Life and death. Nurses could be the difference between life and death. When I was pregnant with my baby, I had no complications or problems and worked as a full-time medical assistant at Straub Medical Center in Hawai'i. At my thirty-seven-and-a-half-week appointment, my blood pressure was high, and I was starting to dilate so I was induced. Through the rhythmic sound of my baby's heartbeat over the monitor, I found comfort in knowing my baby would soon be in my arms. That was until I noticed a decrease in the beats, slowing and I immediately called for my nurse to come and check. She came in reassuring me that it could be normal as the baby may not like positioning, however, I told her that I thought it would be best to have the doctor come and check and she called immediately and had her come in to check. When the doctor came in, my nurse explained what happened as she checked my cervix. All I could see was her eyes growing wide and she calmly told my nurse to call a code. The doctor jumped onto my bed like an episode of Grey's Anatomy and wouldn't tell me what was happening. I feared the worst. Working as a medical professional for nearly 8 years, I asked the nurse to tell me, and she explained I was experiencing umbilical cord prolapse where my son's umbilical cord, a very rare medical complication, where the umbilical cord was exiting my cervix and upon every contraction, cut off the blood supply, nutrients, and oxygen to my son. It was life or death and they rushed against the clock to get me prepared for a crash c-section all in all taking 5 minutes. My nurse remained with me through each step holding my hand and keeping me as calm and reassured that they were going to do everything to save my son which involved cutting me for c-section without anesthesia as there was no anesthesiologist available in that very moment I needed it. While my fiancé got scrubbed in, I screamed, terrified, and in the most vulnerable situation I've ever been in and had my nurse who held my hand and reminded me to "breathe for your baby". With the Lord's protection, they were able to rescue my son and he is alive and well as a healthy and happy 3-year old. I will never forget the nurse who was my comfort in what was the scariest and emotional day of my life. I want to pursue nursing to be that for someone. I want to provide comfort, peace and reassurance that we are caring for them, and that we will do everything to keep them safe and healthy in their mind, body and spirit. Nursing is a calling that I've had since I was in high school. It took going through my son's birth to leave my job as a medical assistant and pursue my education in Nursing. I am now entering my third year of nursing school and will be starting my clinical rotations in fetal medicine and maternity in the hospital that my son was born in. With the scholarships I receive, the financial burden is lifted from me so that I may focus my attention and efforts on studying and being the best nurse I can be. Mahalo for your time and consideration for this scholarship and most importantly, may your Ohana be covered in peace and comfort after the loss of an amazing man and nurse who brought healing to this world. Aloha and Mahalo.

Imagine being pregnant with your first baby, and everything goes smoothly until it doesn't. Imagine hearing your baby's heartbeat over the monitors, slowing down and intermittently stopping. Imagine telling the Nurses that something is wrong with your baby. Imagine the fear and thoughts that run through your mind while all of this is happening. I don't have to imagine this. I lived through it. I have worked in healthcare for the last 9 years as a Medical Assistant at a hospital in Honolulu, Hawaii. I have been on the giving side of healthcare and have had my fair share of connections and tears with my patients through joyous times and difficult ones. But being patient and on the opposite end was the scariest moment of my life. My pregnancy with my first baby in 2021 was amazing. It was the most beautiful time of my life. I worked through my pregnancy and was starting to contract and dilate at 37 weeks while assisting surgeons with minor procedures in the operating room and on the hospital floors, breathing through intense contractions until I finally decided to go in. It was almost time, so I was induced. My Doctor admitted me, and I listened to the fast-paced rhythm of my son's heartbeat over the monitors. I found comfort in hearing his heart and feeling his kicks and tumbles through it all, it gave me strength and drive. Throughout the night, I had amazing Nurses and Doctors come in and check on me and the baby and knew that very soon, my life would be so different. I never imagine what I would go through. 20 hours passed, and I stopped dilating at 6cm. I patiently waited for the Doctor to say it was almost time to push. Instead, my Doctor gave me medication to speed up labor and helped me to pop my waterbag. I tried to rest, but hear something alarming. The steady sound of my son's heartbeat started to slow down. I immediately called for the Nurse and asked for a Doctor to come in and check the baby. In walks the doctor, and she performs a cervical check. With a mask covering her mouth, I saw in her eyes, that something was wrong. She called for assistance and flooded a code team. Something was wrong with the baby. I panicked and demanded to know. I was told that my son's umbilical cord had prolapsed and was coming out before he made his entrance, which in turn got cut off with each contraction. I was rushed to the operating room, where I was told I would need a crash C-section. I would be cut, without an epidural to save my son. It was the most traumatizing experience I've ever had. I screamed and cried and begged for someone to help me and save my baby. It was in that moment, I remember a Nurse coming to my aid. She held my hand, rubbed my head and told me that she would be there with me and to breathe for me and my son. This is why becoming a Nurse is so important to me. I have had my own experiences in the medical field, but nothing has hit me more than becoming a patient and needing a Nurse to hold my hand and help me through the most emotionally and physically painful moment of my life. I have promised myself that when I become a Nurse, I will make a difference in someone's life just as another Nurse has done for me. Mahalo for your time.

