I believe I was meant to be psychiatric nurse practitioner. Hi, my name is Brittany Brown and I have been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. I didn’t always carry this heavy diagnosis in my childhood, teens, and early twenties. I was diagnosed in the late twenties. I never knew how strong your mind can be until I experienced the illness myself. Thank goodness for my family that helped me through it. I remember this time in my life before I was properly medicated as the darkest darkness I’ve ever known. The most mental pain and torture that I would never want anyone to go through. Schizophrenia is something that is only truly understood when you have it yourself. I was withdrawing from family, hearing my name when no one was around, seeing things pop up out of thin air, and believing these story lines in my head that weren’t true. I was certainly going mad. I was raised southern Baptist so in my head I believed that I was seeing into the spiritual realm like I had a gift. I couldn’t understand what was happening to me. My family interviewed and I was hospitalized and spent three nights in a mental institution. I still believed my delusions and I didn’t understand why I was there. All I can say, is thank God for modern day medicine. I started taking olanzapine and I slowly started coming back to myself. I was the girl that I use to be, I could remember all my delusions but I identified them as delusions now and didn’t believe them anymore. This affected so many things in my life, in that couple of years before I was diagnosed and medicated, I couldn’t hold down a job, I was getting into frequent car wrecks, my family was so upset and didn’t know where to turn. It was the worse time of my life. I was helpless and hurting so bad. I would like to help people going through the same thing. I believed at the time that I didn’t need to be medicated and everyone was against me. I am sure there are people like that and I could be the person that lets them know that I lived the nightmare and came out on the other side. I can truly sympathize with mental health issues and understand them. I would love to bring healing to people by being a nurse in the mental health field. Some may say that this diagnosis would make me a bad nurse but I beg to differ. The medication I’m on has made me better than ever. I make better grades, my personal relationships are stronger, I’m well rested, and lastly I have a strong desire to help anyone suffering from the same thing. Please consider me for this scholarship.

My career goals as a nurse would be to work in the mental health field. I decided to pursue nursing because to me nursing is helping each other through life. Life isn’t always a walk in the park and we need each other to survive, grow, and flourish. One of my hardships that I had to overcome would be my mental diagnosis at the age of 29. I was diagnosed with the big word that I had only heard in the scary movies. Yep that’s right, it was schizophrenia. I couldn’t believe that I had somehow gotten this awful diagnosis. It makes sense now, I was withdrawing from family, friends, and work. I was making storylines in my head that weren’t real. I was seeing and hearing things that weren’t there. In the scary movies they make it seem like the person with schizophrenia is the scary one but in my experience it is scary for the person who has it. As I spoke to a therapist and got my medications right I wondered if I would ever be normal again. It was during this time that I realized how much more I wanted to be a nurse. I would be able to share my story with others who may not want to take the medication or who think they can manage without it. I learned that my family and friends were my nurses in that horrible time in my life. It happened during the Covid pandemic and the protests that everyone heard about. It happened at the worse time possible. I want to be a nurse because I want to do more than just diagnosis body aches and pains. I want to focus on individuals brains. People are suffering from mental illnesses more than ever. I want to be that person that helps them know happy days. I believe we get back what we put into the world and I want to be that leading light. I want to be just like Patch Adams in that 90s movie. If you haven’t watched it then I suggest you do. It’s one of those feel good movies that everyone would love. If I can relate to my patients with my own personal experience then that will make me an even better nurse. I think it happened for a reason. Sometimes I get upset that I’m in my 30s and still pursing nursing, wishing I was done by now. Now I think there is a reason I’m not done yet, I had to have real life experiences to shape and mold me for the role. I am grateful for my diagnosis now, it’s a bittersweet revelation. I believe that God always has a plan for each and every one of our lives and I’m so grateful for mine. As I read this scholarship requirement I saw the scripture "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." Matthew 4:19. Sometimes I forget that God is in control and I don’t have to understand everything about my diagnosis but I can be there for others struggling with the same things that I struggled with. I can lead people back into the light if they are in the darkness. My therapists lead me back into the light after I sat in darkness alone and I would love to be that person to someone in the future. A listening hear is what we all need sometimes. I want to be a nurse because it’s a calling, not a job to me but something I know I’m meant to do. Please help me accomplish this.

