Unlike many people, I have known exactly what I wanted to be when I grew up since I was about 8 years old. When I was about 6 years old, my uncle got diagnosed with a very aggressive form of lung cancer. I don’t remember much about him from before his diagnosis, but I do remember clinging to his side for the majority of my early childhood. A few months after he was diagnosed, he lost his battle to cancer. This was a monumental moment that shaped who I am as a person, and gave me the inspiration to help those in the same difficult situation. This is why I decided to pursue my bachelors of nursing at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Here, I have fallen more and more in love with the nursing career and have truly found my calling. I have gone through many different clinical rotations, including medical surgical, labor and delivery/women's health, and pediatrics. Going into clinical, I thought I wanted to work in oncology with cancer patients, possibly even pediatric oncology so that way I could connect with children and their parents, but I found my true passion in labor and delivery/women's health. During my labor and delivery clinical, I was working with a patient who was pregnant due to a sexual assault she experienced. Talking to and helping her lit a fire in me that I didn’t know was possible and it inspired me to look into working in a women's health setting so I can spend my career helping women who are victims of sexual and/or domestic assault. I plan to do this by working at a women's clinic after I graduate, whilst I pursue my Nurse Practitioner degree, in hopes of getting a Women's Health Nurse Practitioner certification. . With my nurse practitioner, I hope to open a women’s health clinic that works hand in hand with a women's shelter in an underprivileged area. Through this clinic, I hope to connect with women who may never have received care or support otherwise, as well as working with pediatric nurses and providers to support children who have survived these traumatic situations as well. Working in a field with assault victims is not the path that I always saw myself pursuing, but it is something that I have found an immense passion for, and if I can help just one woman or child through this, I will consider my career successful.

Nursing interests me as a career because of the immense passion I have felt for healthcare and medicine since childhood. When I was in second grade, one of my close friends was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. I recall being interested in how the medical field worked and what cancer was, but I also remember her talking about the nurses she had, how she always enjoyed spending time with them, and how they always made her feel better. Her story was one of the many things that ultimately inspired me to become a nurse. Due to her story, I spent the majority of my nursing school career wanting to be a nurse in pediatric oncology, but this goal changed the second semester of junior year, when I discovered an interest in women's health during my time in my labor and delivery clinical. During this clinical, I was able to connect with many women, one of whom was a victim of assault, resulting in a pregnancy. Through her story, I found a passion for helping women who were victims of sexual and domestic abuse, and felt a strong urge to continue working with and helping women heal and find their voice after such a distressing event, because I truly believe that no woman should let something that happened to them define them. This is why I plan on moving up to the Chicago area after I graduate. In Chicago, I hope to work as a nurse at a women’s health clinic. While working as a nurse, I hope to connect with women from the community, and be an advocate for their reproductive health, as well as pursuing my nurse practitioner degree so I can be a women's health nurse practitioner. With my nurse practitioner degree, I hope to open my own women's health clinic that works hand in hand with a women's shelter in an underfunded community. At this shelter, I hope to connect with women who need help getting out of dangerous situations, while also helping their children overcome trauma and injuries sustained from an abuser. As well as working with these women, I hope to do philanthropy work, so that way no women in a dangerous situation should have to worry about the financial burdens of seeking healthcare for them and their children. Overall, I hope that my nursing career is a way I can give back to my community in ways that they need, and even if I only help one woman, I will see it as a successful career.

