My inspiration to pursue a higher level of education is my son. I waited almost ten years after graduating high school to go back to school due to having my son right after I graduated. I became someone that was needed at all hours of the day, so I had to put my dreams on the back burner in order to care for my son. When he was almost 8, I made the decision to go back to school, thus, where my inspiration came from. I want to become someone that, not only my son, but other moms who are in the same situation I was in, can look up too and see that when you put your mind to something, anything is possible. I also find inspiration through the friends and family that continues to be supportive of my journey through nursing school, and continue to show my son and myself unconditional love and encouragement for the both of us. Obstacles I have faced while enduring the path of obtaining a higher level of education are being away from my son, who is now eleven, most days. I go to class, which is a 62 mile drive one way, five days a week. Sometimes the days are long and I do not get home until late, but as he continues to get older, he is gaining a better understanding of why I am doing what I am doing. Another obstacle I have faced is having to cut back on my hours at my current job by twelve hours a week, which puts a damper in income for, not only me, but my family. We currently live paycheck to paycheck while I am going through school, but I know in the long run that it will all be worth it in the end. Managing my roles as a mother while being a student is not easy. Especially when I initially began going back to school. When I first started this journey, my son was eight, and he did not fully understand why his mom was gone for most days. As he has aged over the past three years, he is beginning to understand what I am doing and why. Every day comes with different challenges, but we, as a family, continue to roll with the punches. I make sure I spend time with my son each morning before I leave, and when I return home from classes or clinical, I ensure we eat at the table together for dinner to talk about our days. I make time for my son everyday, no matter what else I have going on. Most assignments are due at midnight days in advance. When my son goes to bed, I stay up late and work on these assignments to continue to grow in my nursing student status.

I chose to pursue a higher education to better, not only my life, but the life of my family as well. By going back to school, I have gained knowledge I never knew I needed and found my calling in life by becoming a nurse. I plan to use my knowledge obtained from my higher education to better serve my community and provide a safe space for individuals who are struggling. I also plan to pursue a career in nursing to be able to fulfill my dreams of becoming an emergency room nurse, where I found my passion in emergency medicine by becoming an emergency room technician six years ago. I have found myself wanting to go to work, love what I do, and genuinely love caring for people, which I hope to continue to do after finishing my nursing degree. I also chose to pursue a higher education to show my son, who was 8 when I began my journey in college, that no matter what, you can always chase your dreams, no matter matter your age. My goal in life is to always be a good example to him and be someone he can continue to look up too as he grows older, and one day when he decides to pursue a higher education, he will know that he will always have my continued support. In order to prepare myself as a first-generation college student, I did not go back to school after graduating until I was confident in what I wanted a long-term career to be. I waited almost ten years to go back to school, and I feel like this has helped me in my journey going through school. When I decided to go back to school, I had moments of doubt, due to being older than most of the peers I would be going through the program with. I have obtained support from my family, as well as my coworker who I now classify as friends. Without their continued support and encouragement for me to reach my dreams, I would not be where I am today. I plan to graduate next December and jump full force into a career in nursing in the rural hospital in the town I currently reside in. I know it is still a long journey ahead, but I plan to continue to do the best I can and continue to lean on my friends and family for continued support while I endure this time in my life.

Being a successful individual is something I strive for everyday. I strive to be successful in my home life raising my son, in the community to be an overall outstanding citizen, and in my career as I pursue my dream of becoming a registered nurse. I have worked at the hospital in the small town I live in for almost 10 years. I, initially, started out in the laboratory doing phlebotomy. This pushed me to become something within the medical field, but I just didn't know what that was yet. I began to better my skills in the laboratory setting and make sure I was successful while doing so. After 3 years, I realized I wanted to move on to something that would provide a challenge. A job opening in the emergency department opened for a technician position. I quickly applied and began the EMT course in order to be able to work independently within the emergency room. This is where I found my passion within healthcare. I fell in love with the unexpected that the emergency department has, and the adrenaline that is associated with it. After becoming an EMT, I continued to grow and obtain my endorsements and volunteered on the ambulance service to better my skills as I continued to make a career in emergency medicine. I took on new roles in the department, which included lead emergency room technician and the trauma registrar, and this allowed me to better succeed in the position. I continue to work two days a week while attending school, and I believe this will also help in my success of ensuring I reach my goal of becoming an emergency room registered nurse. After 5 years of working as a technician, I decided to take the leap and apply for nursing school. I believe that with my prior experiences, my motivation to learn and grow, and the support I have from family, friends, and coworkers, I will be able to achieve my dreams of becoming a successful emergency room nurse. The support I continue to have has helped me in times when I felt like I was not going to be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. My family, especially my 11-year-old son, continue to push me and make me into a better person. Without the support I continually receive, I would not have found my dream career and would still be trying to find my way into a successful career. I thank them every day for the outpour of support through this challenging, but exciting time. Success, for me, looks like a person who is willing to continue to learn and show a drive and motivation to better themselves. I have very high hopes for myself that I can do this. By receiving this scholarship will allow me to continue to grow and become successful through courses associated with the nursing program by allowing me to have the material and supplies needed to ensure I become a successful registered nurse.

