Ambition, to me, has never been about recognition alone, but about using my abilities to serve others in moments when they need it most. Throughout my high school career at Claude, I have pursued excellence academically, athletically, and through leadership, not only to challenge myself but to prepare for a future dedicated to saving lives. As the salutatorian of my class, I have learned that discipline, perseverance, and compassion are all essential qualities that I plan to carry with me as a future flight nurse. My leadership roles have played a significant role in shaping my character and sense of responsibility. Serving as Vice President of my class and Vice President of Student Council taught me how to lead with integrity, listen to others, and make decisions that positively affect a community. I further developed these skills as a member of the Superintendent's Team and the Youth Advisory Board, where I was entrusted with contributing ideas and feedback that influenced the school and students' initiatives. These experiences showed me that leadership is not about authority, but about service and accountability. Academics have always been a priority for me, and I have continuously sought opportunities to challenge myself. As a member of the National Honor Society and the National Society of High School Scholars, I balanced academic rigor with service. Through Academic UIL, I advanced to the regional level, demonstrating my commitment to academic excellence and perseverance under pressure. Additionally, as an active member of the Gifted and Talented program and the arts program, and through participation in multiple competitions, I developed creativity, confidence, and discipline skills that translate directly into high-stakes, fast-paced environments. Athletics have also shaped who I am today. I have participated in Varsity softball, cross country, and golf since my freshman year, learning the importance of teamwork, resilience, and mental toughness. Sports taught me how to remain focused during stressful situations, recover from setbacks, and push beyond my limits-qualities that are essential in emergency medical settings. My involvement in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes further strengthened my moral foundation and reinforced the importance of faith, service, and compassion. My aspiration to become a flight nurse is rooted in my desire to make an immediate and tangible impact on people's lives. Flight nurses serve patients during their most critical moments, providing life-saving care when time is limited and conditions are unpredictable. I am driven by the responsibility that comes with being a calm, skilled presence in emergencies and by the opportunity to bring hope to my patients and their families during times of crisis. My selection for an internship at Trinity Fellowship Church reinforced my calling to serve others selflessly and strengthened my desire to pursue a career centered on care and compassion. Through education, leadership, and service, I have worked diligently to prepare myself for a future in healthcare. With the support of this scholarship, I will continue pursuing my goal of becoming a flight nurse-using my ambition and drive to make a lasting, life-saving impact on the world.

My passion for becoming a nurse started when I was young, before I ever had any idea of the science and medicine behind it. For as long as I can remember, my papa has been the person who taught me what it takes to embody courage, compassion, and purpose. As a flight paramedic for 20 years and later the director of Lifestar Flights, he spent his life running into storms that most people would back down from. Being in his position was demanding, not only requiring exceptional medical skill but also the ability to make critical decisions quickly and to remain composed in situations where every second could be life-or-death. Growing up watching him dedicate himself so fully to others has helped shape the person I am, and I am still becoming. He truly has been a huge inspiration for me to follow my biggest ambitions and to become a flight nurse. Over time, I have learned that nursing will never just be considered a job; it is much more than that. Through listening to my papa’s experience, I understood how censorious every moment can be when someone else's life is at stake. I learned that to be a nurse, not only does it require you to be hardworking and skillful, but you also have to embody empathy, patience, and a willingness to show up for your patients. These are some of the values that describe my passion for nursing. I want to be the nurse who will remain calm and collected in the midst of a crisis, to be able to communicate with not only my co-workers but my patients, and to be comforting to patients and their family members in some of the hardest times of their lives. Going into nursing allows me to exhibit my abilities, but also to show human compassion and connection. As I continue my education on the collegiate level, I plan to obtain my Master's in Science of Nursing to be able to provide the best patient care. During my time at school, I want to better my characteristics that would make me a good nurse, such as being emotionally resilient, showing leadership, teamwork, and critical thinking. I will contribute to the nursing career by being a good person and will always have my patients' best interests in mind. My goal is to become a flight nurse, and I plan to bring my passion into the air medical field. I hope to provide exceptional care for every patient when it is needed most. Not only do I want to be a committed flight nurse, but I also want to be able to mentor future nurses. Being a good role model to someone who was once you can be life-changing. There has been an abundant amount of medical professionals that have been willing to mentor me at such a young age; my goal one day is to pass that along to the next generation. My papa’s lifetime of commitment to his patients has shown me what it means to truly dedicate yourself to something you love. My passion for nursing grows every day as I learn more about the impact that I can have on others. This career is an opportunity to be a healer, and not everyone can take it. I plan to be one of the select few to take the leap and follow my dreams. Becoming a flight nurse is my biggest aspiration, but being able to positively affect the medical world is my purpose.

