From the time I was five years old, I had the responsibility of managing type one diabetes. Everyday since then, I have had an immense amount of responsibility with having to monitor my Blood Sugars and Insulin dosage. Dealing with diabetes has been a struggle. I remember the Nurse’s Office in everyone of my schools growing up was always the farthest away. Walking there with a sugar of fifty and dropping fast wasn’t ideal. I could feel my body shutting down from the lack of energy. My hands would start shaking and my head would pound. Alone, I struggled to the basement to find the nurse to ask for any type of sugar or carb to make me feel the slightest bit stronger. At that time I wished I had someone to guide and teach me how to manage. That is the reason why I want to become a nurse. Helping others like me who needed guidance during the time of diagnosis and throughout treatment is my life’s passion. As a high school nursing student, living in an underserved community attending clinicals, I met many people affected by the same condition as me, but hadn’t had the same approach as I had to treatment. In my life, Health is extremely important; However in the patients I’ve met, health was not a priority because it wasn’t affordable. Seeing patient’s struggle in my community with the same health issues as myself because of finances was unsettling. Diabetes related Hypertension, Kidney Failure and even amputations could have been prevented if only insulin was made available. I saw that insulin access was the problem many faced in my community, and wished that I could help solve it. This sparked my desire to positively impact underserved communities throughout my future education and career. When I continued my clinicals I had a new approach to help as many patients learn about all the opportunities available to them. I spoke about different support programs like the Lilly Diabetes Solution Center and Novo Nordisk NovoCare that would help pay for both insulin and diabetes related medicine. Helping my community is extremely rewarding by knowing that I can make a difference in the lives of people going through the same difficulties as myself. From these experiences I believe that an education in Nursing can help me to continue to impact underserved communities throughout the country. Receiving this Scholarship would significantly support my academic goals by reliving most financial burdens. It would provide me to fully dedicate myself to my studies without constantly worrying about the financial aspects of my health. For me nursing is my passion, however the struggles of my financial situation are wearing me down. The low blood sugars after a 2 hour commute because I cannot afford dorming is starting to take a toll on me. With this scholarship however, I can focus entirely on studying and working towards my passion while also maintaining my health safely. Since I have a very busy schedule, I understand the importance of time-management in combination with hobbies. While learning about Philately, the benefits of this hobbies were overwhelming. The study and collection of postage stamps isn’t widely known, but it is heavily involved with things in daily life. Things such as history, geography, art, and even different cultures. With a busy schedule, finding time to destress is extremely important to me and I find that researching and organizing different stamps to be a therapeutic form of work. I love learning and connecting to people which is why philately seems to be a perfect combination of culture and history.

I knew I was ‘destined’ for healthcare, specifically nursing after a week-long stay in the PICU at just five years old. I remember that day like it was yesterday, the constant nausea and headaches with an overwhelming sense of fear. The look of shock on the nurse’s face when my blood sugar reading was over 300 and the rush of being admitted minutes later. My life following was filled with constant ER visits and diagnosis of DKA-Over saturation of Ketones in the blood. There was even some years where I developed celiac disease and had a very strict lifestyle of no sugar nor gluten, very tough for ten year old. My experiences with healthcare were very overwhelming and to be honest, I never truly thought about it as a career—until my acceptance into a LPN program at fifteen years old. I didn’t expect the impact of caring for individuals to be so fulfilling and powerful. By starting the LPN program at such a young age, my eyes were truly opened by the transformative and profound role that nurses play in their patients’ lives. It caused me to realize the role that every nurse who had cared for me had by contributing to my own passion, patience, and resilience in managing my own health. When beginning Clinicals in acute and long term settings, I quickly discovered how deeply it resonated with my own passion for helping and overcoming health obstacles. I connected with patients facing their own battles, some similar to my own, and found meaning and passion in easing their fears by providing a comforting and empathetic presence. Nursing became more than a career path —it became my calling. Now I am currently enrolled at NYU in their BSN program in hopes to apply for their BS/MS program where I can graduate already enrolled in a Nurse Practitioner granting programBy continuing both my academic and professional career journey, I hope to offer others the same care and compassion that helped me through the hardest times in my life. Although I am still starting my career journey, I am so thankful to have had the opportunities to find my passion at such a young age and help so many people while doing so. Currently, I work as a pediatric home health LPN but I value my nursing home experiences and ‘nurse extern’ experiences in my school’s hospital, Langone Health, which helped continue to shape my path and deepen my dedication to the nursing field. Working with pediatric patients especially, has taught me the importance of patience, empathy, and the ability to connect with both the child and their family to provide overall holistic care. I’m very excited to bring all my experiences into my future as a nurse. As I want a person who advocates fiercely and strongly for my patients, someone who understands the complexities of their conditions, but most importantly also the emotional toll these challenges can bring to their wellbeing. I plan to keep building on what I’ve learned to make an even bigger impact, whether that’s by becoming a nurse practitioner or specializing in an ICU setting or even clinical work in pediatric endocrinology to help kids diagnosed with type 1 or any other autoimmune disorder. Ultimately, my experiences in my journey has shown me that nursing is not just a career but my life’s passion. Every single day, I’m motivated by knowing that I’m not only caring for individuals but helping to build a healthier, more inclusive community.

From the day I was diagnosed with type one Diabetes at the age of five years old, I had the motivation to make a difference in the lives of others who share this condition. Throughout my life I had daily injections for insulin and finger glucose sticks. I yearned for different ways to combat this condition without the daily poking. Pursuing nursing at New York University will help me achieve my goal of becoming a nurse practitioner specializing in endocrinology and help find a solution in making diabetes treatment easier and more effective. It is clear that gaining higher education is an important factor because it allows me to provide improved quality of life as well as empowerment to others. This scholarship is very important to me because I wouldn't need to worry about the financial burden of college and focus more on finding solutions to my daily struggles of managing type one diabetes. Becoming a nurse is who I envision myself to be because I understand personally the challenges and obstacles of such a condition and can better the lives of others like me. My education will enable me to do so by allowing me to participate in endocrinology research. I am to use my time in university, researching ways to improve treatment as well as the lives of diabetics with healthcare professors. My major researching topic would be Disease Management and Self-Care. I believe this will provide effective interventions and programs that would benefit hyperglycemic episodes. I am committed to pursuing advancements in diabetes and I know higher education will allow me to do this. As a nurse practitioner I understand that education is a significant contributor to patient care because I can empower an individual to manage their own care without relying on family. Higher education is needed because it supplies me the skills and information needed to educate diabetics and their families. By providing accessible teaching and care I can help those in need of managing their diabetes like I was. Throughout my life my parents were my advocates, I understand not everyone has that benefit and with my education would like to become that advocate for my patients. By pursuing nursing at New York University I am confident in my mission to become a nurse practitioner specializing in endocrinology. Through the education and patient care skills I will impact others like myself to live fulfilling and self-assured lives. With both my education and motivation, I am dedicated to make a difference in the lives of others who share this condition. By being awarded this scholarship, I can relieve some of the burdens of finances in college and focus more on my academics. It would provide me to fully dedicate myself to my studies to become a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, without constantly worrying about the financial aspects of my health. Although I’ve had this condition for quite some time the struggles remain the same. Calculating my carbs into insulin dosage and managing stress to maintain adequate blood sugars.