Before I ever thought about crossing an ocean, I learned that the best opportunities begin with a question. Growing up in a single parent household in Atlanta, opportunities came from sacrifice. Even when money was limited, my mom always invested in my education. She filled our home with books, read with me every night, and found programs that challenged me to think beyond what I saw every day. Looking back, I realize her effort to keep me learning also taught me to stay curious. That mindset has guided every step since then. It led me to honors classes, dual enrollment, becoming a certified Patient Care Technician, and eventually to North Carolina A&T State University as a first-generation college student entering as an honors and pre-nursing scholar. I have never been interested in simply collecting accomplishments. I have always been more interested in answering one question and being introduced to another. During my first week as an intern at Grady Memorial Hospital, a conversation changed the kinds of questions I was asking. While my supervising nurse gathered supplies, I stayed with a young patient in Labor and Delivery. As we talked, she shared that she had always been hesitant to seek medical care because of past experiences that made her feel unheard. She explained that, as a Black woman, she often worried her pain would not be taken as seriously as it should be. I could not speak for her experience, but I could listen. I left wondering how many other patients carry experiences, beliefs, or fears into a hospital before they walk through its doors. How do those experiences influence whether someone trusts a provider or feels safe asking for help? Those were questions no textbook had prepared me to ask. I realized I was looking for human answers just as much as medical ones. That is why I hope to study in Japan and Ghana. Japan's approach to maternal and neonatal care makes me wonder how trust is built before a child is even born. Ghana makes me curious about how history and community influence the way families experience healthcare. In addition to learning about different healthcare systems, I want to understand the people those systems serve. The question I keep coming back to is how can I become the kind of nurse who earns the trust of families whose experiences look different from my own? I do not believe I can fully answer that question without crossing a border. I want to return home quicker to ask questions than to offer assumptions. I want to become someone who listens first and recognizes that another person's way of seeing the world is not something to correct but something to understand. I believe those qualities will make me a better nurse, and they will also make me a better citizen of the world. For my family, international learning has always been financially out of reach. Every dollar has gone toward making college possible, leaving little room for opportunities beyond the classroom. This scholarship would help remove that barrier and allow me to turn years of intention into experience. Tia Lukeya Woods believed learning could happen anywhere if you were willing to seek it. That belief resonates with me because every opportunity I have pursued has started with a question. The books my mother placed in my hands taught me to ask them. My education has helped me begin answering them. Crossing borders would allow me to ask better ones.