Growing up in a single-parent household of three children, and our mother being the primary caregiver, my brothers and I always had what we needed and more due to my mother's drive to provide even if, she did not have all the money in the world. I matured quickly due to this while also having to grow up with someone in my immediate family who abused drugs and was bipolar, which affected me deeply. But with these experiences, I have gained some of my most valued precepts of life. Those being to treat others as you would want to be treated, and never give up on yourself or someone you aspire to help seek their individual growth. I made the mistake of giving up on my drug-addict, bipolar brother too soon, not knowing at the time that with my little support, he would have felt more comfortable and confident on his path to growing stronger, which is why I value not giving up along with treating others as I would want to be treated. Sometimes all someone needs is a little support to push them further. At the age of 17, I lost my brother, but because of who he was it made me grow into the person I am. I always knew he wanted me to be better than he was capable of doing himself and he wanted nothing but for me to succeed in my life. With that being said, my goals have always been to be successful in my career to not only make him proud but also make my mother proud for him. Since I could always remember, I have always strived to go into the medical field. My brother spiked my interest in my career as a nurse furthermore because I aspire to help others get better due to my inability of not getting to help my brother like I should have or wanted to. Nursing gives me the perfect hands-on experience to directly care for an individual in need. One of my precepts of life includes being a caring individual to others. It is in my nature to nurture and care for others. Nursing is my perfect career in order to continue living through my precepts. The amazing thing about nursing is that every day is going to be different because every individual will have their own attributes that are needed in order to help them further. Nursing has an overwhelming sense of gratitude with the ability and resources to assist others in their health and wellness, helping them come to a sense of belonging. It is a reward to be able to see the progress of one's individual health.

Embarrassment is just a word and feeling our subconscious senses, but actually being embarrassed is something completely non-existent. The subconscious enjoys to play tricks on us because what we think is embarrassing is not actually embarrassing. Its infuriating for us but not for the ones your embarrassed in front of. There is nothing to be embarrassed of. It was not till my freshmen year of college that I began to come to terms with my realization. I was embarrassed at many things for no reason when people could care less to even pay it attention nor remember it in 3 days. Its like looking back after an accomplishment and being proud of all the endeavors that may have been faced. Looking back being a shy little girl I am proud of myself for growing into my bravery as I mature in an adult. Living and breathing everyday as a brave human being and never having the fear to have that personal defeat and embarrassment because embarrassment is only their if you think of it being there. I am never afraid to stand up for myself and live my life knowing there will be setbacks, but everyone needs bravery.

People donate their bodies to science in order for more research to be discovered. Its a way of helping the future world of science and health. The entire human body is studied from layer to layer, organ to organ, and system to system. There are endless amounts of scientific discoveries that I appreciate and find interesting far from the human body but there is something in particular about the the human body that fascinates me. The thing that fascinates me the most but is not necessarily a discovery but an interesting concept to grasp is that the the own brain is making discoveries about itself. It is a bottomless pit for thinking. It is kind of an ironic thing to think about because in order to study the brain you have to use your brain. The fascinating thing about the brain is that is never runs out of storage. The overall scientific facts about the brain fascinate me everyday. The brain has so many different functions to our everyday life that we seem to not think about. The brain is a quite fascinating thing considering it is only about three pounds and is mostly fat.

I heard a strange knocking at three in the morning on my fifteenth birthday. It was not on my bedroom door, nor was it on the front door. I began to wonder where this knocking was coming from in the middle of the night. I walked out of my room only to hear it coming from my brother's room. I knew exactly what was going on. So I walked into my mother's room and told her what I was hearing. She barged into my brother's room. What we found was not shocking at all. We had been fighting this for about a year now. When we walked in we discovered a needle in his arm and a slowed and slurred reaction. This was my normal and I did not think it was a big deal to be experiencing this at fifteen. There were many instances when my family knew my brother was high on heroin. We knew when he was withdrawing. And we knew when he was getting more. It was a pattern that fifteen-year-old me knew and mastered. This was a four-year battle. Being in and out of different rehabs hoping one would help. This affected not just my brother, but our entire family. On the night of July 8th,2018 I found myself struggling to sleep. It was the early morning of July 9th, 2018 when I was laying next to my mother when she got a phone call at four in the morning stating my brother was found dead. Throughout my brother's addiction, I resented him and did not talk to him because of it. After his death, I came to the realization of a lot of things. I realized that he was more than his addiction and that he hated himself every day for putting his baby sister through that. The real-life lesson this taught is to never do drugs because I have seen the impact that it has on the person doing them as well as the people around the drug user themselves. What this has taught me is that majority of drug users do not want to be addicted to these drugs, but it is a disease. The experience with my brother has made me a much stronger person in many unexplainable ways. My regret for resenting him instead of helping him has only inspired me to always help others that are in the same boat as he was. I used this to help me move forward in life by always keeping an open mind when hearing or seeing other people's experiences. I may not know exactly what it's like to have that type of addiction but I know from being up close that it is not easy and for that, I will always be willing to help others. My brother is a huge part of who I am today and his story has inspired me to be successful and reach for the stars. I know that I was a huge part of my brother's life and that no matter what he just wanted me to be better than him. So I want to make him proud.