My vision as I endure my way through nursing school and look forward to the future is to be able to be a compassionate and caring person to those in need. I find that many peoples experiences with nurses are that they are either very good or not at all. By allowing myself to be an open person to hear out an individuals thoughts and needs, will help me succeed in my nursing career. I currently work in the healthcare field, and I find that many nurses are experiencing "burn out", mostly due from the pandemic in 2020. By allowing themselves to face the excruciating circumstances of COVID, has made them less caring and compassionate about the patients they are caring for. My vision is to change how community members view the nurses who are there to provide them with care. Another vision I have for my future nurse self is to become an emergency room registered nurse. I currently am working in the emergency department as a technician, and have found my passion within emergency medicine. I find the unknown of what is to come through the door exhilarating. I find myself connecting with patients more and allowing myself to see the world in a different perspective. Emergency medicine is not for the faint of heart, and I have seen my fair share of nurses who think they are ready to work within the department, and instantly become overwhelmed with the unknown that may arise. My last vision as I continue to pursue my degree in nursing is to be able to continue to be a role model for my almost 11-year-old son. I started school later in life than most I have the privilege of attending classes with, but I feel like it is the perfect time to conquer my dream of becoming a nurse. When I started attending classes, it was a very confusing time for my son, as he was used to having his mom home for dinner every night, be there to tuck him into bed, and be able to spend every free moment with him. Now that he is getting older, he is beginning to understand that I am not doing this for just myself, but for him as well. I want him to always remember you are never too old to continue to chase your dreams. And that is what I will continue to teach him as we both continue to endure this journey.

In high school, I just went through the motions. Getting up, going to classes, participating in extracurricular activities, then going back home and spending time with family. It was never instilled in me to think about a future career, so I didn't have any idea of what I wanted to do. My senior year of high school, I found out I was pregnant halfway through the year. I tried to hide this, due to high school being full of drama and worrying about if the "friends" that I had would still accept me. It got to the point where I could no longer hide my growing belly, and I began not to care what fellow classmates thought of me. I made sure I was getting the grades I needed, took my ACTs, and I graduated that May at 7 months pregnant with the support of my family, and immediately sought out work to support me and my unborn son. I found myself working odd jobs, housekeeping at a hotel, cleaning houses for people in the community, and babysitting. This was just enough to keep a roof over my head and groceries. In August, I delivered my beautiful baby boy and was expected to have a maternity leave. My sons father was working at an auto body shop, and was fired when our son was 3 weeks old. I knew I needed to find a job that could support the three of us, especially since my sons father had no ambition to find another source of income. I ended up working at a gas station in town, which I was making enough to ensure that we continued to have a roof over our heads. I worked this job for almost two years, when a position at the hospital opened up in the laboratory as a phlebotomist. I had no experience, but was willing to learn. I had an interview with the lab manager and explained my situation, as well as my ability to learn the job and attend classes in order to better myself. This is where my passion for healthcare started. I worked in the lab for almost three years. I attended training around Montana to better my work, learned the ins and outs of what the lab consisted of, made myself aware of what the different tests being ran were and why, and pushed myself to try and be the best. After almost 3 years in the lab, a job within the emergency department opened for a technician position. I haphazardly applied, thinking I did not have the training for this position, but again, was willing to put my heart and soul into learning the world of emergency medicine. I started working in the emergency department, and immediately found my passion of helping people in more ways than the lab could offer. I bettered my skills by enrolling in an EMT program, attended numerous trainings, and found myself where I wanted to make a career. I decided I wanted to continue to grow in the emergency department, and applied to nursing school. Helping the community is my passion and my why I want to be a nurse.