By obtaining my nursing degree and becoming a Trauma Nurse, I will be put on the front line and be expected to perform seamlessly. As I see each and every patient I want to be able to treat them as well as I possibly can. Learning bedside manner in my Patient Care Technician class has equipped me to be ready for everything and how to learn to have a connection with your patient in the condition they are undergoing. As I see everything that rolls into the Emergency Room I will have a better understanding that everyone has something going on. I will learn that not everything going on in my life is as bad as it may seem. Nursing will impact me in every aspect of the job, from the people that I see that are able to overcome their obstacles and walk out healthy, to the less fortunate, who might not make it out of the hospital. Everywhere you go you leave an impact, and you might not realize it, but someone is always watching. I want to leave a positive mark on every person I encounter no matter the circumstances. Actions speak volumes, especially to people recovering. Not only will I be working with patients but with their families that may be in the process of a life changing event. Learning to be compassionate and understanding to everyone you engage with in these stressful situations will be beneficial for both parties. Especially in the Emergency Room I will be seeing and handling the worst of the worst scenarios and everyone handles trauma differently, which you must be aware of different reactions to life altering traumas. As I walked into my Junior year of Highschool I was dead set on going to college to become an Orthodontist. Little did I know my Patient Care Technician teacher would influence me to change my whole plan for the future. I was heavily impacted by her way of teaching and seeing her passion for being a nurse and getting to help others was remarkable. She truly inspired me to continue in nursing after graduation. That one person left such a positive impact on my life and I aim to do the same throughout my career. One positive encounter has the power to affect everyone they come across and I do not want to be remembered as the mean nurse who was obviously having a bad day. I want to be remembered for being easy to work with, efficient, kind, and that there was never a doubt that I could not get the job done and in an appropriate, effective way. One of the hurdles my family and I are still working to get over was when my uncle committed suicide. Having someone that played such a huge role in my life be gone in a blink of an eye with no explanation and without saying goodbye hurts. It was very hard on myself and my family not being able to drive down the street and seeing my uncle. It still does not feel real that he is gone today but that is something that has brought the rest of my family closer together. We all lost someone we love deeply and had to work together as a family to overcome the adversity of the situation.

Going into high school I wanted to do everything that was offered, I learned quickly that it was almost impossible to manage all of that. Balancing stock show, with running cross country, and being an athletic trainer for the football team in the fall season alone. To playing golf, and softball in the spring, I learned the importance of an email. Communication goes along way and shows character when you take the time to request work ahead of time before leaving. This has helped prepare me for the rest of my life as I go into new jobs and pursue higher education. Participating in all these activities led me to be at school at best once a week especially during the spring season. Although I was busy playing for my school I had to prioritize being a student-athlete over a athlete-student. Getting out of practice after dinner or getting home from games past midnight has helped me to be more appreciative towards the community that came out to support and, towards teachers who were willing to work with you to help you catch up and still learn. Playing softball at a 1a is not geographically friendly, as not every 1a school offers softball. I have had teachers drive me from weather delayed playoff games across the Panhandle at the earliest hours of the morning to compete at regional UIL the next day bright and early. This shows how much a community can come together to make everything possible for each kid. I take pride in my performance on and off the field or course as I uphold my salutatorian ranking and my vice-presidency position of my class and of Student Council, along with being an avid member of National Honors Society, and being inducted into the National Society of High School Honors which is selected purely on grades and behavior. Not only do I have to balance missing school for my own sporting events, I have to manage my time as a head coaches kid to be able to support my dad and the events he coaches. I have been a coaches kid my whole life and it was never an option or question as to which sporting events I would be attending. As I came into high school it was hard for my dad and I to be able to support each other due to playing with conflicting schedules, especially during baseball and softball season. Although waving to each other from separate fields was not the same as sitting in the bleachers it helped me come to the understanding that it is the small efforts that truly matter. I would not trade my small town experience for big town living any day. Being raised in such a small town has brought me up as a better person than I ever could have been with out these experiences. I am a more well-rounded individual with life and practical experiences.

