From the time my I was 5 years old and I spent time with my younger brother in the hospital, I always knew I wanted to be a nurse. I went off to college confident that I knew my life path, but somehow I wasn't prepared for the amount of hard work and competition that nursing at my college would present. Anatomy was my breaking point. I wasn't passing after the first few weeks of class, so I dropped the course, changed my major and moved on. I truly didn’t believe I was smart enough to be a nurse. That perceived failure stuck with me for many years. I did graduate with a degree in public health, but my dream of being a nurse was buried. Finding a job in public health with only a bachelor’s degree was near impossible, so I found myself working as a medical assistant in a primary care office instead. I then started my family. Five kids and many years later, I found myself still working as a medical assistant, but something began to change for me. I was doing essentially the same work as the nurses in the office, but being paid significantly less. Encouraged by my family, friends, coworkers and the doctor I work for, I decided to try again to reach my dream of becoming a nurse. My first hurdle was the dreaded Anatomy class. I was so scared. I wasn’t sure I could do it, but somehow my determination had changed. I was doing this for me, and to show my kids not to be afraid of failure, and to support my growing family. I ended up with an A in anatomy and was accepted into the nursing program. I eventually graduated with honors with my ADN and received my RN license. Working as a nurse has been a dream. I love my patients. I’ve been able to create a hypertension program at my office to help our patients better control their blood pressure. As my experience has grown, I have an increased desire to help patients and help them maintain their best health. My biggest hurdle to my success was my own fear of failure. Now that I know that, nothing can stop me! Last year I started an RN to MSN program at Walden University and I am on a path to become a family nurse practitioner. I’m working on establishing a new program at my work to help patients that want to lose weight to improve their health. I want to continue my passion for preventive health when I become a family nurse practitioner. Nothing can stop me because I know where my strengths lie. I’m so excited for this next step in my path, and I hope my story can inspire my kids to never give up on their dreams. Reading about Cindy resonated with me. She sounds like someone I would have been friends with. I live in the Chicago suburbs, I love working as a nurse and I am always looking for ways to improve my education and help others. I also love to garden and spent several years doing craft shows selling my pressed flower art. Going for my Nurse practitioner license is one of the hardest things I've ever done and I would be honored to continue Cindy's legacy through scholarship.

Nature is the best healer. Many years ago, I was invited to class on pressing flowers. I had never heard of it before and was captivated by the idea that I could preserve a flower in its most beautiful moment! I practiced and experimented and found it didn’t take long to have more pressed flowers than I knew what to do with. That started a hobby and passion that continues to this day. I started with pressed flowers on cards, then I created intricate landscapes out of pressed foliage. Then I played with pressed flowers between pieces of glass. I got pretty good at creating beautiful things and started entering craft shows. Then I created my own website and sold online. I loved sharing the beauty of nature with others and the proceeds helped fund Christmas for my 5 kids. Over time, I’ve had less time to create art with nature, but it has continued to bless my life. I love to garden and spend time outdoors. During the pandemic, I found myself struggling with mental health. One of the ways I found peace was by starting an indoor succulent garden. Whenever I am stressed, I find that reconnecting with nature brings a peace that can’t be duplicated any other way.

I didn’t think it would ever be me. I was the strong one. I was the support system. I was the one people came to when they were struggling. My husband has had depression for as long as I’ve known him. Autism runs in his family and the depression seems to be intertwined with it. I don’t remember the year, but we had 5 very young children and my husband lost his job. We were both worried, but he took it very hard. He felt out-of-control and it took a hospitalization to set things right. My best girl friend wasn’t responding to my calls like usual and seemed to be in a dark place. I kept reaching out and encouraging her to restart the medication she had stopped. My daughter reached her teen years and I could see that she was struggling. She has sound sensitivity that became a huge obstacle in her life and her hope for normalcy was receding. I got her to a therapist and doctor and though the sensitivity remains, her mood stabilized in time and with medication. Another daughter reached her teen years and depression and severe anxiety with panic attacks took hold of her life. She didn’t like the counselor and had severe side effects with medication. We tried phone apps, supplements and eventually found a new counselor and different medications. Things aren’t totally stable yet, but I will keep working with her and our team to find a way for her to feel peace. I didn’t think it would ever be me. I guess that is why it took a long time for me to recognize the symptoms in myself. I always have had a bit of the blues during the winter, but nothing that interrupted my life. That year was different. I had a huge responsibility put on me that I felt very inadequate to manage. I had numerous people helping me with the event, but I could not see my way through it and I couldn’t manage to start anything. In the end, I lost control and gave the leadership to someone else. Unfortunately, this just added guilt to the dark feelings that were building. I was crying all the time over everything, but I still thought it was just my situation and it would get better. But it didn’t. It became so difficult to keep going. I didn’t enjoy the things I used to. I started getting anxiety and panic attacks. My family was so supportive, but I was stubborn and I didn’t think I needed professional help to get through it. After 5 agonizing months, I went to the doctor to ask for help. After less than 2 weeks on a new medication, I felt the fog lifting. Somehow, I had missed the mark. It was OK for everyone around me to have mental health issues and to get help, but I didn’t think the same rules applied to me. I thought I was stronger. I didn’t have a family history of depression, so I thought I was immune. I was wrong and medication saved my life. It allowed me to be myself again. I am currently in school to become a nurse practitioner and I am so grateful for all of my past experiences with mental health. I now recognize how difficult it can be to be in that place, and how difficult it is to finally ask for help. There is no shame in medication and there’s no shame in trying other alternatives. They say nurses make horrible patients and I suppose I understand that more than ever. I wouldn’t trade my experiences for anything because they have made me so much more empathetic as a health care provider. Whether it's depression, cancer or hypertension, it's easy to think "it can’t happen to me". It's so vitally important to acknowledge that all kinds of medical issues can and do happen to all of us. Perhaps more importantly, there are medications, therapies and supports available that can help you feel better and live healthier.