Nursing interests me as a career because of the immense passion I have felt for healthcare and medicine since childhood. When I was in second grade, one of my close friends was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. I recall being interested in how it worked and what it was, but I also remember her talking about the nurses she had and how she always enjoyed spending time with them. Her story was one of the many things that ultimately inspired me to become a nurse. Due to her story, I spent the majority of my nursing school career wanting to be a nurse in pediatric oncology, but this goal changed the second semester of junior year, when I discovered an interest in women's health during my time in my labor and delivery clinical. During this clinical, I was able to connect with many women, one of whom was a victim of assault, resulting in a pregnancy. Through her story, I found a passion for helping women who were victims of sexual and domestic abuse, and felt a strong urge to continue working with and helping women heal and find their voice after such a distressing event. This is why I plan on moving up to the Chicago area after I graduate and working at a women’s clinic. During my time as a nurse at a women's clinic, I hope to get my nurse practitioner degree and specialize in women's health. With this degree, I hope to open my own women's clinic that works hand in hand with a women's shelter in an underfunded community. At this shelter, I hope to connect with women who need help getting out of dangerous situations, while also helping their children overcome trauma and injuries sustained from an abuser. At the end of my nursing career, I will consider my career successful if I can look back at the families I have helped and know that I got as many people as possible out of a dangerous situation. At the end of the day, even saving one woman from an abusive situation will have made going through nursing and graduate school worth it. Some accomplishments I believe I have achieved to help me pursue this goal are my past medical experience, as both an EMT and a Student Nurse Technician at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St.Louis, Missouri. I worked as a volunteer EMT in my hometown from my senior year of high school to my junior year of college. Through this experience, I was able to connect with people in my community I may never have known, help them in emergency situations, and provide support to family members in times of need. This experience is what inspired me to work in an underfunded community because I was able to make an impact on people who may not get care in other situations. Lastly, my work is as a Student Nurse Technician at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri. At Barnes, I work on the Neuromedicine floor, where I am able to help patients who have suffered strokes, head trauma, chronic seizure disorders, as well as many lesser-known neurological conditions. This job has solidified my love for working with patients in a bedside manner, collaborating with various members of the healthcare team, and supporting patients' families by helping them find comfort in difficult situations and accessing the necessary resources. Thanks to my experience in the healthcare field, my passion for helping others continues to grow, and I am excited to see what the future holds in healthcare.

Growing up, I always knew I wanted to be a nurse because of the love and passion I saw in my sister-in-law for the career. She started nursing school when I was four years old, so I don't remember a time when I wasn’t looking up to her. As I enter my senior year of nursing school, I am beginning to reflect on all that I have experienced through the program, consider different career paths I have explored, and am truly discovering my passion for the type of nursing I want to pursue. After graduation, I plan to move to the Chicago area and hope to find a job as a nurse in a women's health clinic. Through this position, I aim to gain a deeper understanding of women's health, contribute to research on under-researched topics, and offer comfort and compassion to women in challenging or distressing situations. With a special interest in helping with trauma-informed care, and learning how providers and nurses alike can better support victims of abuse. While I am working here, I hope to pursue a career as a nurse practitioner, so I can eventually obtain my Women's Health Nurse Practitioner license. With this license, I aim to establish my own women's clinic that collaborates closely with a local women's shelter. My goal with this clinic is to provide a safe and compassionate environment for women and children who were victims of sexual and/or domestic violence. With this clinic, I hope to create a safe space where victims can come and seek empowering care. While this isn’t always the path of nursing I thought I would be pursuing, I found a passion for it when I was working in my labor and delivery clinical with a woman who was pregnant with her first baby due to a sexual assault that occurred in her past. Working with her, I found a passion for a subject that I hadn’t previously considered, and I was able to help and connect with a patient in ways that I didn’t know were possible. She talked with me about her experience, the support she had, the support she needed, and how she felt throughout the entire process. These conversations lit a fire in me that I know can’t be put out. I don’t want any more women to feel helpless or betrayed, and I am truly passionate about fighting stigmas around sexual abuse and encouraging women to come forward in situations of violence. I hope to exemplify Cindy's passion through a career of passion and empathy, as well as giving back to my community.