I have grown up around golf my entire life, from driving my Papa on the golf cart, to learning the course like the back of my hand, where we are avid members at the Clarendon Country Club. I have participated in High School golf since I was a freshman. I advanced to the regional level all three years of my career so far and have been district champion two years in a row. My Papa has had a heavy influence on my goals that I have set for myself. He was a flight paramedic for twenty years, which has encouraged me to pursue my dream of becoming a flight nurse. Golf provides an ideal setting for networking, on a personal and professional level. Golf has given me the opportunity to gain a close friend from a neighboring town, by being paired together in a high school golf tournament. I am excited for years of future possibilities to develop and strengthen relationships on the golf course. I know that with my career goal of being a trauma level nurse will be accompanied by a high demand of stress, and golf can be used as a great and healthy outlet for that. Prioritizing my mental health in this field, it is vital that I pour into myself so that I will be able to readily pour into others. I believe I am a great candidate to receive the Samuel D. Hartley Memorial Scholarship, as I love the game of golf and all the ups and downs it has to offer. Golf teaches you how to overcome challenges and persevere through them. The way the game is played is always forward which can apply to life as well; as long as you are going forward and looking for a positive in any situation you do not have time to dwell on the past. This is a game of strategy and you must always be playing in the moment, no matter where your ball lands. I have lots of aspirations I want to achieve in my lifetime, but I also want to be able to focus on the now and stay positive and uplifting; that is how I plan to make a difference. Golf has taught me lots of lessons, some frustrating and some rewarding, but at the end of the day it has made me a better person. I will continue to play as I get older, as I press on to learn from the sport everyday.

Attending a small school means you have the same teachers throughout all of high school. You learn to understand their teaching method, and you also get to know them as a person. Having a teacher who has left an impact on you is magical. They understand you as an individual, not just as a student. I have had many teachers, but only a few have helped shape me into the person I am today and the person I am becoming. That teacher, for me, was new to the district this year, but I will look up to for the rest of my life, Mrs. Segura - my Patient Care Technician teacher. Her way of teaching was so unique and special. She did not just assign chapters to read but made everything interactive with videos and labs. Mrs. Segura helped to make all of her lessons come to life and to make sure I truly understood. Even if I did not get what she was teaching, she helped break it down in terms that I could better understand. I had never been particularly interested in pursuing my degree in nursing until I took her class; her passion for being a nurse was contagious. Before I walked into her classroom, I was dead set on being an Orthodontist. due to her, I began to see how nurses impact the world and that I can do the same thing. More than just a teacher, Mrs. Segura was my mentor. With our school being so small, I was the only student in her class. We got to know each other pretty well after the year was over. Before class started each day, we would spend time just talking, and that stuck with me how she genuinely cared about my life. She wanted to get to know me and my personality, not just how I performed academically. Mrs. Segura believes in my potential and helps me find myself when I am feeling lost. There have been multiple times when I was struggling with mean girls, and she would listen to whatever I had to say, she would then help me regain my level head and calm down. This helped me to learn that what others think of you does not mean anything if you do not let it. People always have something to say, so ignore it, take the high road, and live your life. I was able to learn passionately with Mrs. Segura, and how she taught me applied to how I was living outside of school. The strength words carry, the importance of always being kind because you never know someone’s story, and how to trust in yourself. Years from now, I will remember the lessons not just about nursing but about life. Mrs. Segura proved that being able to experience one good teacher has the power to change the course of one student's life, and I will be forever grateful for the impact she had on my life.

My name is Brooklyn Lemons, Brook for short. I love all things to do with summer and spending time outside, I am always down to go to a country concert or watch 80s movies, especially The Goonies. Playing softball has been a huge part of shaping me into who I am today and attempting to play golf has taught me that I am a perfectionist and when I do something wrong I want to understand why it is wrong and want to know how to fix it immediately. Up until I walked into my Junior year of Highschool I was dead set on becoming an orthodontist. Little did I know that one person would have such an impact on my life to completely change the path I had set myself on. My Patient Care Technician teacher influenced me to want to be like her when I grow up, she expresses so much passion and love for being a nurse and now a teacher and you can tell she puts her whole heart into what she does. That is when I decided I wanted to be a nurse. Not only do I want to be a nurse but I want to leave a positive impact on every person I encounter along my journey. When I tell people that my goal in life is to become a flight nurse they look at me like I am crazy. Yes, it may seem outlandish that I want to spend my days on a helicopter seeing the worst of the worst traumas but it is all for a reason. I want to help anyone and everyone, being on the frontline of people who need the most help is where I know I can be the most useful. Having the opportunity to leave an impact on everyone I encounter is how I want to spend my life. All the actions you take and words you mutter have meaning and I want people to know their worth. My grandfather was a flight paramedic for twenty years and when I told him this is the path I have decided to take he strongly urged me against it. I told him that nothing has ever pulled on my heart like being a flight nurse and being able to see and experience things like this job will bring. I know that I am more than capable of reaching my goals, the sky is the limit and that is where I plan to be one day. Having confidence in my abilities will come with experience but I know when I am asked to do a job I will get it done and do it the best way possible. Staying calm, level-headed, and working seamlessly and efficiently will not only help me in these high stress situations, but also the crew I am working with and the person we are working on. I am itching with excitement to be able to achieve my dream. I will stay dedicated and work hard to be able to have the opportunity to become a nurse.