event) scores, and the light clicked. I realized I had some ACE scores and that was causing the issues with my parenting. I began therapy and started my healing journey. In that journey I researched more about ACE scores and found “my calling.” Dr. Burke, explains that she came across children who were misdiagnosed with defiant disorder, ADD, ADHD, failure to thrive etc., when the underlying trauma was causing the issues. Trauma that is unresolved and usually unnoticed by medical professionals and even parents because “children are resilient”. I resonated with this because I had trauma that I did not know about. Trauma that was causing my quick reactions to anger, the constant need to be in control, the feeling of failure when my child was anything but happy. I realized after how unrealistic this had been of me. I truly, deeply and whole heartedly believe that helping children and young adults who have these high scores is investing in our future. I am hoping to get my Master of Nursing and bring more awareness and knowledge to Ace scores. I do not know if I want to be more on the mental health side or the clinical setting side yet. I have volunteered with my community when I worked with Northwest Human Services, a nonprofit located in Salem, Oregon. They would provide resources such as Tdap, and Flu immunizations, toiletries, assistance with applying for state insurance or EBT, and sometimes food at what they called outreach locations. NWHS mission is to help anyone in need of medical, dental or mental health regardless of socioeconomic status or ability to pay. I hope to go back and work with NWHS after getting my RN degree, their mission has resonated with me in my medical assisting career. When I left NWHS I saw that there was a huge need for bilingual nurses, and I am hoping to fill that need. I was one of the few M.A’s that was bilingual and would often have to interpret for Spanish speaking patients. With my increased knowledge and bilingual skills I hope to improve the community outreach and care that Spanish speaking patients receive.

When my daughter turned into a toddler our relationship became a little strained, we were “butting heads,” and constant power struggles. I could not stand the thought of our relationship waning, so I poured my heart and soul into finding a solution. I came across Dr Bruce Perry and Dr Nadine Burke authors who have researched and worked with children who have high ACE (adverse childhood event) scores, and the light clicked. I realized I had some ACE scores and that was causing the issues with my parenting. I began therapy and started my healing journey. In that journey I researched more about ACE scores and found “my calling.” Dr. Burke, explains that she came across children who were misdiagnosed with defiant disorder, ADD, ADHD, failure to thrive etc., when the underlying trauma was causing the issues. Trauma that is unresolved and usually unnoticed by medical professionals and even parents because “children are resilient”. I resonated with this because I had trauma that I did not know about. Trauma that was causing my quick reactions to anger, the constant need to be in control, the feeling of failure when my child was anything but happy. I realized after how unrealistic this had been of me. I truly, deeply and whole heartedly believe that helping children and young adults who have these high scores is investing in our future. I am hoping to get my Master of Nursing and bring more awareness and knowledge to Ace scores. I do not know if I want to be more on the mental health side or the clinical setting side yet. I have volunteered with my community when I worked with Northwest Human Services, a nonprofit located in Salem, Oregon. They would provide resources such as Tdap, and Flu immunizations, toiletries, assistance with applying for state insurance or EBT, and sometimes food at what they called outreach locations. NWHS mission is to help anyone in need of medical, dental or mental health regardless of socioeconomic status or ability to pay. I hope to go back and work with NWHS after getting my RN degree, their mission has resonated with me in my medical assisting career. When I left NWHS I saw that there was a huge need for bilingual nurses, and I am hoping to fill that need. I was one of the few M.A’s that was bilingual and would often have to interpret for Spanish speaking patients. With my increased knowledge and bilingual skills I hope to improve the community outreach and care that Spanish speaking patients receive.

My name connects me to my abuelo, whose tough and callused hands at 92 years old still plowed the land in his rancho with a horse. Whose hands harvested jocotes and platanos to sell at the mercado. My name connects me to my abuela who milked the cows every morning and made cuajada to eat with fresh handmade tortillas; it reminds me of the helado my abuela made with that same fresh milk. My name connects me to a stone oven blazing with firewood where rosquillas and meat are baked. My name reminds me of the sting of the horse whip abuelita used to hit us with when we misbehaved. My name is carved into the mango and tamarindo trees that gave us delicious fruits to make juice and almibar. My name is the sticky sweat on my brow from the hot Nicaraguan sun, the smell of dirt and horse manure. My name is the strength and courage it took for my parents to leave Nicaragua and immigrate to the United States in search of a better life. My name is pride, hard work, education, and selflessness. My name is a mother working full time while supporting five children. My name is a father saving every penny, teaching himself how to be a mechanic and opening a successful mechanic shop. Garcia, that is my name, my last name. It is the name that connects me to the Nicaraguan blood that runs through my veins. It reminds me of how far my parents came to give me a life that they could only dream of. It is the name that reminds me of how powerful the love of my family is, with them as my support system I can touch the sky. My mother has been my number one supporter, she encouraged me to study hard and work hard. When I think about her sacrifices and trauma that she endured just to come to the United States, a fire deep inside is ignited in me. I must succeed! My name is a reminder that sometimes people will treat me differently and look at me as if I am not good enough. Those stares and whispers will not deter my success in life. I have a 4-year-old daughter and I want to my daughter to be proud of her name as well. She will learn that when people throw dirt on her name, they are giving the seed inside of her just what it needs to grow.

