Going through everyday life, worried about the next step. Not realizing what has happened around me is a scary thought. Working in a hospital it is easy to forget what is happening outside of the unit. Hearing bedside alarms going off, constant phone calls, code blues, and visitors. It is hard to take a minute and take a breath of fresh air. Working several 12-hour shifts where the only interactions you make are with your patients and the family. Those are the sweet moments of what I love to do. Working in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit has taught me that a community brings everyone together for one cause. Finding out what families need and working with organizations locally to find those supplies parents may need. Working fairs to educate families and interact with those who show interest in the healthcare field. Outside of the hospital, I have enjoyed working with school-aged children on topics with STEAM. Helping high school seniors in trade school with their resumes, and interviews and assisting with getting clothes for them. To grade school, building them robots and showing them how they can use robots. Another part of being in the community is helping with the homeless shelters. Helping with a local "one-stop" shelter that provides showers, food, and clothing for the homeless community. Organizing clothes and making premade meals for those in the community who need support. With the animal shelter, taking the elderly dogs for walks and car rides during free time. To help the staff at the shelter for promotion, see the personality of the dog and for a better impact on my mental health. Many aspects can improve when I think of how I can positively impact today. Whether it is within the hospital with patients' families during a stressful time in their life; or in the community to help improve the city I work and live in. Making a positive impact on the world looks different from everything. As it is changing constantly, diverse needs appear for different individuals. Being comfortable with change and willing to help someone is how one can positively impact someone. Even during stressful, confusing times taking a break to see how you can positively impact someone is important. Writing down something that I am grateful for and how I can make tomorrow better. I plan to continue to be involved with the community around me, and those who I interact with in the hospital setting.

I have worked as a nurse extern in the NICU since December 2022. I have found this unit to be rewarding but emotional. I have found that these are the worst times in these parents’ lives. When their labor goals are not met, they are not able to see their baby till hours later. I always try to get baby footprints and their name to make personalized signs for their bedside space. When the parents get to come in, it puts a smile on my face when they get first to meet their baby. I have always enjoyed continuing education. Helping families feed their babies for the first time, change their diapers, and get ready for them to go home. But this unit has a special place in my heart as a premature baby myself, who required a NG tube for feeding. I have worked with several of my primary nurses since birth. Getting to support parents, that were in my mother's shoes. Another reason I wanted to become a nurse is because of my mother. This summer has been more challenging as my mother had a recent heart attack. Getting called to her room and being able to ask two questions before knowing a heart attack was starting. Waiting to hear news post-catheterization was the most frightening part. Once I was able to go see her in the ICU. She had many questions, and I realized no one was answering them. Regarding what's happening and what all the follow-up appointments were for. Since the hospitalization, I have cared for my mother. Ensuring she is taking her medication, weight, and going to her appointments. It has made me realize as a future nurse I could grow. Giving proper education to the patient and the family who may be taking care of the patient once discharged. One thing I have realized through many challenging times was those who supported me and kept me going when life was getting hard. My professor Petry, called me once I emailed her about missing the final exam review since my mother was being transported to the hospital. She called me and kept me calm on the phone during what was the scariest time. She kept reminding me of what I know about heart attacks and kept my mind on other topics while I waited for my mother to arrive. During the week of finals, she constantly asked about my mother and kept me encouraged to finish this semester strong. Without her, I would have a hard time going into finals week. My mother and my professor have continuously pushed me and made me want to be the nurse I see I could be.

I have worked as a nurse extern in the NICU since December 2022. I have found this unit to be rewarding but emotional. I have found that these are the worst times in these parents’ lives. When their labor goals are not met, they are not able to see their baby till hours later. I always try to get baby footprints and their name to make personalized signs for their bedside space. When the parents get to come in, it puts a smile on my face when they get first to meet their baby. I have always enjoyed continuing education. Helping families feed their babies for the first time, change their diapers, and get ready for them to go home. But this unit has a special place in my heart as a premature baby myself, who required a NG tube for feeding. I have worked with several of my primary nurses since birth. Getting to support parents, that were in my mother's shoes. Another reason I wanted to become a nurse is because of my mother. This summer has been more challenging as my mother had a recent heart attack. Getting called to her room and being able to ask two questions before knowing a heart attack was starting. Waiting to hear news post-catheterization was the most frightening part. Once I was able to go see her in the ICU. She had many questions, and I realized no one was answering them. Regarding what's happening and what all the follow-up appointments were for. Since the hospitalization, I have cared for my mother. Ensuring she is taking her medication, weight, and going to her appointments. It has made me realize as a future nurse I could grow. Giving proper education to the patient and the family who may be taking care of the patient once discharged. One thing I have realized through many challenging times was those who supported me and kept me going when life was getting hard. My professor Petry, called me once I emailed her about missing the final exam review since my mother was being transported to the hospital. She called me and kept me calm on the phone during what was the scariest time. She kept reminding me of what I know about heart attacks and kept my mind on other topics while I waited for my mother to arrive. During the week of finals, she constantly asked about my mother and kept me encouraged to finish this semester strong. Without her, I would have a hard time going into finals week. My mother and my professor have continuously pushed me and made me want to be the nurse I see I could be.