As a first-time Mother, I never would have expected that my delivery would be a crash c-section with no epidural where my son nearly died. Thankfully, I had amazing Doctors and Nurses who did all they could to save my baby's life and now have a happy and healthy baby. Before becoming pregnant with my first child, I worked as a Medical Assistant at a hospital in Hawaii. I've always had a passion for helping people, and my outgoing, and friendly personality has made it easy for me to connect with my patients. Building relationships and trust comes with time, patience, and effort, and those are all traits I possess and dedicate to my patients. I strive to make sure that my patients were well cared for to the best of my ability. Working in Urology, I independently placed foley catheters, and suprapubic catheters and assisted many surgeons with invasive procedures both in the clinic and in the operating room- on patients who were both asleep and awake. I know how important it is for patients to be comfortable and trust that we are caring for them to our best ability, so when it was time for me to be a patient, I had the same trust in my Nursing staff. I had a very normal and healthy pregnancy, but working at the hospital on my feet for 8-10 hours a day put a strain on my body. I checked into the hospital and received pitocin to induce labor, had an amniotomy by the surgeon, and waited for the time to push. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. Instead, I hit the nurse-call button to inform them that my son's heart rate had decreased. The Nurses came in, checked my baby's heart rate, and informed me that it could be the way I was positioned. After a few twists and turns, they called for a Doctor to come and check me. In a matter of minutes, the Doctor came in, introduced herself, gloved up, and checked my cervix. Her eyes got widened beneath her mask, I could see she was worried and something was wrong. She calmly told the Nurse to hit the code button, jumped on my gurney, while carefully leaving her hand in place, and in flooded an entire team of Nurses and Doctors from the ICU. It was a scene out of Grey's Anatomy. The Doctor instructed everyone to head for the operating room. I had no idea what was going on. That's when my Nurse- Jennifer, calmly explained to me that I was experiencing umbilical cord prolapse- my son's umbilical cord was coming out of my cervix and every time I had a contraction, his lifeline stopped. I instantly broke into tears and started hyperventilating. It was the scariest moment of my life- the thought of my baby dying inside me. They rushed me to the operating room, but Jennifer stayed with me, helping me to breathe. She stood beside me while my son's father was getting scrubbed in and told me that the best thing I could do for my baby was to take nice deep breaths and focus on him. I endured a crash c-section without any type of numbing or epidural. I felt every slice, but with the help of one amazing Nurse, made it through. Going through this experience has solidified my choice to further my education and become a Nurse. I will dedicate myself to being empathetic and supportive to my patients in their most vulnerable times just as Jennifer did for me. I am humbled that I am a future Nurse.

My greatest achievement to date would have to be a tie between surviving the traumatic delivery of my baby and returning to college to become a Registered Nurse. My life has never been easy and I feel like I've always had obstacles that I've had to overcome. After graduating high school, I worked a minimum wage job and put myself through Medical Assisting School in hopes of one day becoming a RN. On the day I was induced to have my son, I had a plan of how my birth would go. I would try to deliver my son naturally with no medication, and it turns out I got just that but not in the usual fashion most people are used to. After 16 hours of medicinal induction, I patiently waited for his arrival, but nothing. On the 17th hour, I noticed that his heart rate was dropping, the fear made me call for the nurses, they came in and reassured me everything would be okay. Then came the Doctors, she checked my dilation and had the most haunting look on her face, something was wrong. She calmly told the Nurse to phone the operating room with a slight fear in her voice, told the other nurses to unplug all my wires/ IVs, threw them on me, jumped on my gurney and rushed me to the operating room only having 2 seconds to mutter the words "we have to take the baby out now". Fearing the worst, I asked her what was wrong because I hadn't gotten my epidural yet and wasn't dilated to 10cm. The baby and I were not at all ready. All the Doctor said was "we need to cut the baby out. You're going to be okay, just keep breathing". The shock hit me, I couldn't breathe, my vision went blurry and my heart dropped. I asked the Doctor "is my baby going to be okay?" She looked at me with fear and uncertainty and continued to tell me that they had to cut him out. We arrived to the operating room, they transferred me to the table, strapped me down and pulled up the curtain. I was about to have a cesarean section WITHOUT anesthesia. I started screaming for my fiancee to be by my side, yelling for someone to help me in fear that I would die on the table. My life flashed before me. I could see Doctors, Nurses and students gathered around me ready to help anyway they could. The doctor's head popped up above the blue drape and said "Okay mommy, here we go." I felt the blade slice me. It felt like someone had put the blade on an open flame before cutting into my skin. They continued to cut through the layers of skin, fat and muscle. I felt every cut and thought I would die right there. I'll never forget my screams in agony and pain and the amazing Nurse that rushed to my side and held my hand while my fiancee was getting scrubbed in. She brushed my hair and touched my face and told me "Breathe mommy, breathe. Breathe for your baby, I'm right here". She stayed with me until my fiancee was at my side. It turns out, my son's umbilical cord was coming out before he was, cord prolapse is the medical term and according to my Doctor, I was only the SECOND person in her 30 year career that it's happened to. My son and I survived all thanks to the Doctors and Nurses that was caring for us. This experience taught me how incredibly strong and resilient I am both physically and mentally. I literally survived being cut open with no anesthetic. Since giving birth to my son, I've left my job and built up the courage to return to college being accepted into Chaminade University of Honolulu's Nursing program starting in August. I've decided that I want to be make a difference in someone's life just like the nurse did for me during my most vulnerable and scary moments. I've since reflected on my experience and know that caring for people is what I want to do. I want to heal people, dedicated to patient advocacy and a pillar of emotional strength for them.

