I struggled with drug and alcohol addiction for two years before getting sober at 21. During that time, my life became smaller, more unstable, and more disconnected from the person I wanted to become. I was also struggling with my mental health after experiencing trauma at a young age, and I used substances as a way to cope until they became part of the problem. Eventually, I reached a point where I knew my life had to change. I had never personally known anyone who had gotten sober young, but I knew I could not keep living the way I was living. Sobriety completely changed the direction of my life. In my first year sober, I worked all 12 steps with a sponsor, made amends to people close to me, and began rebuilding relationships I thought I had damaged permanently. My community is now made up largely of other sober people, and that support has helped me build a life I actually want to protect. On my one-year sobriety date, I shared my story as the main speaker at a recovery meeting, which was one of the first times I realized that the parts of my life I used to feel ashamed of could be used to connect with and encourage other people. Since getting sober, I have continued to stay involved in recovery and harm reduction work. I do outreach through S.A.F.E. by helping provide harm reduction materials at concerts and events, and I have held a service position in my local recovery community. I also hope to complete peer recovery coaching training in the future so I can continue supporting people who are trying to build a life in recovery. Education has become one of the clearest examples of how much my life has changed. Last year, I was honored to be selected as a finalist for the Trudgers Fund, and since then I have continued to move forward. I am now in nursing school, have raised my cumulative GPA to a 3.7, and have started clinical rotations as a nursing student. I also serve as a liaison for the FRCC Student Nursing Association, which has allowed me to become more involved in my program, support connection within my cohort, and continue building leadership skills in a field that means a lot to me. Starting clinicals has made my goal feel real. I am learning how to care for patients not only through skills, assessments, and medications, but also through presence, communication, and compassion. I know what it feels like to need help and to be afraid of judgment, and that experience shapes the kind of nurse I want to become. My long-term goal is to work with people affected by addiction, mental health struggles, and medical vulnerability. I want to be the kind of healthcare provider who sees the whole person, not just the diagnosis or the substance use history. Recovery taught me that people can change when they are met with honesty, accountability, support, and dignity. Nursing gives me a way to turn that belief into action. This scholarship would help me continue nursing school, protect the progress I have made in sobriety, and keep moving toward a career where I can use my education and lived experience to help others rebuild their lives.