It's that constant voice inside your head telling you to keep going. With the fear of not making it. It's a feeling that sticks to a part of your frontal lobe like a sweat droplet on a humid day. You might get rid of it temporarily but it will come back. This voice is constantly saying "keep going", "keep trying" or "you will never make it." The negative thoughts of what you do not want to happen creep in like a dark shadow. It's a habit for us humans to think more about what we don't want to happen rather than what we want to happen. We are essentially manifesting the bad into our lives by constantly fearing the negative possibilities. It's the struggle of anxiety. I have been through a lot of struggles throughout my education journey. I had trouble reading at a young age. Middle school got better and I did very well for myself. In high school, I struggled more to study and time manage, but once I started to get the hang of things it was not long before the pandemic began my senior year of high school, and everything when online. I lost half of that semester with a very easy end to my high school diploma. When I began my first year of college every single class was online. I was hardly getting any education having to teach myself through a computer while my professors sat at home doing nothing, not even grading tests because they do that automatically now. It was very evident that I was a hands-on and visual learner. I need the in-person contact to fully comprehend and learn. So of course, once I finally has one of the important classes of my education in person I struggled 10x harder than when I was younger. I struggle to take tests, I overthink and choose wrong answers even though I put in all the work to study and know my stuff. It's been a true struggle recovering after not practically being in school for a year. It's given me many fears that I will not reach my education goals and that I am not good enough. But I know if I want something bad enough I can have it. With that being said, ever since I was a little girl struggling to read the most important thing to me was my education and being my own successful person so I did not have to depend on anyone. Education has truly shaped my worldview on a lot. You can do a lot of things without education but you can also do a lot more things with education. To me, it's important to have that education so you can be successful in life. Without education in the world, the deserving hard working people would probably go unnoticed. The world would be in chaos if nobody had an education. The importance of education is to have a broader outlook on different cultures and opinions so we humans can understand others more. I would love to broaden my education further to understand so many things that I cannot comprehend now. Education has changed my worldview in the sense that nothing worth having comes easy. And if it was easy then everyone would be doing it and that is why I refuse to give up, even with the negative thoughts I may carry with me, it will be worth it in the end.

When I was a young girl I loved every aspect of art whether it was drawing, painting, pastels, coloring, etc. I was invited into the art atlas where I got to further my art skills and I did that until I graduated high school. I have kept every single piece of artwork I have created since the third grade. One piece of artwork that created that was always one of my favorites was when we got to recreate The Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh. I never knew how much something I did at such a young age would inspire older me so much. When I see the piece I recreated it inspires me to never look past the endless opportunities for my future, just as Van Gogh was trying to display the essence of the land in its beauty. Just as the piece of artwork of the land is beautiful in its own way so am I. It inspires me more when I see it hanging up in the home I grew up in after I was able to get it displayed in an art exhibition shortly after I did this piece in the early 2000s. It is like a motivation that my dreams are endless. And I cant achieve anything. The picture attached is younger me and a piece of artwork being displayed at an art museum in 2011. Of course, it is not as great as the original Starry Night.

Nobody can convince me from my morality. It took a long time to gain my sense of morality for myself. Forced to grow up so soon due to childhood traumas it was something that naturally came. With a good sense of morality from such a young age it has helped me to develop a lot of confidence. Confidence in the key to self love. If you have good intentions you will manifest yourself into believing these good things about yourself. Through my confidence I have learned many things about myself that I find very valuable. I have the trait of being kindness even in situations that your emotions are tempted to show out and take over. I have determination to never quit an always finish the race no matter what. I hate quitting. Another thing is my faith and believing in Jesus Christ. Even when there's nothing not a single soul that can help you will solve your issues, if you leave it to Jesus Christ he will always find a way. Through all these traits that I have learned about myself from over the years, there is not a single one that I do not find valuable. I think the big picture is that I am okay with letting go and giving things to God. I do not think about it twice. That is something I value so much about myself is that I know no matter what it will ALWAYS work out how it is supposed to.

