I am pursuing nursing because i have always had a passion for becomign a nurse. I have been a medical assistant for 7 years and i have work for 4 of those years in a pediatric setting. My first job in the healthcare field was a medical assistant in Pediatric Neurology. I loved working with the kids coming into the office and learning about the different diagnoses that arised in the office. That is where i also realized my son was a similar child to the ones that came into that office. I brought him in for a consult with the doctor i was working for and soon realized my son was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. From that moment i knew i needed to be more than a medical assistant for the health of my own child. After that job i worked in pediatric surgery for 3 years and being in that office was beautiful. I always tried to put a smile on the children's faces when they came in because they were scared to meet with the doctor and not knowing what was going to happen. I gave stickers and toys from the treasure box, i wrote their name on the table in their room so they smiled when they walked in the room. I always made sure my patients were haooy throughout their whole experience in the office. When parents see this as well, they tend to calm down a bit. Going into an appointment for a surgery consult is difficult but having someone their to calm your nerves even for a second is important and i am that person. I want to bec ome a pediatric nurse not onkly for my own children but for my future patients. I want to be there in their time of need and nurture them as their parents would. I want to bring smiles and happiness in their scared moments. I want to help make their experience a little less traumatic. Now as a mother of 4, one boy with autism, one girl with ADHD, and twin girls with mild heart murmurs, it opens your eyes to other children and their problems and what you can do to resolve them. If there is any chance of myself helping i will do it in a heartbeat, even if its something small like a smile. What matters most is the patient and in this case, the children.

It has been difficult choosing to pursue my career and go back to school to become a registered nurse as a single mother. I have dealt with choosing to continue working and living paycheck to paycheck to provide or to ask for help and return to school to start my dream career. I have received support from my wonderful mother who assists me in watching my children while I go to school and study at home while also juggling to watch my 4 kids. I try to organize times to study throughout the day while also coordinating drop offs/pick up at school, driving to therapy appointments for my son with autism, making sure my twin girls are fed, changed, bathed, and rested, as well making sure my 5 year old daughter completes her homework, bathes, brushes her teeth and goes to bed on time. It truly is a mission to get everything done but i am not giving up. I know i made the right decsion to return to school and continue the path i was chosen to have, to become a nurse. To help people and save lives if need be. To provide compassion and nurture my patients as i do m own children. Taking this step will also impact the lives of my children for the better. I can afford extracurricular activities for my kids, as well as buy additional clothes for school, school supplies, and shoes. I can provide a stable environment for my children and not have to choose gas or a toy anymore. I can make sure that my children have a full life than what they have now. They deserve the best and that is all i want to give them. Becoming a nurse has been my passion for some time now. I had my first child at a very young age and when he turned one he was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. From that moment i knew i wanted to pursue a career in the medical field because as i learned about his diagnosis i was knowledgable on how to take care of him. Now, there was more to it. Many hospital visits, seizures, rare diseases arised and each time i researched and examined everything they did to him in the hospital or doctor's office and i grew an interest. I realized becoming a nurse would give me a little bit of everything i wanted. So i told myself that not only do i want to become a nurse for my future patients, but mainly for my family, especially my children.

I am currently a nursing student with a dedication for obtain my nursing degree and help those in need. I have had a passion for the healthcare field and since I was little. I always wanted to become a nurse and I have tried and failed many times in doing so due to life. I am a single mother of four and I refuse to give up. This is my fourth attempt at nursing and this time I strive to complete it and become that nurse I know I can be. I want to make an impact on peoples lives. I want to be the first face they see and the last hand they hold. I want people to know they are taken care of and I have such a passionate way of working. I love all my patients and I treat them as I would like someone to treat my parents or children. I want to make a difference in the healthcare field as a registered nurse.

