Hello! 안녕하세요! I'm Michaela, and I will be entering nursing school in the Fall of 2023. I am a second-generation immigrant and third-culture kid (TCK) who grew up overseas and was inspired to become an international travel nurse! My goal is to gain experience in the U.S. after school at a local hospital, and my dream is to become an excellent and skilled nurse to serve on a global scale. I desire to reach underserved communities through missions and volunteer work. I have learned to speak Russian and Korean on top of English, and I am currently honing my Japanese. In addition, my multicultural background has taught me empathy, a crucial skill in the field of nursing. As a Korean woman, I have faced discrimination in the academic field and on the streets. In a small Russian village, where my family lived for 4 years, I quickly learned to lower my expectations and stay quiet, making sure I do not speak often and taking care to dress the same as the locals. However, this was not enough. Still, my peers bullied me physically and verbally and my teachers disrespected me. I praise God that He protected me from any further harm. So, I understand what it means to be judged and stereotyped simply for what you look like and who you are. In the future, I would love to donate to such a cause, promoting awareness of discrimination against minorities. I am so thankful to Joy-Dawn Colburn and for the legacy of Barbara J. DeVaney: there is hope for us today! Should I win this scholarship, I would use this money to continue my education, specifically through tuition, textbook, and supply costs for nursing school, which can be quite expensive. Any money not used for school will be given to my parents, who have supported me, not just in my pursuit of nursing, but in life as well. I respect them so much. They were both born in South Korea and moved to the United States when they were little. My grandparents escaped from North Korea to South Korea, from which they were able to come to the U.S., where so many new opportunities were - and still are - available! Thanks to my grandma and grandpa's bravery, and my mother and father's love and hard work, I am able to go to the school of my choice and pursue my dream. I appreciate them all so much and am grateful to God for providing for my family. Thank you for your consideration!

What if I could impact the entire world in this ephemeral lifetime? It sounds ambitious, but even if was just a small part that I played, the journey would be worth it. I grew up in the mission field, in Singapore, China, and Russia, among other countries. In experiencing the vast array of living this life, I discovered that I cannot stay away from diversity and culture, no matter where it might be. Perhaps, despite my struggles as a missionary kid, God has given me a gift to be the “bridge” between peoples, ministering to those who feel unseen, unheard. As a trained and certified nurse, I would be equipped to bring comfort to the hurt and healing to the sick. As a professional, I desire to use my skills and my own multicultural background in accomplishing this objective. Thus, I would say that one of my professional goals is to become a travel nurse. My current interest lies in reaching the lost all over the globe. Wherever He calls me, I will go. It cannot be left unsaid that my mother sparked my desire to pursue nursing. It was her young-adult dream. Can I be the one to achieve it for her? If in any way I could satisfy her wish, I know I would at least try. With my mind open and searching, I helped administer aid to those who were sick or injured, even if it was simply utilizing the first aid kit from the kitchen cabinet! It may sound laughable to some, but for me it was a start. A flame was kindled. I want to be the nurse in the family; I want to make my family proud. Even when this growing flame wavers and wind threatens to blow it out, the fire is already burning, and it will not stop now. I chose nursing because I want my life to have a lasting impact on this world for the kingdom of God, and I know all nurses play a part in this critical role of serving. At a recent nursing retreat, I encountered such lovely men and women of God, sharing their stories of spiritual impact on their patients. In my heart, I said, “I want a part of that.” In one of my pre-nursing classes, I learned about research and evidence-based practice, and the role that nurses play in further developing this altruistic career. How exciting would it be to take a part, however small, in making positive change to the profession of nursing, marked by ingenuity and the “spirit of inquiry”? I believe that nurses never stop learning: daily, we become both educators and students of our field, leading others towards a brighter, healthier future. This is my desire – to impact others in a way that brings God glory through the profession of nursing.