Being optimistic is like the little inkling of rainbow that pokes through after a storm has passed. I've chosen to be optimistic through difficult times of family turmoil, abandonment, and heartache because I'm a believer that if you continue to chase happiness you will eventually reach it. My life has had it's ups and downs as everyone else does, but I choose to focus on all the good I have in my life and all the achievements I have been able to make despite all the barriers against me. Coming from a broken family, happiness and stability never seemed attainable but instead of allowing myself to be overcome with defeat, I saw the struggles my family before me had and used it as motivation to better myself. The strength in believing and hoping for better is amazing as it's manifesting what you want into existence. Being optimistic has made me resilient and confident that I can not only navigate but control my life outcomes. I know that working hard and keeping a positive mindset has helped me achieve healthy relationships, academic success, finding love in my fiancee and my son, and now returning to Nursing School to fulfill my dreams of helping others. It can be challenging, being positive all the time so I allow myself to have bad days as everyone should, we're only human. I allow myself to feel, to cry, to pour myself into my journal, take a walk or get some sunlight and then I remind myself that this feeling is temporary and that it will pass. Just like the rainbow after the storm, better days are always ahead of me. Being optimistic is knowing that difficult days will come and facing them head-on with determination to get through them with grace and strength.

Living below my means has always been the most important financial decision for me as I've been living on my own since I was 17 years old enduring financial drawbacks independently as they come. While putting myself through Medical Assisting school, I was working a minimum wage job and had to allocate money to bills before my paychecks even arrived. From that experience, I've become prudent and understand the importance of being financially conscious and practicing frugality wherever I can. After I graduated from school in 2014, I spent $800 on a used 2004 ford taurus I named "Juan" because he was my first car. I wanted to remember that he was my first "one", my first big purchase absolutely necessary for me to get to and from work as I was a float Medical Assistant where travel was a requirement for my job. At the time, I could've afforded a brand new car but didn't want the anxiety and worry of costly monthly payments and raised insurance that come with buying a car. If it's not necessary financially, I won't do it. I put thought into my purchases before making any commitments. If you take a look around my apartment, you'll see the same furniture, couch pillows, pots and pans etc from when I first moved in 9 years ago. If it's not broken, I don't see the need to replace it. I'm diligent in my efforts to save money by living under my means until today and have continued to be frugal where I can. I'm thankful of what I've went through as it's made me the simple person I am today and I carry the financial lessons I've learned and hope to pass them down to my son.

Hawaii is called the melting pot of the pacific figuratively and literally. Being from Hawaii, we've grown up on unhealthy yet delicious favorites such as white rice with asian backgrounds and the love for salt and flavor from the different ethnic foods such as Hawaiian Kalua pig, Japanese curry, Chinese dim sum, Puerto Rican pasteles, gandule rice, the list really goes on and on. Cultural influences dating back to plantation times have had a heavy hand in the food that we consume on a daily basis and the foods we run back to in times of comfort. Something as simple as a Spam musubi (white rice, spam and nori) which brings smiles to adults and children alike are so unhealthy and bad for you but the very foods we continue to eat, indulge in and pass down from generation to generation. Growing up I was always active and healthy. I've played basketball from 8 years old, dabbled in track, cross country, water polo and softball. I've played in Women's and co-ed basketball leagues until I was injured in 2014. I tore my ACL, MCL and a part of my PCL playing in a Men and women's basketball league. When I heard and felt the "pop" and the pain that followed I already knew that my basketball days were behind me. Since my injury, I've had 2 major surgeries to try and repair the damage left behind. I was zero weight-bearing for almost 7 months and then underwent an additional 5 months of grueling and painful physical therapy three times per week to try and get back to the physical shape I once was. During the time I was unable to walk, I mostly stayed home alone, eating, sitting down watching TV as the days came and went I fell into a depression. My body started changing and I started gaining weight. I was my heaviest at 230lbs, far from my 165lb lean, all-muscle body I was so used to. Fast forward to 2020, my fiancee and I decided to try and start a family. It was this time that I made a choice to try and get healthy to become pregnant. I had a beautiful baby boy in June 2021. However, with a traumatic delivery via crash C-section where I almost lost him, I fell into yet another depression. Although he was home, safe in my arms, I didn't want to leave the house. I didn't want to leave his side. Instead, I continue eating to produce milk while breastfeeding and have noticed that once again I am back to 230lbs. I'm proud of my body for being able to hold my pregnancy, give birth to my son and now continue on 10 months of successful breastfeeding but I'm feeling the effects of my poor lifestyle choices. It's my son that has pushed me to want to lose weight again to be healthy for him. I want to keep up with him while he is almost walking and soon to be running. I don't want to lose my breath and be unable to chase him around the playground with him wondering why Mommy doesn't want to play. I've started making small strides to losing weight such as adding more veggies to my diet, drinking more water and taking my son butterfly and bird watching and walking to exercise. I want to be around for a long time to watch my son grow and have committed now so that I can be a positive role model and we can continue this healthy lifestyle together.

