My career aspiration is to be a nurse. I have always had a strong desire to care for others and after also discovering my passion for medicine I believe that, this is what I have been called to do. When I was younger around the age of 6 or 7. I participated in a lemonade stand fundraiser where I learned about entrepreneurship as well as being an asset to the community through giving. That is why I chose to donate all my proceeds to a charity I had found called school on wheels as well as make a wish list as my best friend was at the time battling cancer. In the end I donated a total of a little over $1000. As time grew on I felt more called into services, I started participating in Christmas packaging events for my church to help others in my nearby community that could not afford Christmas presents on their own. Once I was 16 I went on my first mission trip by myself to the Dominican Republic and served with kids in under served areas as well as building a church for their community in a span of a week. Kids in areas most specifically 3rd world countries are very important to me for a very specific reason and that reason being that I was one of those kids. I was adopted from a small village of tin houses and dirt floor living in Guatemala. My siblings still live in those conditions and so does my grandmother and mother. Being able to give and serve and love those kids who live in what could have been my reality is important for me to stay centered and appreciative of every day and opportunity that I get because I was lucky. Supporting the school on wheels as well was very important to me personally as education is another aspect of life that my siblings and mother are not as fortunate to have to the extent that I do. My mother’s highest education level only reached 6th grade and while she was able to provide a little bit better for my siblings, they only reached an approximate level of 8th grade. Seing my personal experience with school and abilities to get high honors for classes and works also makes me realize again how opportunistically grateful I am as I know if given the change my family could have done as good if not better and I want to make sure as many kids as I can help are able to reach and gain access to schooling.

On February 9th, 2025, my life changed forever. My boyfriend, Dillon, was involved in a fatal motorcycle accident. The days that followed were filled with shock, sorrow, and an overwhelming sense of loss. I couldn’t stop thinking about what his final moments must have been like—how scared he must have felt, surrounded by strangers, knowing he might not survive. I carried a deep sense of guilt that I couldn’t be there to comfort him or say goodbye. Then, a few weeks later, I received a message from someone named Riley— the EMT who had responded to Dillon’s accident. Within the boundaries of HIPAA, Riley patiently answered my questions and shared as much as he could about that day. Through his words, I learned that Dillon was not alone. Riley had done everything in his power to keep him calm and cared for in his final moments. That simple act of compassion meant the world to me as the patients family. Since then, Riley and I have formed a really amazing friendship. His stories from the field have opened my eyes to the emotional weight that first responders carry and the deep empathy required in their work. One story in particular stays with me: a call involving two young girls who had been harmed extensively by their father. One of them, gravely injured, wouldn’t speak to anyone— except Riley. He was the only adult she trusted, and before she was taken to the hospital, she handed him her stuffed animal. Tragically, she didn’t survive. But in her final moments, she wasn’t just a patient—she was seen, heard, and cared for because Riley made sure of that and its a trend I have noticed with throughout all his calls. That’s what compassion is. It’s about showing up fully for people in their most vulnerable moments. It’s not just a feeling; it’s an action, a responsibility, and a calling. My experience with grief— and my growing friendship with someone who lives compassion daily— has fueled my passion to become a nurse. I want to be the kind of caregiver who brings calm in chaos, dignity in suffering, and light in even the darkest hours. While we can not always save a life, we can always touch one. That truth drives me every single day. Compassion is not optional in healthcare— it is essential. For many patients, being in an ambulance, calling 911, going to the hospital is not normal for them. Again, for many it is most likely, the scariest day of their life's. And I am the one who will be approaching them and trying to help them and the best way to try and calm the nerves down for them is compassion. And I am committed to leading with it in everything I do weather healthcare, or just life in general.

Being Latina comes with unique challenges, and my journey reflects many of them. As an adoptee from Guatemala, I was raised in a household with two loving parents who do not share my ethnic background. While I have been incredibly blessed by the opportunities they’ve given me, growing up with a different culture and appearance than those around me has brought moments of isolation and uncertainty. In school, I sometimes felt like I didn’t belong, simply because I wasn’t the same as everyone else. Yet these challenges have only fueled my determination to rise above stereotypes and exceed expectations. I was born in a small rural town in the countryside of Guatemala—a place with limited access to education, healthcare, and basic necessities. My biological mother only received formal schooling through the eighth grade, and my siblings who remain there are currently facing similar obstacles. The reality is stark: had my life taken a different path, I would likely be experiencing the same struggles. Instead, I was given a chance—an opportunity to grow up in the United States, to pursue an education, and to imagine a future with endless possibilities. This difference in opportunity is what motivates me most. I plan to attend college to earn my nursing degree and eventually pursue my master’s to become a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist. My dream goes far beyond personal achievement—I want to use my education to give back. I envision returning to underserved areas in Latin America, especially rural parts of Guatemala, to provide the medical care and support that so many communities lack. I want to bring not only healing but also hope to those who have been forgotten by broken systems and limited infrastructure. More than anything, I want to be a symbol of possibility. I want to show young people in these regions that they are not limited by where they come from. Their potential is not defined by poverty, or by the cards they were dealt, but by their spirit and determination. I want to help shift the narrative—reminding those who are still there that they matter, that they are capable, and that they are not forgotten. I carry my heritage with pride, and I feel a deep responsibility to honor it by serving others. My story is not just my own—it is a tribute to those who came before me, and a promise to those still waiting for their chance.

I have always been surrounded by medicine growing up. While I was not around for it, my parents owned and worked their own assisted living home. My mom is also an occupational therapist, and my dad is a heart patient who underwent an emergency quintuple bypass on my 7th birthday. While I can say for a fact that is where my first medicine spark started, it wasn’t up until my highschool years that I knew for certain. I have spent the past 4 years in a medical program at my highschool where I have been taking classes to earn a CTE certificate in medicine. Taking the time and surrounding myself in things from medical terminology, body system functions, sports medicine, medical interventions, and even coming up for with my own medical invention my love for the medical field has only grown. Not only this but our state hospital system Atrium Health has also provided many opportunities to work and observe along side people in all specialties so that us as students get first hand experience and knowledge and awareness of true hospital lifestyles. From these experiences I do plan and have a current passion for becoming a CRNA. On a personal level, my boyfriend recently passed away on February 9th, 2025 in a motorcycle crash. He was airlifted twice and died only hours afterwards. As hard as this past few months have been for me, this experience has led me to even more of a drive of achieving my goal of becoming a CRNA. I was not able to see my precious boy until after he had already passed but I know that he was surrounded by nurses and doctors and a CRNA that was there doing everything they could to save him as well as making sure he was comfortably sedated and experiencing as little pain as they had power to. I want to be a nurse to be able to number one, help save and be a comfort to patients that do not have their loved ones by their side at that specific time. Number two, I want to if the unfortunate ending is such as what I experienced, to be able to help and let families know that everything was done on everyone’s part to help the patient in every aspect. I not only want to be a nurse that is experienced and knowledgeable but one who is empathetic to the patients and understanding their situations as unique and new to them as a person.