My younger brother has struggled with his mental health for several years now. Watching him face mental health challenges and observing the difficulties in obtaining quality mental health care has made me realize just how urgent the need for competent and compassionate pediatric mental health professionals has become. I would like to work in the mental health care and psychiatry specialties. Unfortunately, sometimes such specialties are not perceived as glamorous or exciting, and therefore do not always attract the most passionate or competent individuals. I always knew that I wanted to be a nurse. It is what I feel called to do. I am a Certified Nurse Aide (CNA), and I worked in a hospital my senior year in high school. While working as a CNA, I have been able to work with many accomplished nurses. Their generosity and willingness to mentor me has allowed me to become continually more confident and competent. This unique experience, especially for someone my age, has allowed me to interact with others in diverse and unusual circumstances. The experience and guidance I have been fortunate enough to receive has helped me see that I can contribute significantly to my vision of creating a better pediatric mental health care system. I plan to continue working summers at the hospital as a CNA. I am pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Psychology through the Honors College at the University of Arizona. I will continue my education by earning a Master of Science – Entry to the Profession of Nursing (MS-MEPN) at the University of Arizona. The combination of psychology and nursing will ensure that I have the knowledge and skills to effectively treat patients with empathy, compassion, and respect. I think that having the basic knowledge of psychology is very important as it involves considering thoughts and behaviors from many different perspectives, as well as determining the reasons for thoughts and the motivations for behaviors. I want to make this high quality care more obtainable for children and their families. I have seen both through my work as a CNA and my experiences with my own family that there are many challenges to providing effective and sustainable mental health care. I envision a system that helps to alleviate the stress and burden that having a child with mental health issues imposes. The impact of the physical, emotional, practical, logistical, and financial obstacles mental health issues create for a family cannot be overstated. Mental health care is a branch of our healthcare system that has been neglected for far too long, and it is time that we make the improvements so desperately needed a priority. I want to help foster a community of professionals who make mental health care, especially for pediatric patients, more accessible and, above all, more successful. I am passionate about helping individuals like my brother, and am highly motivated to do so through my deep interest in the fields of psychology and nursing. I know I can contribute to making mental health care better.

My younger brother has struggled with his mental health for several years now. Watching him face mental health challenges and observing the difficulties in obtaining quality mental health care has made me realize just how urgent the need for competent and compassionate pediatric mental health professionals has become. I would like to work in the mental health care and psychiatry specialties. Unfortunately, sometimes such specialties are not perceived as glamorous or exciting, and therefore do not always attract the most passionate or competent individuals. I always knew that I wanted to be a nurse. It is what I feel called to do. I am a Certified Nurse Aide (CNA), and I worked in a hospital during my senior year in high school. While working as a CNA, I have been able to work with many accomplished nurses. Their generosity and willingness to mentor me have allowed me to become continually more confident and competent. This unique experience, especially for someone my age, has allowed me to interact with others in diverse and unusual circumstances. The experience and guidance I have been fortunate enough to receive have helped me see that I can contribute significantly to my vision of creating a better pediatric mental health care system. I plan to continue working summers at the hospital as a CNA. I am pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Psychology through the Honors College at the University of Arizona. I will continue my education by earning a Master of Science – Entry to the Profession of Nursing (MS-MEPN) at the University of Arizona. The combination of psychology and nursing will ensure that I have the knowledge and skills to effectively treat patients with empathy, compassion, and respect. I think that having the basic knowledge of psychology is very important as it involves considering thoughts and behaviors from many different perspectives, as well as determining the reasons for thoughts and the motivations for behaviors. I want to make this high-quality care more obtainable for children and their families. I have seen both through my work as a CNA and my experiences with my own family that there are many challenges to providing effective and sustainable mental health care. I envision a system that helps to alleviate the stress and burden that having a child with mental health issues imposes. The impact of the physical, emotional, practical, logistical, and financial obstacles mental health issues create for a family cannot be overstated. Mental health care is a branch of our healthcare system that has been neglected for far too long, and it is time that we make the improvements so desperately needed a priority. I want to help foster a community of professionals who make mental health care, especially for pediatric patients, more accessible and, above all, more successful. I am passionate about helping individuals like my brother, and am highly motivated to do so through my deep interest in the fields of psychology and nursing. I know I can contribute to making mental health care better.