As a Medical Assistant for the last 8 years working in the urology department elderly people have made up 90% of my patient list. I've learned the struggles that elderly people endure while aging and not having their families around them as often as they should be visiting. Although caring for the elderly people in Hawaii has been my job, I've always gone above and beyond my job duties to check in on my patients. With my patients who lived on their own without family around, I always took it upon myself to give them a call to check in on them and make sure they're doing okay, and take it upon myself to help them if they needed anything. I would take time to schedule their drop off and pick ups, meals on wheels, grocery drop offs and for several of my patients I would send them holiday cards because I knew they didn't have family on Oahu. While performing my medical duties such as changing their urinary catheters, my patients would use that time to talk story, catch up and often give me life advice when it came to marriage and babies as I've recently become engaged in 2020 and had my first baby in 2021. I've found that the most important thing to my patients is spending quality time and having people to talk to. I've since left my job to continue my education and graduate as a RN. Now that my baby is 10 months old, I plan to take him to the nursing home to engage with the elderly patients, hoping to bring a smile to their faces to have people to come visit. A little gesture like visiting and talking story goes a long way, my patients always appreciated it.

Winning this scholarship, or any scholarship would mean the world to me. In Hawaii, Nursing programs are extremely competitive and spots are limited. There are wait lists every year for the Nursing Schools. I was brought to tears of happiness and overwhelmed with joy when I received my acceptance letter into Chaminade University of Honolulu's Nursing Program starting Fall 2022. While I'm excited and eager to start school, the anxiety of paying for tuition has crept up on me. In 2014, I worked a minimum wage job and put myself through Medical Assisting School, graduated and started working as a MA at Straub Medical Center in Honolulu, Hawaii. I've paid for everything I have since I was 17 years old because my parents were divorced and I was out on my own. Living on my own for the last 11 years I've never relied on anyone financially and have always shouldered the burden of paying for everything on my own. Fast forward to 2021, I had a beautiful, healthy and happy 9 month old baby. Dealing with postpartum anxiety and depression, it made leaving my baby's side almost impossible. I decided it would be best for myself and my family to take some time off from work to care for my son as we don't have access to babysitters that are dependable and unfortunately we don't have family to rely on for support. I've been a stay at home mom full time caring for my son until school starts in the fall. I'm thankful to have the resources to apply for scholarships as it would help with paying the $72,000 tuition. I've had to take out student loans in 2014 because I was uneducated of the amount of scholarships available. I'm terrified of the thought of having student loan debt especially having a new baby and would want to do anything to avoid it. I'm putting in a lot of work to apply for scholarships because my education is worth it. I'm thankful and proud of all the accomplishments I have been able to achieve thus far in my life. I am proud of the person I am, the career I am pursuing and the future I am building. With a little bit of financial help, I'm going to be able to achieve all my dreams and reach all my goals. I will be able to help people in my community and provide financial stability for my family.

When I think of generosity, I think of something sweet and unexpected from someone. I recently had a baby in June and I can recall the day perfectly. My fiancee and I were sitting in the living room with our brand new one week old newborn. I was recovering from a traumatic C-section, was in pain and of course the normal recovery that comes with having a baby wasn't at all easy for me. I wasn't expecting anything that day but got a random text from one of my best friends. She knew we asked friends and family to allow us some time to bond as a family and for me to recover. She sent me a text saying "Hiiiii I know you're not having visitors right now, but I have something for you guys and wanted to just drop by. I don't have to come in, I can just leave it outside just giving you a heads up". When I opened my front door, there sat a big brown bag. I brought the bag inside of the house and emptied the contents. In the bag were chocolates labeled "something sweet for mommy", tissues labeled "for the nights that are a little rough", a bottle of wine labeled "for the Mommy night in the future" and a tiny cake frosted with light blue flowers welcoming my sweet baby boy. When I think of generosity, I think of a sweet, unexpected and thoughtful moment like the one I was lucky enough to experience from a dear friend. Generosity doesn't have to be just towards the people we know, it doesn't take much to be generous to strangers too. I would hope that the world has more generous people who put the sweet moments like these back into our lives.