My career goals as a nurse would be to work in the mental health field. I decided to pursue nursing because to me nursing is helping each other through life. Life isn’t always a walk in the park and we need each other to survive, grow, and flourish. One of my hardships that I had to overcome would be my mental diagnosis at the age of 29. I was diagnosed with the big word that I had only heard in the scary movies. Yep that’s right, it was schizophrenia. I couldn’t believe that I had somehow gotten this awful diagnosis. It makes sense now, I was withdrawing from family, friends, and work. I was making storylines in my head that weren’t real. I was seeing and hearing things that weren’t there. In the scary movies they make it seem like the person with schizophrenia is the scary one but in my experience it is scary for the person who has it. As I spoke to a therapist and got my medications right I wondered if I would ever be normal again. It was during this time that I realized how much more I wanted to be a nurse. I would be able to share my story with others who may not want to take the medication or who think they can manage without it. I learned that my family and friends were my nurses in that horrible time in my life. It happened during the Covid pandemic and the protests that everyone heard about. It happened at the worse time possible. I want to be a nurse because I want to do more than just diagnosis body aches and pains. I want to focus on individuals brains. People are suffering from mental illnesses more than ever. I want to be that person that helps them know happy days. I believe we get back what we put into the world and I want to be that leading light. I want to be just like Patch Adams in that 90s movie. If you haven’t watched it then I suggest you do. It’s one of those feel good movies that everyone would love. If I can relate to my patients with my own personal experience then that will make me an even better nurse. I think it happened for a reason. Sometimes I get upset that I’m in my 30s and still pursing nursing, wishing I was done by now. Now I think there is a reason I’m not done yet, I had to have real life experiences to shape and mold me for the role. I am grateful for my diagnosis now, it’s a bittersweet revelation. I believe that God always has a plan for each and every one of our lives and I’m so grateful for mine. As I read this scholarship requirement I saw the scripture "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." Matthew 4:19. Sometimes I forget that God is in control and I don’t have to understand everything about my diagnosis but I can be there for others struggling with the same things that I struggled with. I can lead people back into the light if they are in the darkness. My therapists lead me back into the light after I sat in darkness alone and I would love to be that person to someone in the future. A listening hear is what we all need sometimes. I want to be a nurse because it’s a calling, not a job to me but something I know I’m meant to do. Please help me accomplish this.

My career goals as a nurse would be to work in the mental health field. I decided to pursue nursing because to me nursing is helping each other through life. Life isn’t always a walk in the park and we need each other to survive, grow, and flourish. One of my hardships that I had to overcome would be my mental diagnosis at the age of 29. I was diagnosed with the big word that I had only heard in the scary movies. Yep that’s right, it was schizophrenia. I couldn’t believe that I had somehow gotten this awful diagnosis. It makes sense now, I was withdrawing from family, friends, and work. I was making storylines in my head that weren’t real. I was seeing and hearing things that weren’t there. In the scary movies they make it seem like the person with schizophrenia is the scary one but in my experience it is scary for the person who has it. As I spoke to a therapist and got my medications right I wondered if I would ever be normal again. It was during this time that I realized how much more I wanted to be a nurse. I would be able to share my story with others who may not want to take the medication or who think they can manage without it. I learned that my family and friends were my nurses in that horrible time in my life. It happened during the Covid pandemic and the protests that everyone heard about. It happened at the worse time possible. I want to be a nurse because I want to do more than just diagnosis body aches and pains. I want to focus on individuals brains. People are suffering from mental illnesses more than ever. I want to be that person that helps them know happy days. I believe we get back what we put into the world and I want to be that leading light. I want to be just like Patch Adams in that 90s movie. If you haven’t watched it then I suggest you do. It’s one of those feel good movies that everyone would love. If I can relate to my patients with my own personal experience then that will make me an even better nurse. I think it happened for a reason. Sometimes I get upset that I’m in my 30s and still pursing nursing, wishing I was done by now. Now I think there is a reason I’m not done yet, I had to have real life experiences to shape and mold me for the role. I am grateful for my diagnosis now, it’s a bittersweet revelation. I believe that God always has a plan for each and every one of our lives and I’m so grateful for mine. As I read this scholarship requirement I saw the scripture "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." Matthew 4:19. Sometimes I forget that God is in control and I don’t have to understand everything about my diagnosis but I can be there for others struggling with the same things that I struggled with. I can lead people back into the light if they are in the darkness. My therapists lead me back into the light after I sat in darkness alone and I would love to be that person to someone in the future. A listening hear is what we all need sometimes. I want to be a nurse because it’s a calling, not a job to me but something I know I’m meant to do. Please help me accomplish this.

My career goals as a nurse would be to work in the mental health field. I decided to pursue nursing because to me nursing is helping each other through life. Life isn’t always a walk in the park and we need each other to survive, grow, and flourish. One of my hardships that I had to overcome would be my mental diagnosis at the age of 29. I was diagnosed with the big word that I had only heard in the scary movies. Yep that’s right, it was schizophrenia. I couldn’t believe that I had somehow gotten this awful diagnosis. It makes sense now, I was withdrawing from family, friends, and work. I was making storylines in my head that weren’t real. I was seeing and hearing things that weren’t there. In the scary movies they make it seem like the person with schizophrenia is the scary one but in my experience it is scary for the person who has it. As I spoke to a therapist and got my medications right I wondered if I would ever be normal again. It was during this time that I realized how much more I wanted to be a nurse. I would be able to share my story with others who may not want to take the medication or who think they can manage without it. I learned that my family and friends were my nurses in that horrible time in my life. It happened during the Covid pandemic and the protests that everyone heard about. It happened at the worse time possible. I want to be a nurse because I want to do more than just diagnosis body aches and pains. I want to focus on individuals brains. People are suffering from mental illnesses more than ever. I want to be that person that helps them know happy days. I believe we get back what we put into the world and I want to be that leading light. I want to be just like Patch Adams in that 90s movie. If you haven’t watched it then I suggest you do. It’s one of those feel good movies that everyone would love. If I can relate to my patients with my own personal experience then that will make me an even better nurse. I think it happened for a reason. Sometimes I get upset that I’m in my 30s and still pursing nursing, wishing I was done by now. Now I think there is a reason I’m not done yet, I had to have real life experiences to shape and mold me for the role. I am grateful for my diagnosis now, it’s a bittersweet revelation.