Being a single mother is not easy, but it's the only choice you have when placed in this position. I am a single mother of 4 beautiful children, and they are my utmost motivation to strive in life and fulfill my career of being a registered nurse. My oldest is eight and has autism spectrum disorder, and he was my motivation from the very beginning. It was tough being a single mother and making sacrifices. I tried when he was younger to go to nursing school, but his therapy and health were in dire need, so I had to put my studies aside and focus on him. A few years later, I had my beautiful daughter, and things got no easier. I tried again to return to nursing school, and it was an emotional roller coaster. I was once again a single parent, but now of two babies. I did not give up on raising them and working to make sure they had everything they needed. I would work overtime, and it caused me not to be able to continue school, and that devastated me. I knew sincerely I wanted to become a nurse, but the obstacles in my life were taking over, and it wasn't the right time. I would try and try to return to school and kept failing because I couldn't focus or did not study well because I had to work two jobs and take my son to therapy and many doctor appointments. I gave up trying to go back to school because I thought it was not for me. Maybe the universe was giving me a sign not to become a nurse, so I kept receiving difficult paths in my timeline. I believed it for a long time. I gave myself another opportunity to return to school, and that is when I realized I was blessed to be pregnant with twin girls. I was happy, in school and working and in what I thought was a good relationship. Little did I know, it was nothing of the sort. I saw myself deserted by my former partner and never heard from him again while I was still pregnant and recovering from a major surgery where I almost lost both babies. I was hitting depression, and I felt like my world was crashing on me. I couldn't finish school because I was in and out of the hospital. I felt stupid because I tried and kept failing nursing school. I did not believe I could make it. Once my twins were born, that all changed. I saw the light on my four children's faces, and it glowed with love. Their smiles and hearts convinced me to make one final attempt to finish nursing school and get my degree. I am now in the nursing program for my associate's at FVI School of Nursing and Technology. I am determined for myself and my children to complete my program and become the nurse I have always wanted to be. This scholarship will be the assistance I need as a single parent to continue my goal meet my future career. Thank you in advance for giving me this opportunity to apply as a single parent and a future nurse.

I have 4 children. My oldest is diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. He is 8 years old. He is non verbal but he is the smartest child I’ve met in my entire life. He was my first and pure motivations then came my little girl, she is 4 now. She brightened up my world and is super helpful with her brother. She loves him more than the world with ever know. Those two made me work even harder. Day by day I pushed to make ends meet just to see those little smiles. And just when I thought life couldn’t get any better, god gave me two. I have twin girls that came into our lives last December and we were blessed with everything we needed. Of course it is harder now for me to get things done but I push everyday to make sure I do the most for my kids. Those 4 kids are the only motivation I need to continue my career and make our life better than what it is now.

In five years I see myself working on my masters degree. I am a successful nurse in a pediatric hospital named Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital which is my preferred hospital that I have wanted to work with since I was 16. I have my bought home and just placed a down payment for my parents home. I have my children in good schools and activities after school such as karate, gymnastics, dance. I have built a sensory room in my home for my son with autism. I am driving my new truck to work and pick up/drop off, grocery shopping, etc and have money saved to buy tickets for annual Disney passes. I have my bills paid ahead of time. I am in such a good state of mind and at peace with my life because I made it and looking 5 years back I had so much doubt and was so hard on myself but I kept pushing because I had 4 little ones looking up to me. I had little motivations to proceed this difficult thing we call life. Five years from now it will not be difficult. Things will be better for me. Things will be better for my children. I can provide the healthcare my father needs and he no longer has to work hard stressful 14 hour days with no day off. My mother doesn’t have to save every penny to make ends meet. I don’t have to pray that we make just enough to pay the rent with the way life is right now. I won’t have to worry. Because I will be financially stable. I will be in a time where everything is right. Everything is going well for me because I did the hard part. I put my blood, sweat, and tears in schooling and I passed and made it. I worked hard in my internship and I pushed through those long hours of extra days and extra shifts to save money to get to my goal. My children don’t have to worry that mommy doesn’t have the money for new clothes, for school supplies, for new shoes, for a toy. I traveled with my family with no fear that I can’t help in any way or afford the trip because I saved for it. I deserve to have my dream come true because it will. And I will be at peace with myself.