A person with true character asks for nothing in return of their kindness. An act so selfless you expect nothing in return. That is the importance of giving back. It costs absolutely nothing to give back. Giving back does not mean spending money or getting rewards. If you take care of your community it will take care of you in return. In a community full of diverse people it is important to always give back. But giving back doesn't always mean something huge. To give back means to make sacrifices with no intention of award out of kindness. Be selfless in every action. Expect nothing. Google defines community as "a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common" but I define a community as a strong group of people working to obtain the same thing. People in this community take care of each other to create a stronger community to make bigger and better things happen. A strong group of people that are always seeking to give back. People that look out for one another on a daily basis. With a strong community, the possibilities in inevitable. A strong community does not always have to be a big one, although sometimes it definitely might help to have numbers, sometimes the smaller ones are the most impacting ones. Imagine living in a world where all communities worked together as one. That would be an almost utopian society. Fore nothing can ever be perfect, and not everyone has the same opinions but effort to build a strong foundation for future generations is important. A community should all be working for the same goals and not against each other. There several love languages including: words of affirmation, gift giving, and acts of service. I do these thing in acts of selflessness. Not everyone needs the same love language to feel valued or appreciated. I grew up naturally wanting to give to others. I love using words of affirmation and making sure people know when they are doing a marvelous job at life, I love to complete acts of service especially when someone is in need and just does not have time or motivation to do anything. To be selfless is to have all of these qualities without hesitation. I sometimes catch myself being out of character and often look back finding myself acting as something I am not and nor do I want to become. So I always try to think about how someone is perceiving me and how it might make them feel. Something I envision for the future is that everyone needs to take on the selfless qualities. As corny as it sounds, treating others how you want to be treated with truly have an affect. You never know when someone is having a bad day so treat them with kindness. If every one takes action and becomes selfless it could be a domino effect and change society in a way we never imagined.

Often people ask me how I have the motivation to work out as much as I do. I tell them it is not motivation it is discipline. On the toughest days you may not want to get up and do something. But sometimes those days that are going to matter most. Why waste 6 months making excuses when you could see 6 months of progress. Discipline is something important to have when you want to be motivated. They go hand in hand. What motivates me the most is my future and seeing these future results with everything I do whether that is health wise or education wise. I am motivated to do all of these things but if I did not have the discipline to get up and do those things than the big question is would these things be getting done? Imagining the future on my own terms is what motivates me. Because I decide my future. I make my own future.

The little things in life is probably an overused term used by many. Today in society a lot of people tend to forget how to seek for joy but instead seek negativity. With the world being how it is today with so much negativity that you can feel it radiating off the face of the earth, it may be hard to search for that joy. Joy is something important in life. Joy is meaningful. It truly is found in the small things in life and not the big. The word joy means to me that something so little can be so powerful. So stop an take a deep breath and look at the many positives of everything. Find joy in every situation no matter the circumstances. To seek out joy in my life I focus on the truly important things and not the things that truly wont matter in the long run. Joy is the ability to get up out of bed. Joy is the love I have for the people in my life. Joy. 3 letters. One word.

The best way to make someone's day is to give them a smile. A smile has the power to brighten someone's day. The elderly are some of the most grateful people for the little things in life. So much that a smile can make their day. If anybody could do something for an elderly person in the community there would be several things. A person could simply offer to carry their groceries, wait for them to cross the walk way before driving, let them go in front of you in line, an look out for them. Most importantly look out for them because the elderly are very fragile and they seem to be the only generation that never asks or begs for a thing. Their bones are fragile along with their hearts. They will be grateful for you taking the time out of your day to help them because not many people do. But it will make their day. It will give them the biggest smile on their face. So whatever you're doing just stop and give that elderly person a smile, because they may need it. You never know the impact of a smile.

Hope. A big word in my dictionary. One of the words I used quite often to get myself through a lot of stressful times. It reminds me to stay hopeful always. This past school year, 2021-2022, I had the most stressful and doubtful time trying to get my grades up. My dream has always been to be a nurse and I know for a fact that is my calling. My University requires a 2.5 science GPA to automatically get into the nursing program. I had passed all of my classes, I just wasn't quite at what I needed. I waste a year and countless money on taking classes I do not need at all, just to maintain full-time student status. This was all disappointing considering I pay tuition myself and having to waste money was what really got to me. But throughout this school year, I learned so much. I learned to not ever doubt myself and to always stay hopeful because no matter what at the end of the day I know one day I will be a nurse just like the little me always wanted. And the more I look back at having to take a bunch of classes I didn't need and also having to retake a class I have already taken, I definitely think it was a learning experience to teach me to gain more hope and trust in myself. Taught me to always stay hopeful. Without hope, I wouldn't be ready to start Nursing Upper Division in the fall of 2022. The little girl version of myself would be screaming right now if she could see me.

