I am a Registered Nurse and a licensed Paramedic, and I have spent my career in emergency medicine. Right now I am working toward my Master of Science in Nursing at the University of Tampa to become a Family Nurse Practitioner, with graduation expected in December 2027. I got here the long way. I earned my emergency medical services degree and my nursing prerequisites at St. Petersburg College, finished my Bachelor of Science in Nursing at Capella University, and worked as a paramedic and then an emergency nurse the whole way through. What I want after this is a post-graduate advanced practice fellowship and my Emergency Nurse Practitioner certification. Emergency work is where I am useful. I am the person who stays calm when a room does not, and I would rather keep doing that work at a higher level than move to something slower. I think I am a strong candidate for a simple reason. I did not come to advanced practice from a classroom. I came to it from years on an ambulance and in two emergency departments, and I went back to school on top of that work because I wanted to do more for the same patients, not fewer.