I have been working as a nurse extern in the NICU since December 2022. I have found this unit to be rewarding but emotional. I have found that these are the worst times in these parents’ lives. When their labor goals are not met, and they are not able to see their baby till hours later. I always try to get baby footprints and their name to make personalized signs for their bedside space. When the parents get to come in, it puts a smile on my face when they get to first meet their baby. I have always enjoyed continuing education. Helping families feed their baby for the first time, change their diapers, get ready for them to go home. But this unit has a special place in my heart as a premature baby myself, who required a NG tube for feeding. I have worked with several of my primary nurses from when I was born. Getting to support parents, that were in my mother shoes. Another reason I wanted to become a nurse is because of my mother. This summer has been more challenging as my mother had a recent heart attack. Getting called to her room and being able to ask two questions before knowing a heart attack was starting. Waiting to hear news post catheterization was the most frightening part. Once I was able to go see her in the ICU. She had many questions, and I realized no one was answering those. Regarding what's happening and what all the follow-up appointments were for. Since the hospitalization, I have cared for my mother. Ensuring she is taking her medication, weight and going to her appointments. It has made me realize as a future nurse I could grow. Giving proper education to the patient and the family who may be taking care of the patient once discharged. One thing I have realized through many of challenging times during were those who supported me and kept me going when life was getting hard. My professor Petry, called me once I emailed her about missing the final exam review since my mother was being transported to the hospital. She called me and kept me calm on the phone during what was the scariest time. She kept reminding me of what I know about heart attacks, and kept my mind on other topics while I waited for my mother to arrive. During the week of finals, she constantly asked about my mother and kept me encouraged to finish this semester strong. Without her, I would have a hard time going into finals week.

The nursing industry brings new challenges within every clinical or shift. Every year before clinicals start. Our professors would have us write on a card of what are goals for the upcoming clinical rotation. I have written for two years "To become more confident in what I can do". Every clinical experience is a chance for me to be able to try new skills but to learn from my patients. My goal for a successful career is to keep my mind and body in good shape to be able to care for the patients. I have started to learn more about myself and continue to challenge myself with different projects. I have been working as a nurse extern in the NICU since December 2022. I have found this unit to be rewarding but emotional. I have found that these are the worst times in these parents’ lives. When their labor goals are not met, and they are not able to see their baby till hours later. I always try to get baby footprints and their name to make personalized signs for their bedside space. When the parents get to come in, it puts a smile on my face when they get to first meet their baby. I have always enjoyed continuing education. Helping families feed their baby for the first time, change their diapers, get ready for them to go home. But this unit has a special place in my heart as a premature baby myself, who required a NG tube for feeding. I have worked with several of my primary nurses from when I was born. Getting to support parents, that were in my mother shoes. This summer has been more challenging as my mother had a recent heart attack. Getting called to her room and being able to ask two questions before knowing a heart attack was starting. Waiting to hear news post catheterization was the most frightening part. Once I was able to go see her in the ICU. She had many questions, and I realized no one was answering those. Regarding what's happening and what all the follow-up appointments were for. Since the hospitalization, I have cared for my mother. Ensuring she is taking her medication, weight and going to her appointments. It has made me realize as a future nurse I could grow. Giving proper education to the patient and the family who may be taking care of the patient once discharged

