We entered through the double doors and immediately were greeted with the smell of alcohol from the hand sanitizer and rubber gloves. Nothing like the smell of a doctor’s office I thought and walked with my mom to the front desk and helped her check in since no one spoke Spanish. I requested her documents be in Spanish to help me speed up the check in process. I helped my mom with her insurance forms and quickly handed them to the lady at the desk. They quickly called my mom’s name and took us to a small, beige-colored room. The sweet nurse finally came in to check my mom’s vitals and asked her questions. My mom looked at me (I know this look) I nodded and politely told the nurse that I had to translate for my mom and that I could answer her questions. The nurse nodded and I handed her my mother’s medications and let her know why my mother was seeing the doctor today. The doctor finally came in, but the doctor did not know how to use a translation line so now I must help translate for the doctor and my mother. Me! An 11-year-old girl who doesn’t know how to say hypertension in Spanish?! That moment inspired me to become a Nurse Practitioner. My goal is to become an Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner so that no one should ever feel that they cannot express their needs or be understood by their healthcare providers. There are not enough Spanish speaking providers in my community and I would love to change that. It is a privilege to assist patients when they are at their most vulnerable, and it requires a special kind of person to offer the support they need. As a nurse, you dedicate yourself to ensuring your patients feel safe and cared for, and I am proud to embrace this role. This scholarship will help pay for tuition and a simulation program that is required for class. I am a first-generation Latina who has worked multiple overtime shifts and multiple side hustles to help pay for Bachelor's and Master's Degrees. Working full-time and going to school full-time impacts my mental health and studies due to exhaustion and burnout. During clinicals for my Nurse Practitioner program, it will be very difficult for me work full-time and complete clinical hours, so winning this scholarship would help me tremendously.

I want become a nurse, because everyone deserves to be able to receive medical care, be heard, and get the treatment they deserve. No one should ever feel like they cannot communicate to their health care professionals and feel uncomfortable. A nurse is there at the lowest and highest peaks of a patients life and I would love to be able to support my patients and provide the medical attention they deserve. Helping children or adult patients when they are very vulnerable or scared is a privilege and it takes the right person to be able to do it. A nurse should be compassionate, understanding, resourceful, and a leader. “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” This quote best represents how important it is to give to others and learn from the experience of giving. As a nurse you give so much of yourself to make sure your patient is feeling comfortable and safe, but nurses also see so much pain, heartbreak, and death. It takes a strong person to become a nurse and that’s why I want to become one. From experience I know how important it is to be able to communicate and feel comfortable with your medical professionals. One day my mom needed me to go to a doctors appointment with her, translate for her, and fill out her paperwork because no one in the office could speak Spanish. I remember my mom feeling embarrassed because she could not communicate to the doctor her symptoms or understand what he was saying. I was stunned that no one could help her or make her feel comfortable because of a language barrier. Many families have gone through the same issue my mother has and I want to change that. In North Texas only 22% of doctors speak Spanish which is unfortunate and I hope to change that by being able to support the physician and patient in understanding what is happening and be able to explain the medical situation. I am passionate about becoming a nurse and I hope to make my community healthier and safe in the future.