Nursing wasn't always my aspiration as a child. I wanted to be a marine biologist when I was little, but my mother worked for a specialty hospital where she would go to a particular patient's home/apartment where they lived by themselves. She would just help to ensure medications were taken; they may have needed a hand to take a shower or bath, or just to have someone there for those "just in case" moments. That's where my interest started to peak a little bit because it sounded so interesting, and she described how nice they were and how grateful each patient was for her being there for them. This also made her very happy, which in turn made me happy and even more intrigued. A few years later, in February of 2021, my grandpa on my mom's side had a stroke. The scariest thing is that he lived in Florida, lay by himself on the floor for eight hours, with no immediate family around. It turns out he had a hemorrhagic stroke, the most serious of the types of strokes. He had to have two craniotomies, a tracheostomy, and had to be hooked up to a ventilator, and what made it worse is that this was during the peak of the COVID-19 epidemic. We eventually got him moved up to us here in Indiana to an assisted living facility because he needed maximum care since he had been completely paralyzed on his right side and had severe dysphagia and aphasia. Around the same time, in high school, I was taking a health profession course at my local career center, where I could earn my CNA license. The lovliest part of this course is that I was able to do my CNA clinicals at the same facility my grandpa was in at the time. It was amazing to be able to see my grandpa each time I was there, and how happy he was to see me, too. Though he could only say the word "no", I feel as though I could hear his tone and, to the best of my ability, figure out what he was saying. Unfortunately, after a few weeks, I didn't like the care that I saw the staff of the facility providing to other residents. I even witnessed my grandpa's brief completely soaked through his pants into his wheelchair seat. This made me upset for the residents and my grandpa. I communicated to the head nurse at the facility, and I was, in simple terms, brushed off and told that I didn't understand that they had to do things a specific way, which, in my personal and professional opinion, was the wrong way. My mother and I eventually moved my grandpa to our home on Thanksgiving of 2021, where I proudly provide care to him every day while going to nursing school. It has become increasingly difficult since nursing school has gotten more in-depth, but with help from my mother and brother, we have been doing everything we can to provide the best care we can for him. But, long story short, my mother sparked my interest, and my grandpa's unfortunate stroke furthered my love and determination to provide adequate care for him and for all of my future patients. I found this scholarship through Bold.org. Thank you for your consideration.

The nursing industry interests me as a career choice because of one person, my grandpa. He had a hemorrhagic stroke around 5 years ago, for which he had trachostomies, G-tubes, and craniotomies. He is currently paralyzied on his right side, has severe aphasia/dysphagia, and requires complete assistance, for which I provide at my mom's and my home while I attend nursing school. The care and determination the healthcare staff, specifically the bedside nurses, provided was amazing, and I just felt as if I wanted and had to do that for others. I wanted to make others feel the way the nurses made us feel throughout the whole process, seen and heard during this difficult and unexpected time. My goals for a successful career are to provide care and support for patients and their families throughout any medical situation, whether minor or severe. Some personal accomplishments that have helped my pursuit of these goals are really watching and learning from my professors/clinical instructors and the facility nurses during my in-facility clinical times. Also, ensuring I make myself available for possible moments during these clinical times to ensure I get as much hands-on learning as possible. I do have some past medical experience from a vocational school when I was in high school. I attended a health science education course in which I obtained my certified nursing assistant license. In the course, we went into a long-term care facility for the first semester, which is actually where my grandpa was staying at the time before we moved him home to care for him full-time. During this time, I saw some actions by the staff that I wasn't comfortable with, so I reported the actions to the head nurse on the floor, for which my concerns were dismissed as a "misunderstanding" of how they "deal with horrible patients". This concerned me gravely, which is the main reason we moved my grandpa out of the facility, not to mention the times we visited him and he was completely soaked through his brief into his wheelchair pad. Being dismissed from what was really the issue pushed me even further to want to achieve and be something better for my future potential patients. From that point on, I vowed to provide the utmost care like the nurses did in the beginning of my grandpa's care, but reflect, realize, and learn what not to do for patients who really need and deserve proper and specialized care. I thank you for considering me for this opportunity.