Breanne Smallberger January 6, 2025 Becoming a Nurse: An Inspiration There have been many inspirations throughout my life that have driven me to pursue a degree in nursing, but I believe that the one that stands out the most is my Uncle Eddie and my childhood best friend. When I was in kindergarten my Uncle Eddie was diagnosed with cancer of the thymus, which quickly spread to his lungs. Being so young when this diagnosis was made, I remember not fully knowing what it meant, why my uncle was so sick, or why my mom was always so sad. Within the following years, I started to understand. My uncle was going to die, and it was no longer an if this happens situation, but a when. I didn’t understand how this could happen, or why it would happen to him. He was always my favorite person to be around, and I thought that this disease was some punishment that he didn’t deserve. Shortly after I grasped what cancer was, and what it meant, my uncle passed. I remember the day vividly. I remember sitting in the car, about to leave for school when my mom got the call. I didn’t think I could cry because my mom was so upset, she was the one who lost her younger brother, while mine was sitting right next to me. Though, unfortunately, this wasn’t the last time I would watch a battle with cancer so early in my childhood. When I was in second grade, one of my best friends was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. Thankfully she won this battle, but it wasn’t easy. This experience was something that I watched her struggle with the entirety of my elementary school career. I remember her being terrified to go to procedures, and not knowing what the outcome would be. Something she always talked about was her nurses and doctors. She would talk about how the nurses would come in and play games with her and bring her small trinkets and toys to cheer her up. Hearing her talk about this, I knew that I wanted to be the person to help children during the most terrifying part of their lives. Knowing this, I applied to nursing school, and am now a sophomore at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, set to graduate in May of 2027. I hope to use their stories to continue to inspire me to pursue this degree. After I graduate, I hope to move to Chicago to work in pediatric oncology. I believe that working in this field, whilst being hard, is something that will make an impact on many lives, and allow me to continue my uncle's legacy. While I am working, I hope to get my Master of Nursing so I can become a nurse educator and teach at a school within the state of Illinois. I hope that teaching will allow me to instill my passion and their stories in the next generation of nurses, inspiring them to be the best providers they can be.

Breanne Smallberger April 3, 2023 My Dreams in Nursing Ever since I have been young, I have known that I wanted to go into nursing, but where exactly in the nursing field has varied. When I was younger, I discovered my passion to be a nurse in oncology because of my uncle. When I was five years old, my uncle was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer, and sadly, he passed away when I was in first grade. This highlighted my love for working with cancer patients, but my childhood friend with thyroid cancer is what highlighted my love for working with pediatric patients in oncology. Being a nurse in pediatric oncology is a passion of mine because these patients are often patients that many in the medical field struggle to help, due to the toll their situation takes on them and their families. Working with children, who are also cancer patients, would allow me to help them heal physically, but also help them mentally as well. Many cancer patients often have mental health situations that are often overlooked because of the physical health situations that often take priority. Being a nurse in pediatric oncology is a passion of mine, but it is a passion that I plan to pursue once I get my advanced nurse practitioner (APN) credentials. Before I become an APN, I plan to work as a flight nurse and an emergency room nurse. Becoming a flight nurse is something that I never thought of becoming until I joined my local volunteer fire department, and had the opportunity to work with the life flight nurses and their services in my area. Flight nurses respond to scenes of emergency situations such as bad car accidents, but also do inter-hospital transfers for patients at a hospital that require more medical care than a hospital may be able to provide. Though, in order to become a flight nurse, you also have to maintain a certain amount of time as a nurse in an emergency department setting, which is something that I am excited to pursue as well. Being a flight nurse is a passion of mine because they have the ability to help patients that are in heavy trauma situations (i.e. car accidents), when the other first responders, such as emergency medical technicians (EMTs), may not be able to help to the fullest extent possible due to the minimal extent of their education. I hope to be able to pursue working in an emergency department setting because of the ability they have to help patients who are in need, help calm anxieties they may have, and provide help for those in situations that they didn’t expect. To conclude, I hope to be a flight nurse and emergency department nurse when I obtain my bachelor's of nursing, then slowly work towards my APN as I am also actively working as a nurse. Being a flight nurse would allow me to connect with patients that I otherwise may not be able to work with, and working in the emergency department would allow me to work with patients who found themselves with an unexpected injury or illness. Being a nurse in pediatric oncology would allow me to help patients who may not always get the emotional help they need, but also provide support to their families. Overall, all of these fields of nursing are fields that I am interested in and hope to pursue in the future.

