As a child, I always knew that I was meant to be a healthcare provider. In high school, I was going through a lot of my papers from elementary school that my parents had kept. I realized that I had a habit of drawing pictures of myself helping people in hospital beds. I even found a video from when I was 4 asking Santa Clause for a stethoscope. The human body always interested me and I had a strong desire to understand the way that it works. It's a beautiful puzzle that all works together to achieve a myriad of different goals and functions. When I was in high school, my dad was diagnosed with congestive heart failure. When I would visit him in the hospital, I realized that the only people I saw and was able to make connections with were the nurses. The doctors, surgeons, and physical therapists only came in once a day for a few minutes while the nurses got to perform more hands-on procedures and made genuine connections with their patients. From that moment on, I knew that I was meant to be a nurse. I have a passion to help people similar to my dad; people who are at their lowest and need someone to lean on, someone to translate what the doctors are truly saying, encourage them, and hold their hand when they're scared. I also want to be a nurse that can effectively advocate for their patients and bridge the gap between various healthcare disparities; especially amongst black women. I have done a lot of personal and academic research regarding healthcare disparities between the White and Black populations here in the United States. It's clear that it stems from a dark and painful history of slavery, racism, and discrimination, but it is still not being acknowledged or recognized in a majority of healthcare settings. Black women are dying at an alarming rate during childbirth while Black men aren't getting the pain medication necessary to promote healing. As a Black woman myself, I have seen these issues firsthand. I want to enact change regarding education on implicit bias and prejudice in the workplace so that I can make wherever I am working a safer, more welcoming environment for people of color. Being awarded a scholarship will help me to continue to not take out any student loans that I know will continue to be a burden once I graduate. My parents are able to help me out every once in a while, but due to my dad's health, hospital bills started to pile up and the duty of paying for college mainly fell on my shoulders. While I do work, it is very stressful to afford housing, books, gas to clinical assignments, and food. The nursing profession has a long way to go regarding staffing and safe working environments, but I am ecstatic to become a registered nurse and begin my journey while helping people along with theirs.

As a child, I always knew that I was meant to be a healthcare provider. In high school, I was going through a lot of my papers from elementary school that my parents had kept. I realized that I had a habit of drawing pictures of myself helping people in hospital beds. I even found a video from when I was 4 asking Santa Clause for a stethoscope. The human body always interested me and I had a strong desire to understand the way that it works. It's a beautiful puzzle that all works together to achieve a myriad of different goals and functions. When I was in high school, my dad was diagnosed with congestive heart failure. When I would visit him in the hospital, I realized that the only people I saw and was able to make connections with were the nurses. The doctors, surgeons, and physical therapists only came in once a day for a few minutes while the nurses got to perform more hands-on procedures and made genuine connections with their patients. From that moment on, I knew that I was meant to be a nurse. I have a passion to help people similar to my dad; people who are at their lowest and need someone to lean on, someone to translate what the doctors are truly saying, encourage them, and hold their hand when they're scared. I also want to be a nurse that can effectively advocate for their patients and bridge the gap between various healthcare disparities; especially amongst black women. I have done a lot of personal and academic research regarding healthcare disparities between the White and Black populations here in the United States. It's clear that it stems from a dark and painful history of slavery, racism, and discrimination, but it is still not being acknowledged or recognized in a majority of healthcare settings. Black women are dying at an alarming rate during childbirth while Black men aren't getting the pain medication necessary to promote healing. As a Black woman myself, I have seen these issues firsthand. I want to enact change regarding education on implicit bias and prejudice in the workplace so that I can make wherever I am working a safer, more welcoming environment for people of color. The nursing profession has a long way to go regarding staffing and safe working environments, but I am ecstatic to become a registered nurse and begin my journey while helping people along with theirs.

As a child, I always knew that I was meant to be a healthcare provider. In high school, I was going through a lot of my papers from elementary school that my parents had kept. I realized that I had a habit of drawing pictures of myself helping people in hospital beds. I even found a video from when I was 4 asking Santa Clause for a stethoscope. The human body always interested me and I had a strong desire to understand the way that it works. It's a beautiful puzzle that all works together to achieve a myriad of different goals and functions. When I was in high school, my dad was diagnosed with congestive heart failure. When I would visit him in the hospital, I realized that the only people I saw and was able to make connections with were the nurses. The doctors, surgeons, and physical therapists only came in once a day for a few minutes while the nurses got to perform more hands-on procedures and made genuine connections with their patients. From that moment on, I knew that I was meant to be a nurse. I have a passion to help people similar to my dad; people who are at their lowest and need someone to lean on, someone to translate what the doctors are truly saying, encourage them, and hold their hand when they're scared. I also want to be a nurse that can effectively advocate for their patients and bridge the gap between various healthcare disparities; especially amongst black women. I have done a lot of personal and academic research regarding healthcare disparities between the White and Black populations here in the United States. It's clear that it stems from a dark and painful history of slavery, racism, and discrimination, but it is still not being acknowledged or recognized in a majority of healthcare settings. Black women are dying at an alarming rate during childbirth while Black men aren't getting the pain medication necessary to promote healing. As a Black woman myself, I have seen these issues firsthand. I want to enact change regarding education on implicit bias and prejudice in the workplace so that I can make wherever I am working a safer, more welcoming environment for people of color. The nursing profession has a long way to go regarding staffing and safe working environments, but I am ecstatic to become a registered nurse and begin my journey while helping people along with theirs.