“Why Nursing?” is a question that some may feel compelled to answer with reasons like job security or flexibility but when I am asked this question one day comes to mind. It was my ninth consecutive day at Boston Children’s hospital being treated for cardiomyopathy when a nurse I had never met before introduced herself as the one who would be taking care of me for the day, her name was Jackie. Later, a team of doctors entered my room. I remember feeling incredibly small as I sat up in my bed while these cold physicians stood over me. It was Jackie who sat beside me on my small twin bed. When the doctors told me my heart was failing and I felt a lump forming in my throat, it was Jackie who was there to hold my hand. And when I was informed that my only chance at life was a heart transplant, it was Jackie who held me while I sobbed. In the lowest moment of my life, I had a complete stranger there to make me feel safe. She assured me that everything was going to be okay and promised me that she was on my team– a promise she faithfully kept. When I finally received my heart that December, Jackie came to get me from the ICU and even picked up an extra shift so she could be my nurse for four days in a row after my transplant. My entire heart transplant experience was anything but easy and was the hardest obstacle I ever had to overcome. Throughout the three months I lived at Children's, I faced little battles everyday. I watched my friends experience all the firsts of high school through social media while I endured countless tests and procedures. I spent Thanksgiving confined to the same four walls of my hospital room that I had been staring at for weeks. I even received the call that a heart was available for me, but due to weather complications, was unable to receive it. Though, with each challenge I faced, I learned what I needed to get through it. I spent time in the resource room helping the younger patients make crafts to distract myself from my persistent nausea. To focus on others, I created a Christmas wishlist for a non-profit organization back home that provided donation suggestions for the holidays. One of my favorite ways I coped was by hiding an elf on the shelf each night around the inpatient floor for the other kids to find in the morning. The gravity of my situation in knowing that in order for me to live, someone else had to die, was not something I thought about lightly. I took the most comfort in maintaining an optimistic outlook and making it a priority to help other people in a time when so many people were looking out for me. Eventually, I was able to use my Make-A-Wish to start my own non-profit, Christmas For A Cause, to give gifts to children in the foster care system at Christmas. Spending over 100 days in the hospital that year brought so many nurses into my life that became my friends and some of my favorite people. It also taught me how to be resilient and that a positive attitude can combat any struggle I may face. Looking back on my near-death experience, I recognize it as more than a series of traumatic events but rather a transformative experience that made my purpose clear.