This scholarship will help me pursue my nursing goal by giving me the funds to keep going. School cost a lot of money and there has always been times where I wondered how I would pay for it. I do not want to end up in debt but I still want to be able to earn my degree. This is why I push myself to apply for scholarships, even though they can take time to do. Pursuing a career in nursing would benefit my community by giving the older people hope, showing the younger kids that if I can do it they can too, and I could be a big help to my family. Becoming a nurse will not only benefit others in my community but will also benefit me. My future of becoming a nurse has been on my mind for years and I can not wait until I finally reach my goal. I have so many people supporting me; family and friends. I want to be able to give back to everyone who helped me and pushed me when I felt I would not be able to make it. I would be able to give back to my community by helping the people here who need it. Many of the older people in my town look at the younger kids to help make a difference and become something for themselves. They always tell us to not give up and keep pushing. I always hear "You should not want to stay in this small town for the rest of your life." The elderly love to help uplift the younger generation. They want us to go out and see new things and live a good life. Just them knowing that we are out on our own doing good in life is enough to make them smile. Not only do the elderly look up to us but also the younger kids. They are always watching and paying attention. Some kids look at us as older kids and wish to be just like us. I want them to see that they can make it far in life and not think that Georgiana is where it stops at. There is so much more out there in the world and as the elderly loves to say, "The children are our future." And I believe they are. My family is my number one supporter. They are always behind me with every step I take. With a career in nursing, I will be able to care for my family. I would be able to buy my brother all the things he is always asking me for. I know that I can trust my family to help me whenever it is needed; therefore, I want to give back to them in any way that I can. I enjoy helping people and that is why I chose this career path.

My name is BreTavia Curry and I am a college sophomore attending Lurleen B. Wallace Community College. I enjoy traveling, going out to eat, and making memories with my friends and family. I plan to make a positive impact on the world through my nursing career by giving the older people hope, showing the younger kids that if I can do it they can too, and I could be a big help to my family. Becoming a nurse will not only benefit others in my community but will also benefit me. My future of becoming a nurse has been on my mind for years and I can not wait until I finally reach my goal. I have so many people supporting me; family and friends. I want to be able to give back to everyone who helped me and pushed me when I felt I would not be able to make it. I would be able to give back to my community by helping the people here who need it. Many of the older people in my town look at the younger kids to help make a difference and become something for themselves. They always tell us to not give up and keep pushing. I always hear "You should not want to stay in this small town for the rest of your life." The elderly love to help uplift the younger generation. They want us to go out and see new things and live a good life. Just them knowing that we are out on our own doing good in life is enough to make them smile. Not only do the elderly look up to us but also the younger kids. They are always watching and paying attention. Some kids look at us as older kids and wish to be just like us. I want them to see that they can make it far in life and not think that Georgiana is where it stops at. There is so much more out there in the world and as the elderly loves to say, "The children are our future." And I believe they are. My family is my number one supporter. They are always behind me with every step I take. With a career in nursing, I will be able to care for my family. I would be able to buy my brother all the things he is always asking me for. I know that I can trust my family to help me whenever it is needed; therefore, I want to give back to them in any way that I can. I enjoy helping people and that is why I chose this career path.

My future career aspirations are to graduate from Lurleen B. Community College, transfer to The University of Alabama, and earn my bachelor's degree in nursing. Then to become a labor and delivery nurse and maybe even get into travel nursing eventually. I never really knew what career I wanted for myself until 2020. In 2020 I was a sophomore in high school. I noticed how so much was taken from many people I knew so quickly and without warning. Many people lost their lives or their loved ones. Many people also missed out on special events. I started to think very hard about my future and what I was going to do. Becoming a hairstylist was my first interest but it did not sit right with me. I still consider this as something I can do in my free time just to make extra money. I thought about other things that I had an interest in such as real estate, dental assistant, and orthodontists. I still was not certain about either of those options. When I thought of nursing I did some research on it. I realized how many different jobs came with being a nurse. Labor and delivery caught my attention very quickly. Since then that is what I have stuck with. 2020 was the year that made me sit back and look at life differently. Some people may think of the year 2020 as something tragic. I agree that it was tragic and scary but it was also a eye opener. Anything could happen at any time and you have to be prepared to deal with it. Do not waste your teenage years just partying but also use it to figure out what you want for your future. In my senior year in high school, I took a dual enrollment nursing class. I earned my CNA certification but quickly realized I wanted more than to just be a CNA. I enjoyed my time with the elderly but being a CNA in a nursing home was not something I liked. I am glad that I took that class because even though I did not want to work in a nursing home, I still have gotten an experience in the nursing world from an early age. I know many people complain of there not being any black nurses and I decided I could help change that with this interest I had in nursing. Black nurses are needed and they are coming. Seeing new black grad nurses encourages me to keep going every day.