Breanne Nicole Smallberger March 24, 2023 Who I Am and Why Nursing? Hello! My name is Breanne Nicole Smallberger and I am a resident of Hanna City Illinois, a small town outside of Peoria. I have lived in or around Peoria County all of my life and feel a natural pull toward my hometown. Though, living here in the future isn’t something I see myself doing. This is because I want to work in either travel or flight nursing, and I believe that these would both be better opportunities in a bigger city. Starting with my early childhood education, I started elementary school and Concordia Lutheran School in Peoria. Here I attended kindergarten through fourth grade, learning all of the main subjects, along with a heightened preaching of God. I finished fifth grade and moved to middle school at Illini Bluffs, which is where I found a community of people that I call home. Here I joined the band, theater department, scholastic bowl team, school newspaper, art club, girl scouts, Spanish club, and later on the pep band where I found most of my closest friends and spent the majority of my middle school, and high school career. In the middle and high school band, I played the flute, which paved the path for my love for music. This led to me attending band camp at Bradley University for two summers in 2017 and 2018. Naturally, following my love for the fine arts I joined the theater department, where I joined the backstage crew, eventually becoming stage manager my junior year. Along with theater and band, I participate on the varsity scholastic bowl team at Illini Bluffs High School. I have been a part of this group since the junior varsity middle school team starting in sixth grade and it is truly what has made my high school experience what it is. Although even without all of the high school activities I am in, I am very busy outside of Illini Bluffs. I am a volunteer firefighter with Logan-Trivoli Fire Protection District and am getting my EMT licensure to further help my community thrive. I have also started taking college courses while being a high school student, which will allow me to graduate high school with 39 college credits in total. Not including the fire department and college courses, I also work at my school's aftercare, which allows me to work with young children and help them grow, which is something that I truly enjoy. In college, I plan on getting a degree in nursing so I can pursue my dream of working as a flight or travel nurse. This dream was caused by my volunteer work with Logan-Trivoli, and seeing how being there for people in direct need of immediate medical assistance can change, and possibly save their life. I have chosen to pursue my love for nursing so I can continue to help those in need. Possibly becoming a travel nurse would allow me to reach out to those all over the country, especially those who are in dire need of medical care, but have trouble obtaining it due to the lack of personnel in their community. Becoming a flight nurse would allow me to reach those in heavy trauma or dire medical situations, and give them the help that they need, which could possibly save their life. Overall, no matter if I pursue travel nursing or flight nursing, they are both things that will positively change my life as a whole, whilst also helping those around me, and that is something that I am truly passionate about.

Breanne Smallberger Illini Bluffs High School Senior 22 March 2023 Improvement Over my high school career, I have struggled but also thrived in finding ways to improve not only my school life but my personal life as well. After numerous trials and errors, late into my sophomore year of high school, I found a solution, something that truly helped me improve myself both academically and personally. During my sophomore year of high school, I joined my local volunteer fire agency, which has helped me grow not only personally, but academically as well. Being on the fire department has allowed me to reach out to those in my community, and give them the help they need, whether that be emotional, physical, or medical. Having this ability allowed me to improve my personal life because I have been able to connect with others, but I have also had the ability to develop interests that I may have never known of before. During my time on my local volunteer fire agency, I have obtained a special interest in emergency medicine, which has allowed me to improve my academic career. My interest in emergency medicine has allowed me to improve my academic career because it inspired me to take an emergency medical technician class at my local emergency medical services agency. This class taught me what to do in heavy trauma situations, medical situations, and emergency mental health situations, which are all things that have helped me not only on the fire department but in my career path in general. Joining the fire department is something that has overall allowed me to improve academically and personally, and is something that forever shaped who I am as a person. Though it isn’t the only big thing I have done in high school that allowed me to improve, especially academically. Starting the fall semester of my junior year (fall 2021), I started taking dual-credit classes at Illinois Central College. Here I was able to take almost all of the prerequisite courses I will need for my nursing degree, whilst also taking some classes to explore other career fields. Through this opportunity, I also had the ability to take some college classes outside of dual credit, allowing me to enter college as a sophomore instead of a freshman, hopefully allowing me to graduate early. Lastly, one thing that I have done during high school that has improved who I am as a person is my current job at my schools aftercare. Here I get to work with young children, primarily early elementary schoolers. I help them with their school work, entertain them until their parents are off work, and help them grow as a person. This is something that has heavily impacted who I am as a person because it has allowed me to find new passions and interests, and has given me the ability to help others that I strive to find. I am very grateful for all of the opportunities I have had in high school to grow as a person. The fire department, being a college student as well as a high school student, and working with children, are all things that have helped me grow as a person, and academically, and they are all things I will forever be grateful for.