I want to pursue a career in Nursing. I have been tirelessly working toward that goal since high school, when I became a Certified Nurse Aide (CNA) and began working in a hospital. I interacted with many patients and healthcare practitioners and experienced the caretaker role of nurses and nursing assistants. I want to continue my education so I can continue to impact patients in a positive way. In addition to my professional goals, I have a personal connection to nursing, specifically psychiatric nursing, through my brother, who has struggled for several years with mental health. Watching my brother face mental health challenges and observing the difficulties in obtaining quality mental health care made me realize just how urgent the need for competent and compassionate mental health professionals has become. I believe that I can combine my personal experience with my professional training to improve the quality of pediatric psychiatric care for patients and their families. To achieve my goal, I am pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Psychology through the Honors College at the University of Arizona. I will continue my education by earning a Master of Science – Entry to the Profession of Nursing (MS-MEPN) at the University of Arizona. The combination of psychology and nursing will ensure that I have the knowledge and skills to effectively treat patients with empathy, compassion, and respect. I want to continue to build on my CNA certification and experience. Since I obtained my CNA I have primarily worked in the oncology/hospice unit, although I have floated to several other units as well. The oncology/hospice unit is exceptionally emotional. My nonna worked in hospice care for a very long time, and her passion for that work inspired me to do the same. I knew it was critical to making sure every patient was cared for completely. Especially in the oncology/hospice unit, I was often part of an extremely intimate time in the lives of patients and their families. It is beyond words and hard to adequately explain the happiness I feel when I can make even just a little part of a patient’s day better, or ease a bit of the pain of the family members, who are also a huge part of creating a good patient-caretaker relationship. It may be the littlest of gestures, like getting someone more ice for their drink or finding an extra pillow, to much greater things like going for a walk outside or spending a few extra minutes talking to a lonely patient. The CNA role is a caretaker role, and this role about which I am extremely passionate. It is a huge and humbling accomplishment, and something that I want to encourage and share with others as I feel it is worthwhile. This is a unique experience, especially for someone my age, that allows me to interact with others in more enhanced ways through everyday life. Through this experience as well as the college classes I have already completed, I want to combine them to be an integral part of the nursing care pediatric psychiatric patients receive. I am confident that I have the determination and perseverance to meet and exceed the goals I have set for myself. I know that following my passion will lead me to be fulfilled both professionally and personally, as well as to contribute in a positive way to the psychiatric nursing profession.

Obtaining my Certified Nurse Aide (CNA) license is an extremely meaningful and unique accomplishment for me. It is not only a significant step toward my professional goals, but also an opportunity to work in a capacity that I find rewarding. I hope to continue to build upon the experience as I further my education and embark on my career in Nursing. While working as a CNA, I have been able to meet and work with many accomplished nurses. Their generosity and willingness to mentor me has allowed me to become continually more confident and competent. Being a CNA, while not always a glamorous job, and most often a thankless job, is without a doubt the most rewarding job I have ever performed. I enjoy interacting with patients every day, and to help bring some light into what is often a dark time. I have primarily worked in the oncology/hospice unit, although I have floated to several other units as well. The oncology/hospice unit is exceptionally emotional. My nonna worked in hospice care for a very long time, and her passion for that work inspired me to do the same. I knew it was critical to make sure every patient was cared for completely. Especially in the oncology/hospice unit, I was often part of an extremely intimate time in the lives of patients and their families. It is beyond words and hard to adequately explain the happiness I feel when I can make even just a little part of a patient’s day better, or ease a bit of the pain of the family members, who are also a huge part of creating a good patient-caretaker relationship. It may be the littlest of gestures, like getting someone more ice for their drink or finding an extra pillow, to much greater things like going for a walk outside or spending a few extra minutes talking to a lonely patient. The CNA role is a caretaker role, and this role about which I am extremely passionate. It is a huge and humbling accomplishment, and something that I want to encourage and share with others as I feel it is something that is worthwhile. This is a unique experience, especially for someone my age, that allows me to interact with others in more enhanced ways through everyday life. I plan to complete my Bachelor of Science in Psychology through the Honors College at the University of Arizona, and then go on to graduate school for nursing. My goal is to work in a pediatric facility following graduation. I think that psychology is a very important subject because it involves considering thoughts and behaviors from many different perspectives, as well as determining the reasons for thoughts and the motivations for behaviors. I believe that sometimes individuals who are in need of mental health care are inadequately treated, and I want to be part of a community of professionals who make mental health care, especially for pediatric patients, more accessible and successful. I am passionate about helping individuals like my brother, and am highly motivated to do so through my deep interest in the fields of psychology and nursing.

