“If you have a dream, don’t let anybody take it away.” Selena Quintanilla In this day and age, we find ourselves focusing on a plethora of things. Whether it be tragedies occurring worldwide, our family and friends, our job, or even how we want to spend our weekend. But, we often forget to take a moment to think about the fundamental aspects of our life. What will make us happy? For many, our happiness can be found within something we do daily: our career. For me, nursing has motivated and encouraged me to make a change in a world with so much tragedy, and provided me with the intrinsic value necessary to fulfill my life. One aspect that I want to emphasize in my career in nursing is compassion. I believe that everybody deserves to be treated with respect, concern, and care regardless of their age, race, culture, or disability. The event that inspired me to pursue healthcare was when my niece, Alanna, was born prematurely and almost passed away after birth due to insufficient nutrients. She was transferred to the NICU and was in an incubator for weeks. This event affected not only me but my entire family as we were at a loss for what was to come. I recall standing over her incubator, wishing that I could have helped her. I reflected on all of the other families who have gone through the same things, and even the ones who ended up losing their babies. Thankfully, Alanna is now 7 years old and is an extremely healthy and intelligent young girl. Her story has played a major role in my path to nursing because she was not expected to survive, and if it wasn’t by the grace of God and the healthcare workers who made it their mission to ensure her health she might not have been able to make it as far as she has today. I could relate to the circumstances in the sense of paying it forward, in that throughout my life I have experienced healthcare workers showing incredible levels of compassion to many people in my life and I want to be able to give that compassion back and make the world a better place. You’re probably wondering about the quote that I included to begin my statement. Not only are its words motivational and inspiring, but the true power comes from the woman behind the quote who not only said but lived those words. Selena Quintanilla is an embodiment of compassion and what it truly means to care for others. She played a huge role in my childhood, my family, and many other Hispanic families. Selena made a huge impact on her community by having great involvement in numerous charities, speaking out for battered women, raising awareness for HIV/AIDS victims, and encouraging many young students to stay in school and seek higher education. Her manager devastatingly murdered Selena in the early 2000s, however, she always lived on with her image of kindness and compassion. Selena’s story is important to me because it shows how women, particularly women of color, can make a beautiful impact on the world and their communities. In healthcare, nearly 75% of registered nurses are caucasian. Only 7% are made up of people with a Hispanic or Latino background. I want to be able to inspire other young people with similar backgrounds to make a change in the healthcare community and be a part of that 7%. In the wise words of Selena, “If you have a dream, don’t let anybody take it away.”

“If you have a dream, don’t let anybody take it away.” Selena Quintanilla In this day and age, we find ourselves focusing on a plethora of things. Whether it be tragedies occurring worldwide, our family and friends, our job, or even how we want to spend our weekend. But, we often forget to take a moment to think about the fundamental aspects of our life. What will make us happy? For many, our happiness can be found within something we do daily: our career. For me, nursing has motivated and encouraged me to make a change in a world with so much tragedy, and provided me with the intrinsic value necessary to fulfill my life. One aspect that I want to emphasize in my career in nursing is compassion. I believe that everybody deserves to be treated with respect, concern, and care regardless of their age, race, culture, or disability. The event that inspired me to pursue healthcare was when my niece, Alanna, was born prematurely and almost passed away after birth due to insufficient nutrients. She was transferred to the NICU and was in an incubator for weeks. This event affected not only me but my entire family as we were at a loss for what was to come. I recall standing over her incubator, wishing that I could have helped her. I reflected on all of the other families who have gone through the same things, and even the ones who ended up losing their babies. Thankfully, Alanna is now 7 years old and is an extremely healthy and intelligent young girl. Her story has played a major role in my path to nursing because she was not expected to survive, and if it wasn’t by the grace of God and the healthcare workers who made it their mission to ensure her health she might not have been able to make it as far as she has today. I could relate to the circumstances in the sense of paying it forward, in that throughout my life I have experienced healthcare workers showing incredible levels of compassion to many people in my life and I want to be able to give that compassion back and make the world a better place. You’re probably wondering about the quote that I included to begin my statement. Not only are its words motivational and inspiring, but the true power comes from the woman behind the quote who not only said but lived those words. Selena Quintanilla is an embodiment of compassion and what it truly means to care for others. She played a huge role in my childhood, my family, and many other Hispanic families. Selena made a huge impact on her community by having great involvement in numerous charities, speaking out for battered women, raising awareness for HIV/AIDS victims, and encouraging many young students to stay in school and seek higher education. Her manager devastatingly murdered Selena in the early 2000s, however, she always lived on with her image of kindness and compassion. Selena’s story is important to me because it shows how women, particularly women of color, can make a beautiful impact on the world and their communities. In healthcare, nearly 75% of registered nurses are caucasian. Only 7% are made up of people with a Hispanic or Latino background. I want to be able to inspire other young people with similar backgrounds to make a change in the healthcare community and be a part of that 7%. In the wise words of Selena, “If you have a dream, don’t let anybody take it away.”