Taekwondo is a hobby that sort of snuck up on me. I am a mother to 5 kids and I work full time, so "free time" was rather elusive. My daughter started taekwondo first and in all honesty I was mad at my husband for signing her up. The program she was in was expensive and required a contract and I was worried about our ability to pay for it. I suppose it’s all about priorities and in the end, the money was there and taekwondo transformed my daughter. I saw her gain strength and confidence I didn't think was possible. I was taking her to class three times a week and watching her classes each time. I was also struggling with myself. Anxiety and depression were creeping in and I wanted so badly to do something active for myself. I would not have chosen taekwondo as my activity, but we were already paying their family fee and it wouldn't cost any more up front for me to join. I already was committed to the time it would need since I was there watching. I decided to join simply because it seemed like a logical choice to help me get some exercise. At first, I felt so out of place. I didn't really like the structure, yelling with kicks and punches felt unnatural, the memorization was hard and I was out of shape! Despite the difficulties, I kept going to the classes. I found that I really enjoyed spending time with my daughter and having something in common to talk about. I got stronger and had more endurance and I was amazed that I could do more than I thought. The movements got easier with repetition and my confidence grew. What started as a desperate attempt to get fit with as little cost as possible has blossomed into such a blessing. I've been doing taekwondo for about 5 years now. In that time I've switched dojo's and navigated a pandemic. My relationship with my daughter has improved and several of my other kids have now joined as well. I'm a deputy black belt holder, which means I'm a few testings away from my first-degree black belt. I’m not afraid to sweat, or yell, or defend myself. I've learned confidence, gained strength, flexibility and endurance. The emphasis on discipline, focus, confidence, respect and integrity have weaved their way into every aspect of my life and made me a better person.

I was 18 years old, right out of high school, and college was so much harder than I thought it would be. I had always wanted to be a nurse, but the coursework was intense and I wasn't getting the straight A's that I had in high school. Anatomy was my breaking point. I wasn't passing after the first few weeks of class, so I dropped the course, changed my major and moved on. I truly didn’t believe I was smart enough to be a nurse. That perceived failure stuck with me for many years. I did graduate with a degree in public health, but my dream of being a nurse was buried. Finding a job in public health with only a bachelor’s degree was near impossible, so I found myself working as a medical assistant in a primary care office instead. My family became my highest priority. Five kids later, and still working as a medical assistant, something began to change for me. I was doing essentially the same work as the nurses in the office, but being paid significantly less. Encouraged by my family, friends, coworkers and the doctor I work for, I decided to try again to reach my dream of becoming a nurse. My first hurdle was the dreaded Anatomy class. I was so scared. I wasn’t sure I could do it, but somehow my determination had changed. I was doing this for me, and to show my kids not to be afraid of failure, and to support my growing family. I ended up with an A in anatomy and was accepted into the nursing program. I eventually graduated with honors with my ADN and my RN license. Working as a nurse has been a dream. I love my patients. I’ve been able to create a hypertension program at my office to help our patients better control their blood pressure. As my experience has grown, I have an increased desire to help patients and help them maintain their best health. My biggest hurdle to my success was my own fear of failure. Now that I know that, nothing can stop me! Last year I started an RN to MSN program at Walden University and I am on a path to become a family nurse practitioner. I’m working on establishing a new program at my work to help patients that want to lose weight to improve their health. I want to continue my passion for preventive health when I become a family nurse practitioner. Nothing can stop me because I know where my strengths lie. I’m so excited for this next step in my path, and I hope my story can inspire my kids to never give up on their dreams.