Breanne Smallberger February 23, 2023 Nursing and My Connection to the US Military Even though nursing has always been a high-interest career field for me, it took me a while to discover where exactly I belong in that field. Though, now I know that my career goal is to be a flight nurse. Flight nurses transport critical patients to hospitals that have the level of care that they need. For example, transporting a high-trauma car crash victim to a level-one trauma center, or bringing a patient from a lower-level hospital to a more advanced one with better overall care. This is a career field that I never anticipated having this much interest in, but thanks to my time as a volunteer firefighter on Logan-Trivoli Fire Protection District, I have had the opportunity to work hand in hand with flight nurses. I hope that becoming a flight nurse will allow me to better give back to my community by allowing me to work with patients that I wouldn’t have the ability to work with within other in-hospital settings. Then again, becoming a flight nurse has other benefits that would allow me to give back to my community, which may not be possible with a basic registered nurse license. By becoming a flight nurse, I would be certified as a Pre-Hospital Registered Nurse (PHRN), which would allow me to work as a medic on a volunteer fire department. Being an active medic on a volunteer fire department would allow me to help those in my community in a quick, efficient route. I would have the ability to use certain medicines, and other medical techniques that emergency medical technicians and emergency medical responders are not allowed to do, and that overall would improve the condition of the patient while they wait for the arrival of an ambulance that may be 30+ minutes away. Overall, I plan to use my PHRN license to help those in my community in both a work and volunteer setting. In both settings I hope to improve the lives of my patients, overall increasing their quality of life and the outcome of their medical care. Straying away from the topic of nursing, I have also deeply been impacted by my connection to the United States military. On my fifth birthday (2009), my oldest brother was officially deployed to Afghanistan, where he remained for the next four years of my life. This heavily impacted my relationship with him going forward, and changed how I view him as a person. The military heavily impacted my life when I was growing up because it was the reason that I rarely saw my oldest brother, who I looked up to. It took a long time for me to realize that his absence in my childhood was for an honorable reason, but once I realized that I never again blamed him for his absence in those four years. Even though I have decided not to pursue the military, it was because of him that I once considered it, and it is because of the time in my childhood that I always reach out to those missing someone because of the military.

Breanne Smallberger November 12, 2022 Act Locally Scholarship My Hope For Change And My Path To Getting There Throughout the world, many things could be improved or changed to better the planet, the population, and society as a whole. Though achieving all of these things during my lifetime may not be possible. Even though some of these accomplishments and improvements may not be possible during my lifetime, I still hope that they are things that can take place in the future after I have passed, so I do things in my day to day life that hopefully, positively impact our planet. Some of these things include making some of my own clothes such as hoodies and decorations for my house such as cross-stitched posters and knitting a blanket. I also like to grow my own food in a garden, but I also have started to grow food for my school in our school greenhouse. Growing food for my school allows for a fresh salad bar for students to enjoy but also guarantees that all of the food that is served in the salad bar is free of pesticides and other additives, making it healthier for those who consume it. Though helping my community through fresh food is something that I am passionate about and enjoy doing, I also enjoy helping my community in other ways. In an effort to help better the overall wellness of my community, I volunteer at my local volunteer fire agency Logan-Trivoli Fire Protection District, which provides emergency medical and fire assistance to members of the community. Through this volunteer opportunity, I was able to gain medical knowledge, learn safe fire prevention techniques, and join an emergency medical technician class through the Peoria Area EMS office. This opportunity has allowed me to seek change and help those in need in my community and overall bettered me as a person. To conclude, I believe that while many may view my efforts to save the planet and help my community as a minuscule act in a major problem, I view it as a small part of the change that encourages others to do the same. Between growing my own food to helping members of my community in a time of crisis, I give back to the planet in ways I never knew possible, and the desire for change that has been instilled in me is something that I will forever be grateful for.