If this is the wrong answers only, this will just about do it. 1. I am not worthy of such an amazing scholarship, no one is.... But if it had to be someone, you could choose me. 2. Although my acceptance is in Nursing, I guess my ultimate career goal would be getting paid to relax on a beach, drinking margaritas until the sun goes down. Then I would get paid to sleep. This is definitely my end career goal. The way I look at it, after a long day at the beach you get super tired and you won't ever stop sleeping so I would never be out of a job. If that didn't pan out, I would travel the world sampling different types of alcohol from different countries. 3. THIS APPLICATION is definitely in the books for overcoming an obstacle. I'm having fun and imagining myself enjoying a nice glass of wine while doing it so I definitely think this counts. I'm taking a step away from the usual answers and reprogramming my brain to think differently. It almost feels like it's going to explode but I'm having fun and laughing at myself.

RESILIENCE: the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness. This is me in one word. The first thing that a pediatrician tells any parent is that their baby is RESILIENT. This is the single most important lesson that I've learned in life. Human beings are resilient creatures from the moment we are born. We have instincts that are built in to us to help us thrive. Today this is what has kept me above high waters through tough and dark times, I've always made a come back no matter the difficult circumstances pushed against me. Through all obstacles that have came my way, I've reminded myself that all situations are temporary if I decide they are and that I have the ability to redirect my future. I've had to tell myself this since I was 17 years old. While I was growing up, I saw the struggles my parents went through and didn't know what the future had in store for me. Little did I know, things would go from bad to worst. My parents got divorced after I graduated high school, our lives fell apart and I was out on my own. I didn't have anywhere to go, zero money to my name and didn't know how to provide for myself as I was just a child. I could've been hopeless and given up. Instead, I used this to fuel my ambition and promised myself I would be better and do better for myself. I had to figure out how to be an adult without the proper guidance from any of my parents or adult figures. I was alone and didn't know what I was doing but somehow I managed to learn. I applied and worked a minimum wage job while also learning how to apply for college and pay for tuition. I've had days where I didn't know if I would have enough money to eat or if I could afford rent and still I pushed through and told myself it was temporary. Today I am a strong, independent and RESILIENT 28 year old first-time Mommy. I am a unfinished success story because I never gave up when things got tough, I pushed through and have come out stronger. My 9 month old son is the newest reasons I want to succeed in life and have taken the courageous step to continue my education. On March 14, 2022 I checked my email and was over the moon when I saw my acceptance letter from Chaminade University of Honolulu's Nursing program raining with confetti. I am excited and eager to see what the future has in store for me, and although the tough times are guaranteed to show up, so will I.

Growing up, we didn't have a lot of money so we didn't ask for much. We had hand-me-downs and shared meals between us 4 kids and it was always the "norm". It was hard growing up and seeing my parents struggle, seeing my mom creating meal plans with little money and 6 mouths to feed. I knew this wasn't the life I wanted for myself when I grew up. When I graduated high school, things went from bad to worse. My parents got divorced and I was out on my own. I had zero money to my name and didn't know how to provide for myself as a 17 year old, but I had to figure it out. Luckily, I had an Aunty who took me in and helped to push me to be better. She suggested I go back to school. I didn't know if I could go back to school, I needed money and didn't have the support from my family. While all of my friends graduated and went off to their big Universities, I got a minimum wage job and put myself through Medical Assisting School. It was a small step, but it still was a step forward in the right direction. I had to struggle with everyday things like making sure I had money for the bus to get to and from work and school, making sure I had money for food and basic necessities and anything else that came my way including tuition for school. There was a time when I thought I couldn't do it and almost gave up. I'm glad I stuck to it and worked hard, finished school and starting working as a Medical Assistant. I've never seen any of my family graduate from college and felt overwhelmingly proud when they called my name and I walked across the stage to get my certifications from school. I didn't have financial support from anyone and had to make it on my own, and I did it. I achieved something and was able to make something of myself. Following graduation, I was hired at Straub Medical Center working as a MA and While working, I knew that there was more for me. I craved more knowledge and responsibility in the medical field, I dreamt of becoming a Nurse. Fast forward to 2021, I had my first baby. I want to give him the world and provide for him in ways I never had growing up. I don't want my son to ever struggle or want something that he couldn't have. While on maternity leave from my job, I built up the courage to apply to Nursing School and was over the moon when I was accepted in Chaminade University of Honolulu's Nursing Program starting August 2022. Because No one in my family has ever attended college, I'm self-taught and learning to navigate through the confusing world of applications, FAFSA, grants, scholarships and everything in between. It's been a challenge thus far, but I believe in myself that I can do this. Where there is someone willing to teach me, I am willing to learn, study hard and work my butt off because it's so important to me to be a Registered Nurse. It will allow me to help people, to heal and to be an advocate for my patients as well as provide stability for my family. There are so many pathways to Nursing; Med/ Surgical, Clinic, Research, RN case management, the possibilities are endless. I have my sights on the future and it's looking brighter everyday.

