My name is Kaygan Harrison. I am a 19-year-old college student. I am the oldest of two other siblings. Those girls are my world and I strive to be the best example I can be for them. I am also a dog momma to a wild bernedoodle named Penelope. We love our car rides listening to Hannah Montana and cuddling at night to watch NCIS. I have always wanted to succeed and complete anything I put my mind to, I think that is the best family trait that was passed down. My family means the world to me and I wouldn't be where I am today without them and Jesus. My family is anchored in Christ and they have passed it down to me where I am very involved in my church and mission trips. I wouldn't change it for the world. My grandparents and great-grandparents especially, hold the key to my heart. If you ask, I have always been a grandparent girl, not a momma or daddy's girl. I have always been told I have the heart of a nurse. My great-grandmother used to tell me this any time we played doctor or she needed a band-aid from nicking herself in the garden. In 2017, she went on to be the Lord. Her voice rings over and over in the back of my mind "you have the heart of a nurse," this inspired me to want to become non-other than a nurse. But not just any nurse, I want to be a nurse that has the heart that she had. I want to show my pediatric patients that they can be anything they want to be and encourage them to peruse their greatest dreams and that I will always be there to support them. I want to show the impact my mamaw left on my life. In 2022, I was diagnosed with a rare brain disorder that took a toll on my family and me, we bounced around from doctor to doctor hoping someone would listen and figure out what was wrong with me, but no one did. This experience showed me that no child or family deserves the way I was treated and I want to change that, I want to be the voice for kids who need it the most. I want to be the smiley face that greets them and assures them we will get to the bottom of whatever is going on. I want them to know they have someone fighting for them like my great-grandmother would have fought for me.

When you think of a teenager what do you think of? I think of someone who goes to school, goes to a part-time job, drives around like crazy because we can, or anything you've seen on a high school musical movie. November 21, 2021, in the middle of my senior year, a headache took all of that sense of normal away. I had a headache come on fast and suddenly. I was found on the ground of my parents' room conscious, talking crazy, and pale. I was taken in an ambulance to St. Dominic's hospital where all of that was ruled as a UTI and sent home. Two days later I was taken back to the hospital for an asymptomatic stroke on my right side. This episode took my strong walking strides, left an unsteady hand, and the feeling of my right leg away. This visit was ruled as stress and I was sent home. December was full of hospitals, tests, and loads of uncertainty. Before this month was over I had 3 MRIs, 2 CT scans, waiting for an EEG, a spinal tap, and loads of blood work done. By the end of this month, I was left barely walking, shaky, exhausted, and completely hopeless. Into the new year at the beginning of January, I woke up to a morning full of seizures and for someone who has never experienced this, it was terrifying. I had 11 between that morning, traveling to the hospital, and while I was there. I was told they couldn't do much, gave me medicine, and I was sent home. After this, we had many more neurology appointments. This was in all else hopeless. We finally decided to stop with neurologist around Mississippi and wait to see if we could get into Mayo. February 5th we got a call that we were going to Mayo. We spent the next two weeks praying and preparing ourselves for whatever was going to happen. February 14th we said see you later to friends and family and left for Mayo. On the first day of walking into the clinic, we walked back out with a diagnosis. I was diagnosed with Functional Neurological Disorder. This is a disorder that has the same symptoms and such as MS, Parkinson's, epilepsy, and many other diseases but FND does not have the damage the actual disorders have. The next step was what do we do to get me better? We searched and found Birmingham Functional Neurology. I started treatment with Dr. Arreta on March 7th. Since then my pain has gone down and my walking has improved but there is still such a long road ahead. This medical journey has made me realize how big my passion for nursing is and has fulled it even more. I do not want anyone to feel the way I have felt. My goals are to attend Hinds Community College and start my prerequisites for nursing then transfer to UAB or Southern Miss and start Nursing school. After I would like to become a pediatric travel nurse then start to build a medical clinic out of the country. This scholarship would help my family tremendously because my parents aren't able to work as much due to travel and doctors. Then also the cost of everything has taken a toll on our family. This would make me feel like I could take some stress off my parents' shoulders about one less thing.