I want to become a nurse. The main reason I am pursuing nursing is because of my grandpa. In high school, in February 2021, my grandpa had a hemorrhagic stroke. It was a really difficult and painful time for my family and me. In that grief, I chose to pursue a CNA program at a career center. That was such a great experience because I got to learn the inner workings of the healthcare world and how giving it can be with patient care. The best part is that when I did my CNA clinicals, I got to do my clinical rotation at the assisted living facility that my grandpa was living in at the time. In such a short time from February 2021 to June 2021, my grandpa had to have 2 craniotomies, a g-tube, and was on a vent for 2 months before, thankfully, breathing on his own again. He has severe aphasia, with the only word he can say consistently being "no". He is also paralyzed on his right side and needs constant care due to being incontinent. Since then, we brought him back to our house on Thanksgiving in 2021. Currently, he is living with us as I attend nursing school. I live about 45 minutes away from Ball State campus, so I commute at least four times a week while also taking care of my grandpa. Fortunately, we do receive some help from my family, but still, I would consider myself the main "caregiver", though my mother has the power of attorney over him. But on the nursing side, I saw the care and hard work that the physicians and, most importantly, the nurses gave to my grandpa. They made us feel as though he was receiving the best care that anyone could ever ask for, which was the best thing in the world. I wanted to be someone's hope that they or their family members would get better and ensure them that they are receiving the best of me at each point of care and interaction. I've been in nursing school for about two semesters now, and I have learned so much in those two semesters, especially with patient care and how challenging but, more importantly, rewarding it can be. I always keep my grandpa in mind while I'm for someone. Though he may not fully understand his impact on my career or even who I am at some points, it is still worth it in the end.

My name is Karson Fabrick, born and raised in Indiana. I come from a small town called Spiceland in Henry County, with about 900 people, and an even smaller school called Tri Junior-Senior High School in Straughn. Growing up in such a small, fairly low-class town/school made me feel a little insignificant, not unsure of myself and what I am/was capable of, but just felt as if I didn't have the resources to go get what I felt I wanted and needed. Despite that, I tried my hardest and worked hard to finally get into college and even the nursing school I wanted. Nursing hasn't always been an aspiration of mine, but it really did become one. Almost 5 years ago, in February 2021, my grandfather had a stroke, which permanently paralyzed him on his right side, giving him the inability to speak full sentences, only saying the word "no" to any question or statement. This experience, learning about him and what he had to go through, was extremely sad but also very interesting. Being able to learn about what surgeries, procedures, therapies, medications, etc, he had to take/do to treat the conditions he had acquired due to the stroke. After this, I felt like I needed to be there for people like him and be involved in their care to ensure that it was being done properly and to the level expected of that person, whether they knew due to a lack of knowledge of what was being done or due to a cognitive impairment, like what happened to my grandpa. I had completed a CNA course in my junior year of high school, around 2021, and went to do my clinicals at the facility where my grandpa was living at the time. The experience of seeing my grandpa each day I was there was amazing, but I did not appreciate or agree with the level of care they were providing him or the other residents. I came in one, and he was soaked through his brief, through his pants, into his wheelchair seat. This disgusted me beyond belief. I immediately spoke up and advocated for my grandpa, as I would for any patient, no matter family/friends or not; everyone deserves fair and appropriate treatment. Not long after, my mother and I moved him out of that facility and into our home. Long story short, this experience changed my mindset about what I wanted to do. Caring, advocating, treating, and just communicating with my grandpa as a resident/patient, and most importantly, my grandpa, was an amazing experience. I am now taking care of my grandpa full-time while also being a full-time commuting nursing student at Ball State University in Muncie. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to apply to this scholarship.

When I was a child, I didn't look at nursing or healthcare as a career path. I had always wanted to be a marine biologist because I loved taking care of animals and being in the water. But as I started to look at my mother, who was a medical assistant at the time, I saw something in her, and her experiences at work, that I had never really thought about, especially the intricacy and care that goes into any tier of a healthcare worker. A few years later, now nearing the end of my sophomore year in high school, my grandpa had a stroke in Florida, as he went every year for the winter. He had been lying for around eight hours before he was found. Rushed to the hospital, he had to have both a craniotomy and tracheotomy, and was put on a vent for a while. He was also diagnosed with being fully paralyzed on his right side, having severe aphasia, partially incontinent, and, which has since been removed and has moved to solid food/non "Thick-It" water, a G-tube was put in place. He was eventually, 4 months later, brought to Indiana and put in a nursing home. Funnily enough, I was in a career center course to become a CNA, and one of the options for our clinical areas was the nursing home where my grandpa was living. I shadowed nurses, LPNs, CNAs, along with some friends who attended the same facility with me for their clinical hours. Through all of this, my grandpa was there, and getting to see him during this time was amazing, but not for long. As I logged many hours at this facility, I got to know the physical and clinical conditions of how they functioned. I was appalled and spoke to the lead nurse, who brushed me off as "seeing things differently" and that the action I witnessed was "routine". I couldn't bring myself to let my grandpa live there any longer. I talked with my mother, who is POA over him, and we moved him home with us on Thanksgiving Day in 2021. Though tough, and sometimes emotional and difficult to maintain a relationship with due to cognitive impairment, he is still my 'papaw'. Now, after graduating in 2023 from Tri Junior-Senior High school, I am attending and communting around 45 minutes Ball State University's School of Nursing in hopes, with unimaginable determination, of attaining my nursing license not only for me or my friends and family, but for my papaw specifically, who many not be able to understand such an achievement anymore, but I will sure try my best to let him know that I did it.