My mother came to the United States in the 80’s seeking asylum. She crossed the border with my two older brother as little kids. She always instilled in me the value of hard work and education. She managed to put three of my older brothers through college. Money was tight but I never knew that it was, I had everything I needed and more growing up. My mother worked hard to give her children a life worth living. My future dream is to get my Master of Nursing and find a way to help children and young adults who suffer from high ACE scores. My mother suffered many adverse childhood events which led to some of her trauma responses she has now. Generational trauma that was inadvertently passed down to me. This trauma affected me and when I became a parent; it affected my parenting in ways that I did now know it could. I started going to therapy and working on these trauma responses that I had learned and about ACE scores. Learning about ACE scores and generational trauma has helped me learn and navigate the tough road of parenting. I want to learn as much as I can about helping children and adults navigating and possibly overcoming the trauma that they have had. Continuing my education while being the sole bread winner of my family is going to be challenging. I know that the workload is going to be heavy and time management is biggest obstacle standing in the way of achieving my educational dream. I plan to make the workload achievable by breaking it down into small assignments and asking for help when I need it. My time management will be overcome by setting goals that are achievable and measurable, setting time limits to complete tasks/assignments, planning, organizing my assignments, and prioritizing tasks based on importance. Lastly, I am going to be proud of myself for coming this far in my career. Self-doubt is not an option, I have been plagued by self-doubt since I entered my teenage years. Finishing my education is my feet on the ground dream, my head in the clouds dream is living with my mother and daughter in our farm in Nicaragua living sustainably off the land. I would love to own a big piece of land, with many animals living on it. I would love for it to be a sanctuary for animals that have been rescued. I wish I could combine helping people and animals into one profession.

My parents born in Nicaragua, fled their home country and came to the USA in search of a better life, chasing the American Dream. Growing up I had fond memories with my father- I remember having a deep seeded love for him. I do not recall or know the exact reason our relationship started to become tumultuous. Maybe it was the thought of having a grown woman as a daughter, and no longer a little girl. My memories changed from sweet and loving to hurt and angry. I recall my father began to verbally abuse me when I entered middle school. I was no longer greeted with love and nurture. If I complained about a stomachache or feeling sick, I would get accused of promiscuity. My good grades were not enough to satisfy my father anymore, I also had to work to pay part of rent/bills. He would make me work at his mechanic shop on weekends. I was never allowed to state my opinion, if I disagreed with anything my father said yelling and cursing would ensue. I stopped hearing I am so proud of you and started hearing you will never amount to anything. I yearned for the loving dad I once had, so I worked hard to get back on his “good side.” These are the memories that shaped who I am today. I wanted to prove my father wrong. That I was going to be someone. I wanted to prove that I will make it no matter what. My mother divorced my father, she was retired had no way of working or making ends meet. So, I took over my mother’s care. I strive to provide for her and my daughter. I work hard so my mother’s sacrifice of leaving her home country, and years of mental and verbal abuse are for naught. I am currently working as a Medical Assistant and have worked on getting accepted to a Nursing Program. I took evening classes after working a full day and completed my pre-requisites with A’s. I am determined to continue my education until I receive my Master's degree. I want to help children and young adults who have dealt with trauma. I want to help them, and I want to be a safe adult that they can count on. Having my mother as my safe adult cushioned the blows my dad would throw at me. I want to end help end cycles of generational trauma. Children and young people are the most vulnerable and I believe they need to be taken care of as such.

My favorite super foods are blue berries. I love superfoods because I believe food is medicine. I believe plants are medicine. I get better results from herbs and plants than from traditional western medicine. I keep 5 blue berry bushes at my home and I pick and eat them in the beginning of summer. I also have a friend who owns an organic blueberry orchard. 100% all organic no pesticides, uses spiders as pest control! And I pick tons of blueberries to freeze so I can have them year round!