Education is so important to me because it creates opportunity, stability and growth. Education has showed me that there is so much potential in myself and so much to learn. After graduating high school, I worked a minimum wage job while putting myself through Medical Assisting School. I've learned to overcome boundaries that were set against me and my education has taught me that determination and hard work always pays off. In 2014, I graduated from Medical Assisting school and got started my career in the medical field working at Straub Medical Center. While working, I was able to become financially stable and provide for myself and my family. I've found different pathways as a Medical Assistant which allowed me to grow in the hospital throughout my career. I've always been eager to learn where someone is willing to teach me. Continuing education is important in the medical field because it's an ever changing field with new discoveries and technology. While working we were required to do continuing education credits to re-certify annually and attend skills fair where we brushed up on our technical skills. It was during my years working at Straub and the continuous learning that I knew how important education is and how far it could take me. Fast forward to 2021, I got engaged and became a first-time Mommy. I decided it was best for my family and I if I left work and stayed home to care for my newborn son. While staying home with him, I built up the courage to apply to Nursing School and on March 14, 2022 I opened my email and found my acceptance letter raining with confetti. Continuing my education is important to me because it has already created opportunities, stability and growth in my life. Education is like a plant, if you put the effort and necessary care, it will continue to bloom into something amazing.

Being a first-time Mom has been the most amazing yet hardest journey I've ever been on. It's simultaneously the happiest and most stressed out I've ever been in my entire life. Prior to having my son in June 2021, I was working as a Medical Assistant at Straub Medical Center in Honolulu for the last 8 years. I've always said that I would go back to school to become a Registered Nurse but always found excuses and kept putting it off. I experienced a traumatic birth via Crash C-section where my son almost didn't make it, but thankfully he did. After giving birth I experienced postpartum anxiety and depression which made being separated from my son almost impossible. It was something I had to go through and now looking back at it, was a blessing in disguise. I decided it was best for my family and I to leave my job of 8 years, the financial and stability I had to be a stay at home Mom and dedicated myself to healing and becoming a better person. While staying home with my son, I built up the courage to apply to Nursing School. On March 14, I opened my email and was welcomed with confetti and my acceptance letter from Chaminade University of Honolulu's Nursing Program starting Fall 22. My son has saved me in so many ways. He's saved me from doubting myself and my abilities and has pushed me to be a better person and role model for him. Although he's only 9 months old, I know he loves me and appreciates the sacrifices I'm making to better our future. After completing my BSN, my education will help to support my family because we will have financial stability and I will be in a career with constant multiple career pathways. Nursing is diverse and can change as our lives also change. When my son starts school, I would be able to go to clinical nursing to accommodate the schedule. When my fiancee and I decide to have another baby, God willing, I would have the option to work from home as a review Nurse for Insurance companies, become a Nurse case manager, the possibilities are endless. I chose Nursing because I want to help people, I want to be apart of something that is bigger than just myself and want to make a difference in the world. When I look at my son, I think of what he would want to be when he grows up... A pilot? An astronaut? Whatever he chooses, I will be there to support him and be right by his side cheering him on and being his biggest cheerleader. My son is the reason I took the leap to return to school and I'm forever grateful to him and I know he will be proud of all the sacrifices I'm making to create this future for us.

Aloha! My name is Jasmine-Kortney Young-Gusman. One of my favorite hobbies are wine and painting. Art has always been apart of my life for as long as I can remember. I've taken art classes since I was in elementary school and genuinely enjoy it and with all the practice over the years, I've gotten really good at it. When I turned 21, I was invited to a wine and paint for a friend's birthday and fell in love. We enjoyed wine and was taught how to paint different sceneries as a group. My girlfriends and I started doing wine and paint every few months. It became a time to reconnect with each other, find out what's been new in everyone lives and have fun. I enjoyed it so much that I decided to do it on my own at home. I set up a canvas, played some music and painted whatever came to mind. So far, some paintings I've done include beach scenery, monstera leaves, different plants, lei, and for the holidays it seems to have a garden gnome that goes well. We get caught up in our busy everyday lives but I'm thankful to have something to bring me back and calm me after life's stresses try to get me down. I am a new first time Mommy of a beautiful healthy and happy 9 month old and just got accepted to Chaminade of Honolulu's Nursing program starting Fall 2022. I know that with my new school schedule and caring for my son full time, things will get stressful but I will continue to paint, and have a few glasses to "un-wine".