When I was a child, I didn't look at nursing or healthcare as a career path. I had always wanted to be a marine biologist because I loved taking care of animals and being in the water. But as I started to look at my mother, who was a medical assistant at the time, I saw something in her, and her experiences at work, that I had never really thought about, especially the intricacy and care that goes into any tier of a healthcare worker. A few years later, now nearing the end of my sophomore year in high school, my grandpa had a stroke in Florida, as he went every year for the winter. He had been lying for around eight hours before he was found. Rushed to the hospital, he had to have both a craniotomy and tracheotomy, and was put on a vent for a while. He was also diagnosed with being fully paralyzed on his right side, having severe aphasia, partially incontinent, and, which has since been removed and has moved to solid food/non "Thick-It" water, a G-tube was put in place. He was eventually, 4 months later, brought to Indiana and put in a nursing home. Funnily enough, I was in a career center course to become a CNA, and one of the options for our clinical areas was the nursing home where my grandpa was living. I shadowed nurses, LPNs, CNAs, along with some friends who attended the same facility with me for their clinical hours. Through all of this, my grandpa was there, and getting to see him during this time was amazing, but not for long. As I logged many hours at this facility, I got to know the physical and clinical conditions of how they functioned. I was appalled and spoke to the lead nurse, who brushed me off as "seeing things differently" and that the action I witnessed was "routine". I couldn't bring myself to let my grandpa live there any longer. I talked with my mother, who is POA over him, and we moved him home with us on Thanksgiving Day in 2021. Though tough, and sometimes emotional and difficult to maintain a relationship with due to cognitive impairment, he is still my 'papaw'. Now, after graduating in 2023 from Tri Junior-Senior High school, I am attending and communting around 45 minutes Ball State University's School of Nursing in hopes, with unimaginable determination, of attaining my nursing license not only for me or my friends and family, but for my papaw specifically, who many not be able to understand such an achievement anymore, but I will sure try my best to let him know that I did it.

When I was a child, I didn't look at nursing or healthcare as a career path. I had always wanted to be a marine biologist because I loved taking care of animals and being in the water, mainly. But as I started to look at my mother, who was a medical assistant at the time, I saw something in her, and her experiences at work, that I had never really thought about, especially the intricacy and care that goes into any tier of a healthcare worker. A few years later, now nearing the end of my sophomore year in high school, my grandpa had a stroke in Florida, as he went every year for the winter. He had been lying for around eight hours before he was found. Rushed to the hospital, he had to have both a craniotomy and tracheotomy, and was put on a vent for a while. He was also diagnosed with being fully paralyzed on his right side, having severe aphasia, partially incontinent, and, which has since been removed and has moved to solid food/non "Thick-It" water, a G-tube was put in place. He was eventually, 4 months later, brought to Indiana and put in a nursing home. Funnily enough, I was in a career center course to become a CNA, and one of the options for our clinical areas was the nursing home where my grandpa was living. I shadowed nurses, LPNs, CNAs, along with some friends who attended the same facility with me for their clinical hours. Through all of this, my grandpa was there, and getting to see him during this time was amazing, but not for long. As I logged many hours at this facility, I got to know the physical and clinical conditions of how they functioned. I was appalled and spoke to the lead nurse, who brushed me off as "seeing things differently" and that the action I witnessed was "routine". I couldn't bring myself to let my grandpa live there any longer. I talked with my mother, who is POA over him, and we moved him home with us on Thanksgiving Day in 2021. Though tough, and sometimes emotional and difficult to maintain a relationship with due to cognitive impairment, he is still my 'papaw'. Now, after graduating in 2023 from Tri Junior-Senior High school, I am attending and communting around 45 minutes Ball State University's School of Nursing in hopes, with unimaginable determination, of attaining my nursing license not only for me or my friends and family, but for my papaw specifically, who many not be able to understand such an achievement anymore, but I will sure try my best to let him know that I did it. I found this scholarship through Bold.org and many other scholarship tools. Thank you for your consideration.