My favorite thing about Disney has to be their ability to capture the feelings of their characters that reflect the audience's own emotions. Particularly, in Disney's Frozen 2, a special relationship is portrayed: the sisterhood of Elsa and Anna. As a little sister, I felt Anna's desperation and bawled in the theaters when I first watched Frozen 2. The love that they had for each other, that they would risk their lives for each other moved me. When Anna tells Elsa, "I don't want to stop you from being whatever you need to be. I just don't want you dying, trying to be everything for everyone else too. Don't do this alone. . . I can't lose you" (Source), she spoke words straight from my heart. As much as I understand the feelings of Elsa, being the eldest and wanting to protect her little sister, I do not want my precious sister running into fire either. When both my sister and I moved away for college in different states, I knew our relationship would never be the same again. We would see each other once or twice a year at the most, maybe less. After watching this movie and during my first Thanksgiving break in college, I flew to Chicago to see her. We talked and talked deep into the night, walked around her campus, ate hotpot, drank boba, and talked some more. I had never realized how valuable she was to me. I never had one-on-one time with her like that before. I never appreciated her enough, and Disney helped me realize that. From now on, I knew I would support her and cheer her on no matter what. I love her so much my heart aches. What hurts her hurts me. What makes her happy makes me happy. She means so much to me. I learned that I should never take my sibling for granted, nor any loved one at that. Disney did such an amazing job showcasing the bond between siblings, that desire to be with them forever and ever. When I watched Elsa pushing Anna away to protect her and Anna running into danger to protect Elsa, I realized that I have someone that I want to protect. I have someone I would sacrifice my pride and give my life for. I appreciate Disney for displaying the importance of family and showing me a sisterhood so strong, even stormy waves, high winds, and raging fires cannot break! Source: https://youtu.be/TdsKeljL7dg?t=89

Middle school changed me. When my mom and I walked into the building, we were quite the spectacle, being the only Asian foreigners. It was a small Russian school of about 30 students from first to eighth grade; every teacher taught 2 or more subjects. At first, they ignored me, thinking, “What can she do? She can’t speak our language.” I'd read books during class and then go home. The next year, tired of the way things were, I began to submit homework, although they didn’t assign them to me. My math/art teacher was impressed, and I was inspired. I didn’t know I had talent. She gave me extra problems/projects and proudly showed them to our class. But every Monday, our school director would recite our scores in front of the entire student body and faculty. It was embarrassing. I knew I could do better in areas involving reading and writing. So I tried harder. Russian, literature, biology, chemistry, history. Each subject took double the time it would’ve taken had I known the language fluently. Google Translate became my best friend. Sometimes I got up at 4 in the morning to finish homework; other times, I wouldn’t go to bed until 4. Yet every time a Monday rolled around, it was my call to keep going, keep crying those tears of frustration. By the end of seventh grade, I was their top student. At our graduation, I gave a speech. When I ended and thanked them, my math teacher came up to me and cried on my shoulder. She saw me through it all: my failures, my successes. I learned that I can do anything I put my mind to. No matter how hard, how stressful, if I keep pushing, I'll get there. I will not give up.

When I was in middle school, I was the only foreigner, English-speaker, and completely Asian student in the entire school. I stood out. People looked at me differently, made premature assumptions about me. My teachers ignored me for my entire sixth grade, probably wondering, “What do we do with this girl? She can’t even speak Russian.” Yes, I lived in a remote village in the Far East of Russia. In seventh grade, after spending an entire year of not-learning, I decided to give it a try. Without my teachers asking or allowing me, I began to turn in assignments, starting with math because I actually understood numbers. They began to realize, “Hey, she can actually do something!” So, my teachers began to include me in their lectures and to explain the homework to me. As time passed, I began seeing my grades. I thought, “I’ve never had such low scores in my life!” So I tried harder. I studied deep into the night and early in the morning. It didn’t matter to me that none of my other classmates cared a bit about studying. Most of the students didn’t. It was a small village full of drunkards and kids who had no hope. When I noticed this, I knew I couldn’t just follow their lead. I took a step and step again. Each day, I improved my Russian and communicated better with my peers and teachers. They praised me for trying. And I knew: it didn’t matter what my grades were. It mattered that I didn’t give up. In eighth grade, I was their lead artist for community art projects and top academic student. It didn’t come as a surprise to me. I knew the work I had put into it. But what surprised me is how the other students reacted. They lit up. A spark in their eyes shone. Now I know, studying might be to gain knowledge, but it can also inspire. And I will never stop trying.

I have so many “favorite books”. But the one I want to talk about today has to be “The Book Thief” by Marcus Zusak. It follows the story of a young girl, named Liesel, who discovers the power of words during the time of the Nazi takeover. She learns about the colors of life through the books that a myserious woman lets her steal from her library and through her adoptive father, a noble painter who secretly shelters a Jew. The novel is sad. It is happy. It is heartwarming and heartrenching. Yet my favorite part of all is that at the end, Liesel is able to overcome her sorrow of losing her entire family and even meets the Jew she helped hide in her later years. Because of the words she spoke, she saved a life - no, many lives. She knew how to reassure and how to poison just with her lips, but she chose good. I believe that everyone can wield this powerful weapon called words, too. Sometimes it takes courage. I know it does. Everyday I muster up the strength to speak a small word of encouragement or bite back cutting retorts. But in the end, it is that bravery and power within us that brings life into us beings.