Anatomy and physiology, drug dosage and calculations, and many other classes have a unique way of learning. Each class requires an individual to think of creative ways to study for exams. Over the past few years, I have been testing many ways of studying to help me. One of the content-heavy classes was the class that forced me to become creative. Anatomy and physiology were split into two classes. A lab for anatomy—where we were required to memorize parts of the human body and be able to recall them. The lab portion was split into sections, such as digestive and respiratory systems. I would write the parts on sticky notes and stick them to myself. I would continue doing this or make up a song that would help me remember the parts. Next was the lecture portion. A lecture was conducted for the physiology portion. We were tested for learning the function and the details of the human body. I would do practice problems and test questions, but I found it more helpful to take a business major or a non-health major and teach them about the subject. I would teach it in a way where it made sense to me and the person I was teaching. These were a few of the ways I would study to achieve academic success.

Persistence is a skill set that is used within our daily lives. Many use persistence when we are faced with a task, whether it's figuring out a solution to a job task or facing new challenges each day. When thinking back to how I used persistence, I think about when I was preparing for my TEAS nursing entrance exam. I took the test and I didn't recurve the score I needed. It took me a few weeks to get my motivation back after discovering the score requirement was not met. I reviewed the score I needed and wrote it on a sticky note: twenty points above the required score. I knew that if I kept saying that I needed the required score, that was all I would get. After putting my mind to the new score, I reviewed the weak areas that were highlighted in the results and looked at the scores I received. I was good at math and reading. I needed to focus on science and English. I spent hours in the library working on practice tests and taking notes. Over six months, I was achieving the score that I had set my mind to. On my second attempt, I received the score I needed for my school. Throughout this moment in my life, I learned to study the best. I spent nights stressed out but would take breaks and listen to music to get me through the long nights. I had moments when I wanted to throw it all away and just stop trying, but I would remember why I started this journey and thought about where I wanted to end my journey.

As society continues to grow and develop, each individual is met with hardships. As it can be hard for some individuals to keep moving forward without daily encouragement or kind gestures, generosity is a virtue that is needed to keep society moving forward. Let’s take me for example: if I remove my career goal as a nurse, what is left of who I am? I worked in a small pastry shop, I waited and made small talk with many customers whether they were my regulars or people I would never see. I tried to make my customers feel wanted and noticed by asking them questions about their life, talking to their kids. Seeing them smile and enjoying their day by doing the smallest things would warm my heart. Fast forward back to today—a Tuesday— typing a response to this question. What does generosity means to me? Generosity means to me to be selfless and giving energy to someone else. Whether it is someone you know or a stranger. Giving a part of you to commit a random act of kindness is what generosity means to me. Generosity has no formal instructions on how to fulfill this. Generosity is what is already inside the heart.

When deciding where I would want to go in medicine. There were many options whether it was Cardiology, Neurology, or Pediatric. When I got into nursing school, I browsed my laptop looking at the options and how I could grow within each unit. I found myself continuing to browse more into Pediatrics. What made me think about pediatrics? It was what I experienced as a kid growing up. Thinking back on my childhood, there were many times when I was in the hospital. When it was for a cardiologist appointment, or to get a monitor placed for a study. I remember being scared and unsure of what was going to happen—having to worry about what result was going to show up. Around that time, I started to show more negative test results and slowly increased wait time between appointments. A cousin near the same age developed cancer and was discovered to have a brain tumor. Since the news broke out our family wished for everyone to stop visiting him. Unfortunately, he passed away due to cancer. Ever since his passing and attending his funeral, I regret not hanging out with him during his hardest time. I did not know a lot of information about his brain cancer. I started to look up information and read until it was late at night. As years passed since his passing, I am back into looking at career options. Sitting and looking at all my career options figuring out what is the next step. After a few months of looking at my computer, I decided it was pediatrics I wanted to do. Sitting and thinking about my experience with hospitals. I knew I could help children that were in similar positions as me. In a few weeks, I will be applying to be an externship within a hospital. With my mind on pediatrics, I am starting to think about what I could do for patients and their families. Keep in mind that some family members are not sure of what is happening either. As sudden health update is arising quickly. Trying to remember all the Disney, Marvel, or DC characters and songs, in the hope to share happiness with the patients I meet along the way. As a future pediatrics nurse, I want my patients to remain in a calm environment with hope and joy from their favorite characters. Also provided the best care to my patients and their family. Once the patient is discharged, they hope that they hold the magic within their heart and learn to be comfortable within the hospital setting.