My name is Katie Chesher, and I plan to study nursing in college. Growing up, I had a lot of health issues, such as sports-induced injuries, low iron, concussion protocols, and physical therapy. Therfore making me want to go into some medical field, as I would be able to help people the way my doctors helped me. Growing up, I had a parent who worked long hours, whom I never really got to see. He worked night shifts, so when he was home during the day, he had to sleep. So although he was present physically, he was never mentally, and this transformed into emotional abuse due to his alcoholism. Being a young child who seemed like they had no way out was an awful feeling, so I did something about it. I spoke with a trusted adult at school, who eventually got CPS involved. They then recommended that both of us get therapy. So at the age of 12, I was attending therapy, and this helped me so much. It made me feel safe and made me grow as a person. Because of this, I wanted to become a childhood trauma therapist, so I can help kids the way that my therapist helped me. So, as I had a love for both of these things, I decided that I wanted to go into nursing to become a pediatric registered nurse. Academically, I am one of the three International Baccalaureate Candidates in my grade. This rigorous workload includes taking six IB classes as well as other work, such as Theory of Knowledge, CAS (Creativity, Activity, Service), and outside work on my 4000-word Extended Essay and my 7 Internal Assessments. I have also maintained a GPA in the 90’s for my entire high school career. On top of these challenging expectations, I am in the World Language Honor Society and the National Honor Society. I have received other awards, such as the Daniel Myslivecek award. I participate in other clubs as well, for example, I am secretary of the Rotary Interact Club, Vice President of Student for the Environment Club, and I enjoy attending meetings at the Foreign Language Club. These in-school activities show my dedication and drive to academics. As for impact, I hope that as a pediatric registered nurse, I will be able to build relationships with children and help them mentally and physically. I think that being able to help them would heal a part of me that was pained as a child. For these reasons above, I feel that I am fit for the Maureen C. Pace Memorial Nursing Scholarship.

My name is Katie Chesher, and I am applying for the Holly Hallinean Memorial Scholarship. I am choosing to continue my education at SUNY Brockport and major in Nursing, as well as minor in Psychology and Spanish. Growing up, I had a parent who worked long hours, whom I never really got to see. He worked night shifts, so when he was home during the day, he had to sleep. So, although he was present physically, he wasn't mentally, and this transformed into emotional abuse due to his alcoholism. Being a young child who seemed like they had no way out was an awful feeling, so I did something about it. I spoke with a trusted adult at school, who eventually got CPS involved. They then recommended that both of us get therapy. So at the age of 12, I was attending therapy, and this helped me so much. It made me feel safe and made me grow as a person. Because of this, I wanted to become a childhood trauma therapist, so I can help kids the way that my therapist helped me. I have always loved working with kids, which is why I babysit year-round and why I ran a softball day camp for young girls. Throughout the years, I have also worked with children through church services and church volunteering. I enjoy being around kids as they are just so cheerful and fun to be around. Later in life, my mom remarried, and I had three new step-siblings, one of whom is a Pediatrics Emergency Nurse. I became interested in this job as it focuses on what I wanted to do to help. Over the last few years, my end goal has transformed into wanting to be a Pediatric Registered Nurse. So, although my end goal has changed over the years, the thing that has stayed consistent is to work with children in the medical field. This scholarship will help me reach my goal of becoming a Pediatric Registered Nurse, as college can be very expensive. Nursing is a very challenging field that requires a lot of attention, therefore cutting down my ability to work my part-time job. I show a lot of dedication to school as I am one of the three International Baccalaureate Candidates in my grade. This rigorous workload includes taking six IB classes as well as other work, such as Theory of Knowledge, CAS (Creativity, Activity, Service), and outside work on my 4000-word Extended Essay and my 7 Internal Assessments. I have also maintained a GPA in the 90’s for my entire high school career. On top of these challenging expectations, I am in the World Language Honor Society and the National Honor Society. I have received other awards, such as the Daniel Myslivecek award. I participate in other clubs as well, for example, I am secretary of the Rotary Interact Club, Vice President of Student for the Environment Club, and I enjoy attending meetings at the Foreign Language Club. For all these reasons, I hope to receive the Holly Hallinean Memorial Scholarship as it will help me follow my dreams of becoming a pediatric registered nurse.