Breanne Smallberger November 12, 2022 Mental Health Importance Scholarship Mental Health, Its Importance, And Maintenance Mental health is something that I have struggled with for my entire life, but it became something that I really had to overcome and learn how to cope with when I was in middle school. During my seventh grade school year, I started questioning my sexuality, and that made me question who I truly am, my place in this world, and the faith I had in a religion that I had trusted since I was a child. While this was happening, my father was outwardly speaking out against the LGBT community, which at the time, made everything a lot worse. Though through this challenge I had the ability to grasp why mental health is so important and why it should not be stigmatized the way it is. Mental health is important because contrary to popular belief, mental health can have just as much if not more of a toll on people as physical health can. A rapid or even gradual mental health decline can lead to many people struggling to function in their day to day lives, and can also lead to suicide attempts that many people view as selfish. With mental health comes mental wellness, but many people today do not know the difference between mental health and mental wellness, and they are two things that are commonly misunderstood and grouped together as one whole. While yes, mental health and mental wellness do have some similarities, mental health is defined as a person's mental condition, such as an anxiety diagnosis. Someone's mental wellness is determined by how someone can handle relationships, stress, and making decisions. Though mental health is something that can play a role in someone's mental wellness, mental wellness is typically maintained by how someone decides to take care of themselves. People can take care of their mental wellness in many ways, but the way I approach mental wellness is by making sure I take a step back when needed, journaling, occasionally using self-care items such as a face mask, and going out with friends and/or my girlfriend at least once a week. I have found journaling to be especially helpful because it allows me to write down and process all of my emotions, without taking them out on others around me or myself. To conclude, mental health is the conditions that someone has to work with mentally, such as anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, etc, but it is also something that needs to be viewed in the same importance that physical health is. Mental health can take somebody's life the same way physical health does, but lives lost due to mental health are often viewed as selfish compared to lives lost to physical health. I also believe that taking care of your mental wellness can improve your overall mental health, but also help with your physical health as well. Without learning to cope with and handle mental health and wellness, our lives will forever be changed, and I believe that to be something truly important.

Breanne Smallberger November 4, 2022 Illini Bluffs High School Why am I a First Responder? In my sophomore year of high school, I decided to join my local volunteer fire agency and this is something that has changed my life for the better in ways that I never thought possible. My perspective of first responders as a whole has changed and it has opened my eyes to career paths I hope to pursue in the future. I currently serve on Logan-Trivoli Fire Protection District, the fire and rescue service in the Hanna City, Trivoli, and Lake Camelot areas in Central Illinois. Being a part of this agency has allowed me to learn how to better serve my community through fire and EMS. Through all of these life-changing experiences, I have often faced the question of why. Why do I dedicate so much of my time to calls, trainings, and classes whilst also being a high school student? I started volunteering at this agency at the end of my sophomore year because I was looking for a way I could give back to my community and gain real-life experience that could help me in the future and better who I am as a person. Once I got accepted, I started running basic medical and fire calls, which soon progressed into me learning life-saving measures such as CPR, signing up for an emergency medical technician class that I am currently enrolled in, learning how to operate fire apparatus, and so much more. My volunteer experience at Logan-Trivoli has shaped who I am as a person and I believe everyone should have an experience like it. This experience impacted my life because it showed me what it is truly like to help someone in need. Whether basic measures such as supporting someone before the ambulance arrives to take them to the hospital, or performing life-saving measures, this opportunity has impacted how I show compassion and made me want to be more generous to others because there is truly no way to know what they are going through. When realizing this, I also realized that Logan-Trivoli has made me more compassionate in ways I didn’t know possible, they made me learn how to emotionally support others in a time of dire need, but they also taught me how to help myself and those I love when it isn’t often considered. They have made me more generous because now I am more willing to help others than I ever have been, and I am more likely to go out of my way to provide someone with comfort and help than I was before. To conclude, I am a volunteer firefighter because it has allowed me to be more compassionate and has changed my perspective of the world. Being on Logan-Trivoli Fire Protection District has taught me how to better provide and connect with members of my community in ways I would previously not have considered, and this is something that I will forever be grateful for.