I am a driven, compassionate nursing student who has a vision for my future and a strong desire to serve others. Ever since I was young, I knew that I wanted to help people in a healthcare setting. The deciding factor for choosing nursing was when I watched nurses care for my loved ones when they were sick. Not only did they care for their medical needs, but they also comforted and strengthened my family when we were vulnerable. I knew at that moment that I wanted to become a healthcare professional who coupled excellence with empathy. At this point in my life, I am working to finish nursing school and learn everything I can to provide safe quality care to my future patients. Nursing school has taught me to be strong-willed, disciplined, and efficient with my time. Between studying for difficult classes, completing clinical hours, and taking care of personal responsibilities, being a nursing student will challenge you. I promise to continue working hard and doing my best in school because I know how my performance will affect my future patients. After nursing school, I plan to go back to school to become a Nurse Practitioner. As an NP, I will be able to evaluate, diagnose, treat, and educate my patients with less physician supervision. My dream is to work with underserved populations. I want to live in a community where I can provide preventative education on health and wellness. Everyone deserves quality care, and I want to be the nurse that helps provide that to as many people as possible. If I can continue my education, I will be able to better advocate for my patients and work towards eliminating health care disparities. Speaking of the future, I plan on opening my own healthcare-based business one day. My business would focus on primary care, as well as wellness. I would also like to incorporate beauty and confidence treatments. There is a connection between being healthy and feeling confident. When you feel your best on the inside and outside, you will shine in every aspect of your life. My goal is to show clients how to take care of both their health and their wellness in a professional environment. If awarded this scholarship, my financial burden would decrease while in school. Any type of help would allow me to focus more on my grades and less on how I’m going to pay for school. Also, with less stress about school fees, I will not have to work as many hours and can focus more time on studying. For me this scholarship would mean more than money. It would be placing value and support behind my dream of becoming a kind, service-oriented health care worker. I plan on always furthering my education and understanding. I plan on using all of the information I gain to help others. This scholarship would help me continue on my path and remind me that there are others that see the change one can make through servicing others.

Growing up I have always wanted to help better people’s lives and nursing is the perfect outlet for me to do that. I became interested in nursing when I spent time with family members who had medical conditions. I learned that nurses do more than administer medicine and take vitals. They comfort you when you are worried, answer any question that you have no matter how many times you ask, and help ease your fears while providing you with hope. I admire how nurse can be extremely knowledge but also have large hearts. Knowing that this is what I wanted to do for the rest of my life helped me decide on my career path. I view nursing as a job that allows me to serve others and be there advocating force when they need me. To me, nursing means being there for others when they need you most. What I love about nursing is that I can help care for a patient not only by their physical needs but also their emotional and mental needs. I hope to continue my education to be able to help diagnose and treat patients as a Nurse Practitioner. I love researching new medications and different treatment plans to help educate my patients. Someday I hope to open up my own clinic in an underserved community and maybe even branch off of nursing and wellness to open up a beauty shop to help provide my patients with the confidence they rightfully deserve. Nursing is what I want to do for the rest of my working career. To me human touch means compassion, empathy, and interacting with another person to transform clinical care into healing. Medicine revolves around science, technology, and evidence-based treatment but healing involves human touch. Medicine can cure, but human touch heals. Human touch is a gentle hand on the shoulder before delivering bad news or before heading into the OR. Human touch is using a slow and calm voice to repeat what your diagnosis means in everyday language. Human touch is sitting with a scared person until they fall asleep. Human touch means recognizing the person behind the medical chart, behind the diagnosis, behind the room number. Patients come into our hospitals scared, anxious, and vulnerable. When someone is sick, it can make them feel weak and out of control. Human touch can help us ease patient’s fears and provide them with a sense of control when they feel like theirs is gone. Some ways you could show human touch are as simple as explaining what you’re doing before you do it in a way they can understand. Maintaining eye contact and allowing the patient to speak without interrupting them can help patients feel like they can voice any questions or concerns they may have. Patients who feel like they are heard and respected will ask more questions, they will feel comfortable enough to share any concerns, and they are more likely to follow your treatment plans. Human touch can also help patients feel like their dignity is still intact. Every patient that walks through your door is a human just like you and they deserve to be treated like more than fixable parts. They have feelings, and they are more than their diagnosis. Each patient has a story, beliefs, and values. By showing cultural sensitivity and kindness while paying attention to the little things, we can better connect with our patients and help eliminate health care disparities.