Aloha! My name is Jasmine-Kortney Young-Gusman and I am from Waipahu, Hawaii. My background is Hawaiian, Chinese, Puerto Rican and Portuguese. In Hawaii, we call multi-ethnic people "mixed plate". I am proud to be the first person in my family to attend college and was over the moon when I was accepted into Chaminade University of Honolulu's Nursing program starting Fall 2022. I've worked in the medical field for 8 years as a Medical Assistant at Straub Medical Center. Some of the responsibilities I had while working was assisting surgeons with minor procedures, independently placing foley catheters and performing electrocardiograms on the heart. I realized in those 8 years that Nursing is something I wanted to do but kept putting it off due to financial struggles as I've lived on my own since I was 17 years old. It's been a long journey to get to where I am today, but I'm proud of all the accomplishments I've had thus far both personal and academic. In 2020, I got engaged and had my first baby in June 2021. Since having my son, I've decided to take some time off from work to stay home with him full time. It's during this time I built up the courage to apply to Nursing school with the support and love of my family and fiancee. In my free time, I enjoy spending time with my family and friends, learning new recipes to cook, wine tasting, painting, and taking my son on walks to bird and butterfly watch. After I graduate from Nursing School, I'm thinking of specializing in either Emergency Medicine, OR, or would want to work on a program for population outreach to help improve healthcare for underrepresented minorities in Hawaii with mental health issues or limited access to medical care. I want to be a patient advocate for people who need extra help with health literacy. I've dealt with depression and anxiety and would've wanted someone like myself to help me through those challenging times. I know that once I graduate, I'll be able to make a difference and I will be there for my patients in their time of need.

I've always been told I'd be a good nurse as I'm personable, friendly, and enjoy the science aspect of nursing. I didn't know if I could make it immediately after high school so instead I applied to Medical Assisting School and fell in love. After graduation in 2014, I started my medical career as a Medical Assistant at Straub Medical Center in Honolulu where I was born and raised. Being from such a small state, you're bound to run into friends, family, someone's Dad or someone you know whether it be at the grocery store or the hospital and I sure did run into a lot of people at work. While I did enjoy my career for 8 years, I knew that I had potential to be more. Through my years, I've had the privilege of experiencing different clinics such as endocrine, cardiology, urology and EKG as a technician. While being a EKG tech, I was called to perform on the code team running EKGs for both the hospital and clinic. The adrenaline of being apart of the rapid response team gave me the drive to seek further education so I could have more responsibility. Although I wasn't a Nurse, I played a key role in diagnostic testing, rotated in CPR on patient's who crashed and been apart of saving a life. That was it for me, I knew I found my calling. Fast forward to 2021, I got engaged and had a beautiful, healthy baby boy who is now 9 months old. While on maternity leave, my fiancee and I decided it would be best for our family if I took some time off of work to care for our newborn and I've done just that for the last 9 months. In the time I've been off, I built the courage to apply to Nursing School and was accepted to the Chaminade University of Honolulu's BSN Nursing program starting this fall 2022. I'm excited and eager to start school, to refresh on classes I've taken in the past and to learn everything there is to on my journey of becoming a RN. I've been giving a lot of thought as to what specialty I'm interested in and my heart has been pulling me to Emergency, Operating Room or a pediatric Nurse. I'm excited to see how school will be like with a energetic baby around, but wouldn't have it any other way. I will use my education to not only help and care for the people in the community I love so much, but to always be a role model for my son. I want him to know that you really can do anything you set your mind to with perseverance, dedication and hard work. I'm proud of where I'm at today and all of my accomplishments but can't wait to see where I'll be in the future as a RN.

Pediatric nursing seems both rewarding and terrifying at the exact same time. Prior to June 3rd, 2021 it's a specialty I would've never considered working in. I never would've gave it a thought until my son and became patients. I became the terrified, first-time Mother giving birth to my first baby via Crash C-section, without even any time for my epidural to kick in. My son became the second baby in our Doctor's 30-year experience, to be born via crash c-section after experiencing cord prolapse. I'll never forget the amazing Nurses that stood by my son's side after he was born to make sure he would beat all odds against him. Thanks to the Doctors and nurses, I have a happy and healthy 9 month old baby. Being in the medical field for the past 8 years, I've worked as a Medical Assistant in various departments, EKG, cardiology, and primarily urology assisting the Doctors and nurses with invasive, uncomfortable and sometimes scary procedure on adults. I've been good at it and nothing quite bothered me because I was able to reassure the patients that they were in good hands. They understood me and could breathe with while going through whatever medical procedure was necessary for them. With pediatric nursing, things are much different. You can talk to the babies, you can talk to the children but they don't quite understand what you're saying and they're scared. When I think of the amazing nurses that cared for my 3 week early newborn, I saw how passionate and empathetic these people were. It's something I want to experience. I want to help to heal a newborn baby or a child through what could be one of their most frightening times in their lives. When the only people they want are their Mommy's and Daddy's, the nurses are there to hold their little hands and let them know that they're going to do everything in their power to make sure they're OK. I've recently got accepted into the Chaminade University of Honolulu's Nursing program and am excited to start this upcoming fall 2022. Thinking ahead of the units and specialties I'd be interested in, I've always thought of Emergency or OR, but after June 3rd, 2021 those thoughts have changed. I'm adding pediatric nursing into my consideration and know that it's something in my heart I would be able to do. I want to use my education and my experience to help other children in my local community. I want to help them heal, grow and thrive in life just as my son is able to do.