Growing up, I was taught that you keep your thoughts to yourself and mental health was never a priority. As I grew older, I realized that growing up this way put my mental health to the breaking point. At age 18 and a senior in high school, I found myself pregnant as I was finishing up my high school degree. I had a rocky relationship with the father of my child, but I continued to put my mental health on the back burner. He was in the army, so I learned to become a single mom as he enjoyed his free time spending time with his friends or going places when the army called. I didn't realize the toll it was taking, not only on my mental health, but my physical health as well. We ended up getting married when I was 19, because I thought that would solve any and all issues we had. We tried to make the marriage work for our son, but after 3 years, his infidelity led to us getting a divorce. After filing for a divorce, my mental health was at an all time low. I wasn't sleeping and was constantly thinking how I was in the wrong and how I can be better for someone who didn't want me. I ended up in the emergency room with thoughts of self harm. I built a relationship with one of the nurses while I was admitted, and she was the first person who let me open up to her and tell her my thought processes. Turns out, I was not always the bad guy and kept making up situations in my head that lead me to believe this was the truth. With her continuing to let me talk through what I had been through, was the turning point in making a change in my mental state, not only for myself, but to become a better parent for my son. I began seeing a counselor and was finally able to open up what truly goes on in my mind. By allowing someone in, I was able to open up, not only to my counselor, but to my family as well. I was able to speak my mind for the first time ever, which felt great. To this day, I continue to see a counselor and have been on medications for my depression. These changes have allowed me to be a better person, grow in my career, and be someone that people can talk to without judgement. As my son continues to grow, I make sure he knows that he can always speak his mind. Not being able to as a child caused so many issues for me as I grew up, but I want to make that change for him in order for us to have an open relationship, where he can come and talk to me about anything and everything. I do not want him thinking any less of himself, because in my eyes, he is pure perfection. I want him to remember that everything I went through was to be a better person, and be a mother who is always there for him, not matter what.

When I was a senior in high school, I unexpectedly found out I was pregnant. After graduating high school, 3 months later I welcomed a beautiful baby boy into the world. My labor was not a great experiences due to the doctor having no sympathy or respect for me as a teen mom, but I do remember the nurses that took the time to make sure I had everything I needed. I didn't think much of working in healthcare for a couple years after having my son, mostly to the fact that I was just trying to make ends meet. I worked numerous jobs working in customer service, but knew this was not the life plan I was wanting or needing for myself or my child. When my son was 2-years-old, I applied for a job working in the laboratory as a phlebotomist. This is what made me realize that I wanted to pursue a career in healthcare. After a year in the laboratory, I started attending classes to become a medical technologist, but quickly realized that this was not the career path I was wanting to pursue. I dropped out of the program, but continued to work within the laboratory. I knew I wanted to work in healthcare as a life long career, but I just didn't know what I wanted to do. After working in the lab for 3 years, a job opened up in the emergency department as a technician. I quickly applied, and was brought into the world of nursing. This is where my passion for emergency medicine began. I quickly obtained my EMT license and started volunteering on the local ambulance service to better my skills. I started to attend trauma symposiums, extra courses to better myself as an EMT, and knew I wanted to become a nurse. It took me 5 years to finally commit myself to going back to school. I started taking my general courses at the local community college, and after 2 years, I was able to apply for nursing school at the campus that is 62 miles away from home. I applied for the first time in 2022, but was not accepted due to not having all the pre-requisites needed to be accepted. I was placed in the classes that were needed, and in 2023, I was able to get accepted into the program where I plan to graduate from and continue my career in emergency medicine. I continue to work 2 twelve hour shifts a week, volunteer on the ambulance 10 nights a month, and continue to raise my son, who is now 11, that when you put your mind to something, you can always do it, even if there are set backs, hard times, or anything else that may not go your way.