Education has always been synonymous with opportunity, growth, and tangible change for me. Throughout my life, learning something new has allowed me to progress not only as a student but as a member of my community. When I graduate from nursing school, I plan to continue my education to become a Nurse Practitioner. Advancing my degree will allow me to gain more clinical knowledge and enhance my leadership skills while providing quality, empathetic care to patients. Nursing is my passion and my purpose. I view nursing as a way of life that requires dedication to serving others through strength and empowerment. I want to continue my education so that I can take on more responsibility as a nurse. Education is the key to growing as a healthcare provider and learning your Nurse Practitioner certification will allow me to further assess, diagnose, treat, and educate my patients. Instead of solely working at the bedside, I will be able to operate more independently and give my patients much-needed time and attention. One of my favorite aspects about nursing is providing preventative care and spending time educating my patients. Many patients do not have the knowledge or resources to better their health or even live. I want to use my education to advocate for my patients by decreasing health disparities and encouraging preventative medicine. I plan on continuing my education so that I can become an expert in my field. By going to grad school, I will have the opportunity to learn more about medicine and become a well-rounded clinician. I know that grad school will not only be challenging academically but professionally. I will be expected to think critically on my feet, make difficult decisions, and better my leadership skills. I welcome these challenges because I know that to be an excellent nurse, I must continue to learn and grow. One of my dreams is to own my own business one day. I hope to combine my passion for healthcare with entrepreneurship by opening a healthcare and beauty business. There is a strong link between confidence and health. When people feel good about themselves inside and outside, they can conquer anything! I would love to open a business that provides primary care services as well as beauty or aesthetics-based treatments. Not everyone can afford the luxury of going to the spa, but what if you could get a facial while your healthcare provider checked your vitals? I want to own a business where my clients can feel confident leaving knowing that they took care of their health and their skin. Not only would owning my own business allow me to help patients, but it would allow me to build a legacy within my community. I would be able to provide jobs for people who want to help others. I could mentor young nurses by creating a clinic environment that furthers the importance of dignity, education, and empowerment. Plus, I would be able to think outside of the box when it came to providing care for my patients. I could offer more flexible hours and learn new ways to provide care that my patients can afford. If I were awarded this scholarship, I would be one step closer to reaching my goals. Not only would this decrease some of my financial stress while going to school, but it would allow me to put more time and effort into my education. Thank you for your time and consideration!

I am currently a nursing student at the Arizona College of Nursing Las Vegas campus, where I am pursuing a career grounded in compassion, advocacy, and service to diverse communities. One significant area for growth within the nursing profession is improving communication and cultural accessibility for patients who face language barriers. Effective communication is fundamental to safe healthcare delivery, yet many individuals continue to experience confusion, fear, and unequal health outcomes simply because they cannot fully understand the information being provided to them. My commitment to improving communication in healthcare comes from personal experience growing up in a Hmong immigrant household where English was not my parents’ primary language. Beginning as early as the third grade, I became responsible for translating medical information for my parents during doctor visits and hospital appointments. Outside of healthcare settings, I also translated mail, insurance paperwork, and household bills to help my family navigate everyday responsibilities. At times, my parents brought relatives who spoke English to appointments because they feared misunderstanding important medical information. Even then, communication gaps often remained. As a child, I struggled to translate complex medical terminology into my native Hmong language because many medical concepts did not have direct translations. I often found myself attempting to explain diagnoses, medications, or procedures without fully understanding them myself. I remember watching my parents agree to treatment plans while still uncertain about what was being discussed. Those experiences revealed how vulnerable patients can feel when language barriers prevent full comprehension. I realized early that healthcare is not only about treatment but also about understanding, trust, and dignity. These experiences shaped my desire to become a nurse who advocates for patients whose voices may otherwise go unheard. Communication barriers can lead to medication errors, decreased treatment compliance, and preventable health complications. Nurses play a critical role in closing these gaps because we spend the most time educating, supporting, and guiding patients through their care. Strengthening culturally competent communication within nursing is essential to improving health equity and patient outcomes. As a future nurse, I plan to contribute to this area of growth by promoting patient centered communication practices and advocating for equitable access to healthcare information. I intend to support the consistent use of professional interpreters, culturally responsive patient education materials, and clear explanations that prioritize understanding rather than assumption. I also hope to participate in community outreach efforts that provide health education to underserved populations, empowering individuals to better understand preventative care and chronic disease management. My early experiences translating for my parents taught me empathy, resilience, and responsibility long before entering nursing school. Those lessons continue to influence my approach to patient care today. Through my education at the Arizona College of Nursing Las Vegas campus, I am gaining the clinical knowledge and leadership skills necessary to make a meaningful impact within the profession. I aspire to be a nurse who not only delivers care but also advocates for understanding, equity, and inclusion within healthcare systems. By improving communication and cultural awareness in nursing practice, I hope to help create a healthcare environment where patients feel confident, respected, and fully informed in decisions affecting their health. My goal is to ensure that no patient experiences the uncertainty my family once faced and that every individual receives care that is both compassionate and truly understood.