I have many high hopes for my future and becoming a labor and delivery nurse is absolutely one of them; however, I picture my future self to be better than I am today with plenty more accomplishments and living an even more fulfilling life.

Nursing has always been something I had an interest in, however; I never really knew which field I wanted to go in. I was only 8 years old when my younger brother was born. I remember how interested I was in all of the equipment and what the nurses were doing. I remember wishing I could tend to my brother like the nurses were. In my junior year of high school, I decided that I wanted to become either a Labor and Delivery nurse or a NICU nurse. I realized that there are not many black nurses and I wanted to be one of many people to change this. My goal is to finish my studies at Lurleen B. Wallace Community College and then transfer to The University of Alabama to graduate with my bachelor's. Working hard and studying to make sure I understand and pass all my classes will help me get to this point. I know that nursing is hard and there will be ups and downs. I just have to make sure to stay focused, not just on my classes but also on my mental and physical health. During my senior year of high school, I took a dual enrollment nursing class with Reid State Technical College. Taking this class was the first time I got to experience nursing and I am highly grateful for that. I learned the basics of nursing and I believe it was a good first step. I had clinical days and I know this helped me with speaking to the patients. At the end of the semester, I earned my CNA certification. Going through this process made me realize that I do not just want to be a CNA and that I still want to go further with nursing. I want to become a nurse so that I can help mothers and their babies. I also want to become a nurse so that I can provide for myself. Nursing is a very good job no matter what field you go into. And if you go all the way, you're sure to always have a job. I do not see myself doing anything else other than nursing. I believe that I have come a long way with nursing even though I am currently only in my first year of college. There is not a day that goes by where I am not thinking of my future and it always involves nursing.

Pursuing a career in nursing would benefit my community by giving the older people hope, showing the younger kids that if I can do it they can too, and I could be a big help to my family. Becoming a nurse will not only benefit others in my community but will also benefit me. My future of becoming a nurse has been on my mind for years and I can not wait until I finally reach my goal. I have so many people supporting me; family and friends. I want to be able to give back to everyone who helped me and pushed me when I felt I would not be able to make it. I would be able to give back to my community by helping the people here who need it. Many of the older people in my town look at the younger kids to help make a difference and become something for themselves. They always tell us to not give up and keep pushing. I always hear "You should not want to stay in this small town for the rest of your life." The elderly love to help uplift the younger generation. They want us to go out and see new things and live a good life. Just them knowing that we are out on our own doing good in life is enough to make them smile. Not only do the elderly look up to us but also the younger kids. They are always watching and paying attention. Some kids look at us as older kids and wish to be just like us. I want them to see that they can make it far in life and not think that Georgiana is where it stops at. There is so much more out there in the world and as the elderly loves to say, "The children are our future." And I believe they are. My family is my number one supporter. They are always behind me with every step I take. With a career in nursing, I will be able to care for my family. I would be able to buy my brother all the things he is always asking me for. I know that I can trust my family to help me whenever it is needed; therefore, I want to give back to them in any way that I can. I enjoy helping people and that is why I chose this career path.

During my senior year of high school, I was able to join a nursing class and earn my CNA certification from Reid State Technical College. This was a very fun experience and it even allowed me to have a look into the nursing world. I always knew I wanted to be a nurse; however, I also knew that I had to choose a career that I enjoyed. I enjoy helping others and doing new things. Being a nurse you are bound to see something new. As a child, I was always around babies since my grandmother worked at a daycare. I believe this has some responsibility on why I want to become a nurse. Specifically, I want to become a Labor and Delivery or NICU nurse. I do love babies and being able to help a mother bring her child into this world is something that I would very much enjoy every day. Once I have had enough experience, I plan to go into Travel Nursing. Nursing has always been on my mind and it excites me to learn new things about it. I have done so much research on nursing, travel nursing, labor and delivery nursing, etc. Still today I am always looking up things about nursing. Whether it is about regular nursing, nursing classes, or general studies. I am always looking for something that will help me because I know how hard nursing is. Recently I just finished my first semester at Lurleen B.Wallace Community College and I always felt like I was not doing well enough, mainly in my biology class. In the end, I did pass all my classes, I just wish I did better. When I become a nurse, I want to be the nurse that everybody loves and never has a problem out of. I want to give people the best care and know that they trust me. As a future black nurse at that. I believe that I will get to where I want to be in life but right now I am doing whatever it takes for me to get there. Just being able to care for others and knowing that I am the reason they feel protected and comfortable makes me feel like a better person. I am always constantly pushing myself to do better than last time. I have lots of family and friends who support me and I know they will not let me give up.