My mother, grandmother, and aunt have been nurses for 20 years or more. Watching them as I grew up has inspired me to want to get my RN. As a little girl, I have always dreamed of being a nurse. Whenever I was asked, "What do you want to be when you grow up?", I said nurse without pausing for a second. I am someone who always wanted to help people, bring people comfort, and aid them. Without a doubt caring for people has become second nature. I have done volunteer work with a program Child Life in the pediatric unit of the hospital. I did different projects such as handing out bags with personal hygiene products and food to homeless people and shelters. Through my church, I do meal bag distribution and pop-up showers for anyone who needs them. Being able to do these things and help people not only brings me joy in being able to provide assistance to these adults and children but also knowing I helped make their day even just a little better fills my heart with peace, and I want to keep being able to do so. When I started going to school I never wavered on whether or not I was making the correct choice on going to nursing school. I never gave up, even when I felt like I was never going to get there. I applied to many different nursing programs near my home or far away, and each time the slots got filled I kept pushing. I retook classes to help my chances and I kept applying every time an application opened. Finally, I got into a program, never giving up on my dream. Now I am making my dream possible as I work hard to succeed in my classes, taking in all the knowledge and information given to me to become the best nurse that I can. My path to getting into the program was not the smoothest. There were quite a bit of rough patches. I had a dream of going to NAU just like my mother and older sister; I attended NAU for two years in Flagstaff and applied to the nursing program twice up there. I did not get in both times. However, I pursued my biology minor through NAU and was able to complete it. I applied to many different programs, and during this process, I had to talk to different counselors who would pull me in different directions and redirect me to different people, all giving me different information. I was told about classes that I needed to take or not to take, giving me mixed signals on what I needed to do to apply to these programs. It was frustrating and sometimes it felt like giving up was the easiest thing to do. However, I persevered and didn't give up. My job introduced me to a dual program through NAU which gave me more opportunities to apply to the nursing programs and I was able to get into a program that will allow me to graduate with my BSN from NAU. I know it's going to be hard, but I know that I can work through it and get to one of my dreams of becoming an RN. I currently work at Banner Thunderbird in Glendale as an ER technician. I work alongside nurses and doctors every shift, and watching them advocate and work hard to help their patients get the help they need is something that keeps me pushing hard to finish school. I interact with patients as soon as they walk into the ER doors or after being placed in an ER bed. I am doing blood draws, EKGs, and or getting vitals. I am comforting the scared patients, and even sometimes their family members when they are hurt, sick, and scared. I am trying to make an impact on their lives as much as I can with the skills I am allowed to perform. This job not only gives me experiences I never thought I needed but it gives me more love for the profession. The hard work and the reward of saving a patient's life is such a thrilling and motivating experience that I get to absorb and learn from. Even the gut-wrenching experience of a patient not making it continues to motivate me as I get to see and feel the effects of someone leaving this world. I also get to see what kind of medicines and life-saving medical equipment there are to keep patients alive for as long as possible. One experience that has stuck with me from work is when a patient who came in was in an extreme amount of pain. They suffer from sickle cell disease and were going through a crisis. As the nurse was getting the equipment to start an IV and medication, both she and I were able to help distract the patient by focusing on things they enjoyed. They had a Disney cartoon on their shirt and the nurse saw this and was able to get the patient to talk about the movie and characters enough to calm the patient down so that the medication could be administered and give relief to the patient. I want to be able to continue my work on caring for and calming patients down like that and give them the relief they need.