Below are some very helpful tips and resources that I have found very helpful to clear my mind and hopefully it helps others! 1. Breathe in and breathe out, over and over. The most important tip is to breathe deeply in and out and let all the worries flow right off your chest. Worrying will do nothing for you but stress you out even more than you need to be. Stressing and overthinking could be what causes you not to do your best. I know I learned that the more I stressed and overthought things, the worse I did in school. The less I stress and the less I worried my grades were a lot better. The doubt was always in the back of my head, but now I do not let it leave the back of my mind. 2. Stress managing. If breathing does not help, find a hobby that is a good stress reliever. For example, working out has helped me tremendously. Going into a workout so worked up and angry about something school-related and then forgetting you are even angry for that time period takes a lot of stress off. Take your anger out in the workout and you will succeed in your workouts. After the workout is complete and reality sets back in you may still feel stressed but I promise you, it will not be as much. 3. Vitamin D and the Sunshine are great ways to clear your mind. The sun is my best friend. If I need a quick break and a relaxing moment then I am going to go outside and soak up the vitamin D. There are so many things to do out in the sun whether it is just sitting, going for a walk, going for a run, or even doing homework outside. 4. Find a different atmosphere other than your room. Although I love my room, I find myself less productive than if I study or do school work in a different atmosphere. One of my favorite places to clear my mind is going to a coffee shop and sitting in the sun and enjoying a coffee. Another method of a different atmosphere could be just going on a quick drive to the gas station or nearest dunking donuts to get a coffee or a snack. These trips are fairly short, but they are a very fast way to help relieve your mind of all the things that reality withholds. 5. The most important thing when stressing about anything whether it be financial or not is to just give yourself a break. Do not constantly keep your mind busy that will only build up stress and make it way worse. I would know because I have a habit of doing it. I never just stop to take a second and relax and relaxation is one very key thing to have in life.

My name is Madison and I am currently 20 years old and at the age of 17, I lost a brother to a drug overdose. For as long as I could remember he was always an addict to something. We were 5 years apart and when I was in elementary school and he was in middle school I remember he started smoking marijuana. When I was in middle school and he was in high school he started taking Xanax. When I was in the 8th-grade that's when the serious drug abuse began for my brother. I remember because I was 14 and he was 19. At first, I was oblivious to the fact he was abusing substances. I was too young to know anything about that. My mother tried keeping it away from me but at some point, I figured out and I remember the first time I saw a spoon with a burn mark on the bottom and the disappointment on my mother's face. This was only the beginning. My brother would be from house to house on the streets back to our home. It was very stressful never knowing where or what he was doing or if he was even okay. He was in and out of many rehabs and my mother was forking out all kinds of money just to get him help and none of them worked. On the night before my 16th birthday, I walked in on him with a needle in his arm at 3 am. When I was 16 going on 17 I discovered him sleeping on our porch because my mother did not allow him to stay there that night because it was not only affecting me but affecting her health as our mother. I loved my brother and I always will, but because he used to steal from me, lie to me, and try to hang out with me as he was falling asleep due to drugs I began to resent him at 16. Our relationship grew apart tremendously because I avoided him. In the last year of his life, he attended his last and final rehab. The only one that was free turned out to be the best one overall. He stayed clean for 3 months which was the longest ever. He attended an amazing church. We grew closer. Until he relapsed. I resented him even more than before. He was not staying with us mainly because it put a divide on my mother, him, and me. So he was staying with a family friend. It was maybe a month of when he relapsed my mom prayed to god and said " god I am putting this all in your hands" because it was strongly affecting her. Not even a week later we got a call 4 hours away at 4 am that he was found dead over a bathtub. After his death, it was hard to forgive myself for the time that I wasted resenting him that it only inspired me to want to help others more and spread awareness. An addict has to want to get better but I know it is easier said than done for them to accomplish. Substance abuse not only affects the addict but it truly affects everyone around them. So many people avoid addicts leaving them with nobody. Seeing it first hand with my brother, I will always try and be that someone others don't have. I will make that positive impact by sharing my brother's story and being a safe space for people to come with no judgment, just time and encouragement.

Growing up I was always taught to be caring for others. I had a brother that was born very early and had to be in the NICU for some short time and also had jaundice. I also had another brother who died from an overdose due to drugs. All these three things have impacted me as to why I want to be a nurse. My mother inspired me to be successful in my life and she was such a caring and nurturing mother that it instilled in me to want to care for others which is why nursing is the path that I chose. My oldest brother being born early made me more eager to know the whys and instilled a desire in me to help other little babies or kids. My other brother dying from drugs only inspired me to study medicine and why certain drugs can help certain things or do such things to the human body. I chose my career in nursing because of the simple fact I have such an interest in the healthcare world and medicine. I work at a hospital as a tech and seeing different health problems interest me. I have worked on a pediatric floor before and I love being around children. The innocence of children brings me joy. And I would be so inspired to help children because they can't help themselves. I want to make a difference in this child's life and in their health. I would be honored to receive this scholarship because I truly feel my heart goes to pediatric nursing.