I plan to utilize this scholarship to help ensure that I have the proper textbook and supplies in order to continue my studies in the nursing program I am currently in. This will help support me financially while attending college by assisting with the supplies and other necessities I may need in order to successfully attend college. I am a single mother to an 11 year old son, work part time in the local emergency room in my rural town I reside in, and volunteer on the ambulance service. By obtaining financial support from this scholarship, this will allow me to spend more time with my son, worry less about financial strain, and continue to grow my career in nursing. I found my love for working in healthcare at the age of 20, when I accepted a job at the hospital working in the laboratory doing phlebotomy. I worked within the lab for 3 years when the opportunity arose to apply for a job in the emergency department as a technician. This came with a pay raise, less days working, and more time to spend with my son. I completed my EMT course that same year to better my skills while working in the emergency department. Patient care is what I find myself to be compassionate about, and bettering their experience on some of the worst days of their lives. By allowing myself to see people as people and not a burden, I find myself becoming trustworthy for the patient and their experience. By providing an experience that a patient can come away with a positive outlook on the hospital, as well as themselves. Although what I am pursuing as a career is not in the beauty industry, I find the job itself to be beautiful. By being a compassionate and caring healthcare personal, this allows patients to fully trust the world of healthcare. I also believe that working in healthcare has an impact to the beauty industry, as we see the beauty in all people, not matter what they come in for. We stitch lacerations back together in hopes the scar won't be to noticeable, we do wound care for those who are unable to do it for themselves, and we make sure every patient leaves better than how they came in. In my eyes, these are all beautiful reasons to become a registered nurse. To ensure that every persons individual beauty is found, and that they remember that we in healthcare are always there for them.

Nursing is described as " the profession or practice of providing care for the sick and infirm". The world of nursing did not interest me until I began working in my local rural hospital as a phlebotomist in 2015. I worked in the lab for almost three years, when a position in the emergency room as a technician opened up. This took some time to consider, due to the fact I was going through a divorce at a young age, looking for new housing, and had a 2 year old son to care for, which all provided restrictions to change jobs. To apply for this new job, I had to make some changes and attend an EMT course. Changes included working 12 hour shifts instead of 8 hours, transitioning from working during the day to nightshifts, while also attending an EMT course that was put on by the local ambulance service in town. I managed to obtained my EMT licensure within 3 months, fully switch over to being a nightshift technician, all the while being a full time single mom. This is when my love of providing care for individuals and working in a fast pace environment became my career. After working in the emergency room for 2 years, I made the leap and began my career in nursing to provide compassionate nursing care for the community I live in. My goals to obtaining a successful career in the world of nursing is to never stop learning. There are always changes in the hospital settings, and being an open minded person who accepts changes is beneficial when being a healthcare worker. While working in the emergency room, I have had the opportunity to learn many new things that have, and will continue, to help me grow into a better healthcare professional. I also have a goal to become an emergency room nurse. The hospital I am currently employed with has a probationary period on the medical surgical floor before they will even consider a new graduate to work in the emergency department. I am hopeful my willingness and my experience will help me achieve my goals of working in the department that helped me find my passion about patient care. Past medical experiences include, as listed above, 3 years as a phlebotomist, 6 years as an emergency room technician, and 6 years as an advanced EMT. I also volunteered during COVID to be a COVID swab technician at the local Community Health Center. I currently continue to work in the emergency room as a technician, volunteer on the ambulance, and, as of 2022, have become the trauma registrar for our hospital.

I want to pursue a career in nursing after working in the emergency room as a technician for the last 6 years. I found my passion for emergency medicine and helping people on some of the worst days they are having. By providing proactive care, while also being compassionate, caring and kind, allows for them to feel like they are in a safe place with people who will, and want, to make sure they are receiving the best care they deserve and need. With living in a rural town, everybody knows everybody, and I want to be noticed, not only for my hard work and dedication to the hospital, but also as a person who is caring and listens to what patients need. I also ventured into my nursing school journey to show my eleven year old son that, no matter what, you can always put your mind to something and achieve it. I am older, but I wanted to make sure that what I was going to be going back to school is something useful, but also something I do not dread getting up in the morning to do. I love taking care of people and being a confident for them if they need. I have the best team who support me and this journey, and allow me to continue working two days a week in order to make ends meet while I continue to pursue my dreams of becoming a nurse. With having a good support system, I feel that I am making strides in my college education. My family is also very supportive of me continuing my education. I am the first person in my family to attend college, which is a huge achievement for myself. I knew I always wanted to pursue a career and attend college, but it just took me a little longer to figure out what I wanted to do. And becoming an emergency room nurse is what I plan to do. I hope to contribute to my community by being a role model in the nursing community and be a nurse that individuals do not have a fear of when coming into the hospital. I plan to provide compassionate care, while also being proactive with my nursing abilities. Like I said above, I have experience working in the emergency room, and I also am an avid volunteer on the local ambulance service, which I plan to continue after graduating nursing school. By continuing to provide care for individuals in the community, this is how I plan to contribute to the community I live in.