I always thought I had my life all figured out. I thought I knew what I wanted to do, and I would get in and out of school and start working. I should have known something was wrong when I sat down to think about it thoroughly: my mind couldn't grasp what I had in mind. A time that I persevered through a life obstacle was changing my major. I've always wanted to be a nurse, specifically a postpartum nurse because it sounds fun, and it's such a rewarding job, after all my mother is a nurse. I could be around babies and help as many mothers in need as I could get my hands on. But after careful thoughts and consideration, I realized that I can still love Nursing but from afar. I appreciate and applaud all nurses, but it seems smaller than my wings can fly. I'm taking a chance and have changed my major to Film Studies and minoring in Food Studies instead of Nursing. I love the dream of being behind cameras again. After all, I loved doing it a whole year and a half in high school. Maybe I'll be on set filming a movie of my dream one day. I've always had a passion for cooking and baking. I can even see myself in the future opening up a bakery. I love to talk and have an outstanding love for houses and interior design, so I want to be a Realtor. To answer the question once again, I'm persevering in life by dreaming big and living by faith. No one knows where I'll be in the next 10 or 20 years from now. I can only imagine that I'll be happy and grateful that I made this change.

Hello! My name is Da’Jean Williams. I am a senior at Destrehan High School. I am a very proud African American lady. I take a lot of pride in my heritage and stand up for my brothers and sisters because Black Lives Still Matter. I am very passionate about helping everyone in need. I have volunteered at Ochsner Hospital and will continue to do so when Covid-19 goes away. I am pursuing my education at Dillard University, an HBCU in New Orleans, Louisiana. I wish to major in Nursing and acquire my Bachelor’s degree. I will then continue to become a Labor and Delivery Nurse and help deliver babies and assist mothers. I first knew that I wanted to be a medical professional when I helped keep my autistic brother Terrance Scott Jr. (TJ) awake while driving to the nearest hospital after he suddenly became sick. Throughout his entire life, he’s never been able to take care of himself or speak due to his disorder. My mother was his primary care provider and I would help when needed. I kept him responsive and aware of his surroundings so that we could make it to the hospital and we could let the ER nurses take over. Through the heart racing, emotional roller-coaster of getting him to the hospital, I lost my older brother on August 28, 2012, at the age of 9 years old. He suffered a ruptured stomach and it was not caught by the doctors at the many hospitals he attended. I want to help bring as many babies into this world and be a part of such a magical and huge step in many lives. I don’t want what happened to my brother which was something out of my control to happen to anyone on my watch. I am dreaming and doing big in life because I am not only pursuing my life to be a Labor and Delivery nurse but I also want to eventually start a small business in the cosmetic industry by doing nails. I also have a passion for the film industry. I worked with Press Play Productions for a year and took many classes in school to make my own films and films with my class. I created scripts, filmed videos, edited the videos, and sent them to clients. With this experience, I even went as far as starting my own Youtube channel to experience new things in life and to make my name known by others. I am bettering the life of myself and others around me by volunteering, helping nonprofit organizations, and bringing awareness to things that need to be acknowledged. I pride myself on expressing the true issues on my YouTube channel. I have spoken out on the Black Lives Matter movement and on a potential school that could be racist by experience. I am bettering myself by focusing on school and keeping my head up. I am helping those around me find their way in life and narrowing down what they want to do for the next couple of years. I am making sure that I acknowledge the ones that are helping us conquer Covid-19 and showing my gratitude.

I am a graduating student from Destrehan High School. I am pursuing my education and my career in Nursing at Dillard University in New Orleans Louisiana. I am very excited to be a nurse and hold the powerful title and be able to help any and everyone that needs help. I want to become a nurse for several reasons. I have always been very passionate about helping people in need. I always tend to care for others before I care for myself and I would like to continue to do so. I don't even look at being a nurse as a job. I mainly look at it as a career that I am very passionate about and something that I know I would be really good at it. The first moment that I knew I wanted to become someone that worked in the medical profession is when I helped my sick autistic brother, Terrance Jr, or TJ stay awake while being rushed to the hospital. He was 18 at the time and was never able to care for himself his entire life. My mother was his main caretaker and I would help when needed. When August 28, 2012, came it all happened very fast. We left home in a hurry, my mother was driving and I was in the backseat with my brother. The entire ride to the hospital I never once thought about anything but my brother or you could say my patient. I kept him awake and stable until I handed him off to the ER nurses at the hospital. It was the very last thing that I was able to do for my brother since he was taken off of life support the next day as he passed away from a ruptured stomach. I will never forget being able to keep him awake which is why I am so passionate about helping everyone. The specific area of nursing that I would like to pursue is Labor and Delivery. I'm going to help mothers bring newborns into this world and help them take care of their babies while they are under my care. I am passionate about this specific area because I’ve heard and seen that delivering a baby can be a very hard process and if I can make any mothers' experience better in any way possible I definitely will. I will also assist them in the first few hours or days of caring for the mother and newborn.