“If you have a dream, don’t let anybody take it away.” Selena Quintanilla In this day and age, we find ourselves focusing on a plethora of things. Whether it be tragedies occurring worldwide, our family and friends, our job, or even how we want to spend our weekend. But, we often forget to take a moment to think about the fundamental aspects of our life. What will make us happy? For many, our happiness can be found within something we do daily: our career. For me, nursing has motivated and encouraged me to make a change in a world with so much tragedy, and provided me with the intrinsic value necessary to fulfill my life. One aspect that I want to emphasize in my career in nursing is compassion. I believe that everybody deserves to be treated with respect, concern, and care regardless of their age, race, culture, or disability. The event that inspired me to pursue healthcare was when my niece, Alanna, was born prematurely and almost passed away after birth due to insufficient nutrients. She was transferred to the NICU and was in an incubator for weeks. This event affected not only me but my entire family as we were at a loss for what was to come. I recall standing over her incubator, wishing that I could have helped her. I reflected on all of the other families who have gone through the same things, and even the ones who ended up losing their babies. Thankfully, Alanna is now 7 years old and is an extremely healthy and intelligent young girl. Her story has played a major role in my path to nursing because she was not expected to survive, and if it wasn’t by the grace of God and the healthcare workers who made it their mission to ensure her health she might not have been able to make it as far as she has today. I could relate to the circumstances in the sense of paying it forward, in that throughout my life I have experienced healthcare workers showing incredible levels of compassion to many people in my life and I want to be able to give that compassion back and make the world a better place. You’re probably wondering about the quote that I included to begin my statement. Not only are its words motivational and inspiring, but the true power comes from the woman behind the quote who not only said but lived those words. Selena Quintanilla is an embodiment of compassion and what it truly means to care for others. She played a huge role in my childhood, my family, and many other Hispanic families. Selena made a huge impact on her community by having great involvement in numerous charities, speaking out for battered women, raising awareness for HIV/AIDS victims, and encouraging many young students to stay in school and seek higher education. Her manager devastatingly murdered Selena in the early 2000s, however, she always lived on with her image of kindness and compassion. Selena’s story is important to me because it shows how women, particularly women of color, can make a beautiful impact on the world and their communities. In healthcare, nearly 75% of registered nurses are caucasian. Only 7% are made up of people with a Hispanic or Latino background. I want to be able to inspire other young people with similar backgrounds to make a change in the healthcare community and be a part of that 7%. In the wise words of Selena, “If you have a dream, don’t let anybody take it away.”

“If you have a dream, don’t let anybody take it away.”- Selena Quintanilla. In this day and age, we find ourselves focusing on a plethora of things. Whether it be tragedies occurring worldwide, our family and friends, our jobs, or even how we want to spend our weekend. But, we often forget to take a moment to think about the fundamental aspects of our life. What will make us happy? For many, our happiness can be found within something we do daily: our career. For me, nursing has motivated and encouraged me to make a change in a world with so much tragedy, and provided me with the intrinsic value necessary to fulfill my life. One aspect that I want to emphasize in my career in nursing is compassion. I believe that everybody deserves to be treated with respect, concern, and care regardless of their age, race, culture, or disability. The event that inspired me to pursue healthcare was when my niece, Alanna, was born prematurely and almost passed away after birth due to insufficient nutrients from the placenta. She was transferred to the NICU and was in an incubator for weeks. This event affected not only me but my entire family as we were at a loss for what was to come. I recall standing over her incubator, wishing that I could have helped her but being able to do nothing for her. I reflected on all of the other families who have gone through the same things, and even the ones who ended up losing their babies. Thankfully, Alanna is now 7 years old and is an extremely healthy and intelligent young girl. Her story has played a major role in my path to nursing because she was not expected to survive, and if it wasn’t by the grace of God and the healthcare workers who made it their mission to ensure her health she might not have been able to make it as far as she has today. I could relate to the circumstances in the sense of paying it forward, in that throughout my life I have experienced healthcare workers showing incredible levels of compassion to many people in my life that mean a lot to me. The experience behind my niece and father. My father has many health issues and yet again compassion was delivered by all the amazing healthcare workers, and I want to be able to give that compassion back to help those families like mine who have gone or are going through devastating circumstances beyond their control and make the world a better place, the world needs more compassion and care. You’re probably wondering about the quote that I included to begin my statement and here is why. This quote is powerful to me for a few reasons. Not only are its words motivational and inspiring, but the true power comes from the woman behind the quote who not only said but lived those words. Selena Quintanilla is an embodiment of compassion and what it truly means to care for others. She played a huge role in my childhood, my family, and many other Hispanic families. Selena made a huge impact on her community by having great involvement in numerous charities, speaking out for battered women, raising awareness for HIV/AIDS victims, and encouraging many young students to stay in school and seek higher education. Her manager devastatingly murdered Selena in the early 2000s, however, she always lived on with her image of kindness and compassion till today. Selena’s story is important to me because it shows how women, and particularly women of color, can make a beautiful impact on the world and their community. In healthcare, nearly 75% of registered nurses are caucasian. Only 7% are made up of people with a Hispanic or Latino background. I want to be able to inspire other young people with similar backgrounds to make a change in the healthcare community and be a part of that 7%, Many of us who aren't Caucasian are looked down on I want that cycle to break. Many would assume a young Latina girl would make it this far but I've come this far and will go even farther. I'd like my story to motivate others, to be able to teach others, and help others who don't think this path is possible. The beauty in helping society to become a better place. Contributing to the community by providing the resources needed, being another nurse who cares about the well-being of those in need, finds love in helping. The world needs us future nurses, nurses who look like me. My dream of becoming a nurse will be accomplished, the first nurse in an immigrant family. In the wise words of Selena, “If you have a dream, don’t let anybody take it away.”