Growing up, my parents told us how important education was and to always work hard for what we wanted in life. I've never understood that more than when I had my own child and had to provide for him. After high school, I attended a 18 month certification program for Medical Assisting, Electrocardiography and phlebotomy. I worked hard in school and got my dream job at Straub Medical Center as a Medical Assistant. I worked for 8 years and was able to learn and grow within the hospital experiencing different departments and gradually gaining more responsibility in my job. Fast forward to 2021, I had a beautiful healthy baby boy after an unexpected and traumatizing birth, but I was in love. After having my baby, I struggled with postpartum anxiety and depression which made it hard to leave his side and made trusting anyone else to watch him a struggle. I've been caring for my son full time and have no regrets. I've been able to watch each smile, hear each giggle and was there for his first words. Being a Mom has been the most rewarding experience of my life. I've since overcame the postpartum anxiety and depression with help of Doctors, friends and family. I mustered up the courage to do something I've been wanting to do for a long time, apply to Nursing School. I did it. While on maternity leave from work, I applied to school as soon as the application was open. I got all my transcripts, my letters of recommendations and poured my heart into my personal Nursing Statement which was included on my application. On March 13, 2022 I checked my email and was greeted with confetti and an acceptance letter for the Nursing program at Chaminade University Honolulu. After college, I plan to either specialize in the Emergency Room, Operating room or as a Nurse in the Mother baby care unit in one of our local hospitals to help people in my community. I want to be apart of a group that brings back somebody's loved one from a code, or help to heal wounds, assist in surgery to make someone whole again. I want to save lives, I want to help people. As cliche as that sounds, it's what I'm passionate about, it's what I've been good at and what I've been able to excel in for the last 8 years working in the medical field. As a medical assistant I was able to assist in minor procedures and surgeries, place foley catheters independently and always had a sense of reward when patients recovered and thanked me for being apart of their medical team. I'm pursuing a higher education so that I can provide and have the stability for my son and our future. I want him to grow up and see his Mommy as his role model, someone who overcame many obstacles to give him all the opportunities life has to offer. I want to make myself and my son proud of all the accomplishments I've already had and all the accomplishments that lies ahead. I've already gotten into the program, I know I can do it as long as I work hard and keep my goals at the end, now the only part is paying for the education. I'm hopeful that with the help of scholarships I'll be able to find success on my academic journey and come out as a Registered Nurse proudly helping people in the State of Hawaii.

Education is important to me because I have never had a family member attend college and it's always been a dream of mine to be the first in my family to attend and graduate. My parents graduated from high school and then had children and never furthered their education. Now in their mid 50's it's something I've heard them say on more than one occasion that they wish they could've changed. When I graduated high school, I made a promise to myself to learn as much as I could so that I could have a career and pathway in life. Growing up, education was important. My parents stressed to my siblings and I to study hard, get good grades and do well in school. Although I've always strived academically, it wasn't until I became an adult, moved out of my parent's home and had to learn how to do things on my own that I really understood the value of education. At this time in my life, I was 17 unsure of what was ahead for me in my future. I was lucky to have an Aunty who took me in but I was working a minimum wage job and thought to myself there had to be something better out there, there has to be more to life than this. In 2013 I decided to try something different, something out of my comfort level. I attended the Hawaii Medical College and became certified in Medical Assisting, electrocardiography and phlebotomy. Graduating from this program was the happiest day of my life. I made my parents proud being the first person in our family to graduate from college and I made myself proud because I did it. I finally had something good, an education. I thought of all the opportunities that having these credentials would do for my life. After applying at multiple hospitals and private clinics, I got a job at Straub Medical Center in Honolulu, my dream job. In 2014, I graduated from Medical Assisting school and was excited to use what I learned in school in real life. Education is something that no one can take away once you have. It has provided stability in my life and opened doors of opportunity for me. I became a float Medical Assistant where I circulated among the different clinics available at Straub Medical Center. I was able to meet new people, work with amazing doctors, nurses, learn new skills and this is where I discovered my passion, a new goal. Fast forward to 2022, I've had a baby and left my current position to pursue my dream, Nursing. When I look at my son, I remind myself of how important my education has been in my life. My academic achievements created many accomplishments I've had in the last 8 years. This year, I took a courageous step and applied to Nursing school. I've been admitted to Chaminade University of Honolulu Bachelor's degree program starting fall 2022. My education has been the foundation of all that I have today and all that I am working for in my life. I'm working hard to be an educated woman that can provide for my family and help people in my community and that is why education is important to me.