There have been many things that have inspired me to pursue a career in nursing, from caring for my brain dead father whilst he was in the Intensive Care Unit until the day he passed away, to getting diagnosed with what used to be a terminal illness; thanks to new medical advancements, it is no longer a guaranteed death sentence. In August of 2020, I was diagnosed with HIV and my world came crumbling down. This severely disrupted my academic studies as well as my everyday life, in every way possible. My mental and physical health declined rapidly, I was broken for a short time. Eventually, I recovered and became a stronger person than I ever was before. I thank all of the healthcare workers that helped me throughout this process for both my medical condition and my mental health. Today, it is very manageable and I am thriving in college. It is also because of the losses that I've suffered and the help I received from the healthcare industry that I now aspire to work in this industry as well. I am an aspiring nursing student and beginning a Bachelors of Science in Nursing program this August. It is definitely difficult but well worth the challenge, and as a first-generation student with essentially no family support, even more so. I hope that I can go on to become a nurse and help those as I've been helped, and also help those that I could not help before. Perhaps in the future, I will also be able to pursue graduate studies at the doctoral level so I can provide specialized care to individuals that are suffering from illnesses such as mine, as well as any other individual that may need my care I remain resilient to this day in both my education and future career. It would be quite easy to simply let the things that have occurred in the past cripple me and give up, but that is just not who I am, I am a fighter. In fact, these events have made me appreciate the mortality of life, even more, it has helped me to see just how precious and fragile human life can truly be. Everything has encouraged me to be more connected with those around me, as well as participate in the community more. We never know when we'll wake up one day and have our entire world flipped upside down with some unexpected news. That's just life though, filled with unexpected twists and turns, all I can do is try to help those around me and do my utmost to provide care when it is needed.

After my father passed away almost one year ago now, my world came crumbling down. Frankly, I never thought that I would lose a parent anytime soon, especially not while I was studying in college. Then again, nobody ever expects to lose a parent this soon, and certainly, nobody wants to. My father woke from his sleep with difficulty breathing and started choking on his own vomit as I carried him to the bathroom to let it out. He passed out and I performed CPR while the ambulance got there and he woke up again just before they arrived. However, my father went into a long coma in the ICU, never to wake up or have any interactions with me ever again after that night. After a long time, I made the decision to let him go, and as soon as they took out any type of life-sustaining machinery, his body gave out. His heart could not beat on its own, and his lungs could not breathe without aid. The doctor said he'd never wake up if by some miracle he ever did he'd be a brain-dead man, an empty shell, and so I let him go. However, my time in the ICU and watching my father go through this was not for nothing, I would not allow it to be meaningless. This event truly propelled me forward in my studies and made me a much more mature person, more motivated to succeed than I ever was before. I wanted (and still do) to make my father proud of me, even from his grave. All of this inspired me to pursue a career in Nursing so that I could better be prepared for the future, should any tragic event such as this one happen to a loved one ever again. Next time I will be more prepared, I will know the warning signs, and I will not let this happen to anyone if I can help it. I do plan to pursue my studies at a doctoral level once I am done with my bachelor's degree. It's truly been hard continuing college without my father there to support me both mentally and financially but I've managed somehow, and he is always on my mind whenever things are getting difficult, and he pushes me forward to success everyday.

Being an LGBTQ+ student has come with many challenges. From facing discrimination for my sexual orientation to even the way I speak at times, it has truly been a learning experience to the cruelty of some humans. This is not the case for all, of course, I have also met wonderful people that have helped me overcome challenges and they made a positive influence on my mental health. Sadly, I wish that these were the only challenges life would have thrown at me. In August of 2020, I was diagnosed with HIV and my world came crumbling down. This severely disrupted my academic studies as well as my everyday life, in every way possible. My mental and physical health declined rapidly, I was broken for a short time. Eventually, I recovered and became a stronger person than I ever was before. I thank all of the healthcare workers that helped me throughout this process for both my medical condition and my mental health. Today, it is very manageable and I am thriving in college with a near-perfect GPA, around 3.93 or so last time I checked out of 4.0 It is because of the losses that I've suffered and the help I received from the healthcare industry that I now aspire to work in this industry as well. I am an aspiring nursing student and beginning a Bachelors of Science in Nursing program this August. It is definitely difficult but well worth the challenge, and as a first-generation student with essentially no family support, even more so. I hope that I can go on to become a nurse and help those as I've been helped, and also help those that I could not help before. Perhaps in the future, I will also be able to pursue graduate studies at the doctoral level so I can provide specialized care to people in the LGBTQ+ community, that is my dream. This scholarship would be a tremendous help to reaching the completion of my nursing program as it would allow me to graduate without needing to take out ridiculously expensive private student loans. I fear that my federal aid does not come close to covering the amount of money I need to finish my bachelor's degree in the field of nursing. This scholarship would close the gap in terms of the money I need to be able to pay for my remaining semesters at nursing school, I will be graduating from the University of Texas Medical Branch in 2023, the month of December, at least that is what I am hoping to do; this money would allow me to do just that.

Being an LGBTQ+ student has come with many challenges. From facing discrimination for my sexual orientation to even the way I speak at times, it has truly been a learning experience to the cruelty of some humans. This is not the case for all, of course, I have also met wonderful people that have helped me overcome challenges and they made a positive influence on my mental health. Sadly, I wish that these were the only challenges life would have thrown at me. In August of 2020, I was diagnosed with HIV and my world came crumbling down. This severely disrupted my academic studies as well as my everyday life, in every way possible. My mental and physical health declined rapidly, I was broken for a short time. Eventually, I recovered and became a stronger person than I ever was before. I thank all of the healthcare workers that helped me throughout this process for both my medical condition and my mental health. Today, it is very manageable and I am thriving in college. It is because of the losses that I've suffered and the help I received from the healthcare industry that I now aspire to work in this industry as well. I am an aspiring nursing student and beginning a Bachelors of Science in Nursing program this August. It is definitely difficult but well worth the challenge, and as a first-generation student with essentially no family support, even more so. I hope that I can go on to become a nurse and help those as I've been helped, and also help those that I could not help before. Perhaps in the future, I will also be able to pursue graduate studies at the doctoral level so I can provide specialized care to people in the LGBTQ+ community, that is my dream.