I want to pursue a career in Nursing. I have been tirelessly working toward that goal since high school, when I became a Certified Nurse Aide (CNA) and began working in a hospital. I interacted with many patients and healthcare practitioners and experienced the caretaker role of nurses and nursing assistants. While working as a CNA, I have been able to meet and work with many accomplished nurses. Their generosity and willingness to mentor me has allowed me to become continually more confident and competent. Being a CNA, while not always a glamorous job, and most often a thankless job, is without a doubt the most rewarding job I have ever performed. I enjoy interacting with patients every day, and to help bring some light into what is often a dark time. I want to continue my education so I can continue to impact patients in a positive way. In addition to the professional goals, I have a personal connection to nursing, specifically psychiatric nursing, through my brother, who has struggled for several years with mental health. Watching my brother face mental health challenges and observing the difficulties in obtaining quality mental health care made me realize just how urgent the need for competent and compassionate mental health professionals has become. I believe that I can combine my personal experience with my professional training to improve the quality of pediatric psychiatric care for patients and their families. To achieve my goal, I am pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Psychology through the Honors College at the University of Arizona. I will continue my education by earning a Master of Science – Entry to the Profession of Nursing (MS-MEPN) at the University of Arizona. The combination of psychology and nursing will ensure that I have the knowledge and skills to effectively treat patients with empathy, compassion, and respect. I want to continue to build on my CNA certification and experience, as well as the college classes I have already completed, to become an integral part of the nursing care pediatric psychiatric patients receive. I am confident that I have the determination and perseverance to meet and exceed the goals I have set for myself. I know that following my passion will lead me to be fulfilled both professionally and personally, as well as to contribute in a positive way to the psychiatric nursing profession. No matter how big or small the scholarship, it will have a significant impact on my college education. I want to be able to achieve all of my professional goals, and my education is the first step. I am prepared to work relentlessly to achieve my goals, and I appreciate any consideration you might give me.

An academic subject that inspires me is psychology. I have been passionate about the subject for quite some time. When I took my first psychology course in high school, I learned more about all the complexities of the human mind. It was absolutely fascinating, and I enjoyed having the opportunity to learn about the functions of the brain. Around the same time, my brother was also starting to struggle with his mental health. Watching my brother face mental health challenges and observing the difficulties in obtaining quality mental health care made me realize just how urgent the need for competent and compassionate mental health professionals has become. I came to realize that I would like to work in the mental health and psychiatry specialties. Unfortunately, sometimes such specialties are not perceived as glamorous or exciting, and therefore do not always attract the most passionate or competent individuals. I always knew that I wanted to be a nurse, which is an additional academic passion, and the possibility of combining psychology with nursing is what I feel called to do. I am a Certified Nurse Aide (CNA), and I worked in a hospital during my senior year in highschool and the summer following. I plan to continue working summers at the hospital as a CNA. Being a CNA, while not always a glamorous job, and most often a thankless job, is without a doubt the most rewarding job I have ever performed. I enjoy interacting with patients every day, and to help bring some light into what is often a dark time. I have primarily worked in the oncology/hospice unit, although I have floated to several other units as well. The oncology/hospice unit is exceptionally emotional. My nonna worked in hospice care for a very long time, and her passion for that work inspired me to do the same. I knew it was critical to make sure every patient was cared for completely. It is beyond words and hard to adequately explain the happiness I feel when I can make even just a little part of a patient’s day better, or ease a bit of the pain of the family members, who are also a huge part of creating a good patient-caretaker relationship. It may be the littlest of gestures, like getting someone more ice for their drink or finding an extra pillow, to much greater things like going for a walk outside or spending a few extra minutes talking to a lonely patient. The CNA role is a caretaker role, and this role about which I am extremely passionate. This is a unique experience, especially for someone my age, that allows me to interact with others in more enhanced ways through everyday life. I plan to complete my Bachelor of Science in Psychology through the Honors College at the University of Arizona, and then go on to graduate school for nursing. My goal is to work in a pediatric facility following graduation. I think that psychology is a very important subject because it involves considering thoughts and behaviors from many different perspectives, as well as determining the reasons for thoughts and the motivations for behaviors. I believe that sometimes individuals who are in need of mental health care are inadequately treated, and I want to be part of a community of professionals who make mental health care, especially for pediatric patients, more accessible and successful. I am passionate about helping individuals like my brother, and am highly motivated to do so through my deep interest in the fields of psychology and nursing.