Ever since I was a young child I have always dreamed of being a nurse. I have a little brother diagnosed with Downs Syndrome, who was always in and out of the emergency department, having surgeries, and attending multiple appointments with multiple different specialists. At home, my brother required a lot of medical attention. I was the oldest of my three siblings so I had to step up and help my mother. I used to consider myself my brother's personal nurse. I would attend to all his medical needs, cleaning his wounds, administering his medications, flushing his abdominal chait tube daily, personal hygiene, and attending my brother's appointments with my mother. Apart from helping my mother with my brother Moises, I would also help around the house by cleaning, cooking, and taking care of my three siblings. I believe my childhood experience is what has led me to my passion for working in the medical field and becoming a nurse. Growing up I was also one of the oldest cousins and became the first call for daycare on the weekends. I would end up taking care of my three younger siblings and my two younger cousins. I have always been extremely good with children. I know how to communicate, connect, motivate, be patient, be creative, and work around children to follow instructions. I grew up being loved by my siblings and cousins. Which I believe growing up being the oldest and take care of multiple kids is what allowed me to learn all my skills to work with children. I have worked as a medical assistant for 7 years at a Family Medicine clinic. I’ve worked with a pediatric provider, a family provider, and an internal medicine provider. I have been able to experience working with multiple age groups. Working with pediatric patients is the age group that has brought me the most joy in caring for them. I have the compassion, empathy, and patience to care for pediatric patients. I have the ability to make the child feel safe and the ability to allow the parents to feel relieved when leaving their child under my care because they feel safe leaving them with me due to being a natural compassionate person.  Pediatric patients are one of our most vulnerable populations. They need genuine caring nurses who are there for the love of providing care and ensuring that they are leaving home safely. That will be gentle and provide proper care even when other individuals are not watching them.

Raising a family has been one of my most educational life experiences. Getting married, having children, and combining our families have opened my eyes to how different every individual can be. I had to learn to make adjustments, make sacrifices, and take other individuals' input to maintain peace during the transition of combining families. Moving in with my husband and having our children was an enormous adjustment. Having to combine our values and methods of discipline to raise our children.  Before starting my family, I did not believe that I would have to work so hard and jump over so many hoops to sustain our family dynamic. My husband and children have taught me patience, different communication skills, slowing down to enjoy the present, working together as a team, and handling chaotic situations. But starting my family has also been my biggest blessing. My children have taught me what unconditional love is and it has been the most amazing experience.  They are my biggest motivation and reason for going back to school. I want to be able to provide my children with the life they deserve. Not having to decide if we use our last few dollars for gas, food, or utility bills. I want to be a motivation for my children, to motivate them that it is never too late to go back to school.  The medical field has always been a big interest in my life. As a child, I used to consider myself my brother's personal nurse. My brother has Down syndrome, who was always in and out of the emergency department, having surgeries, and attending multiple appointments with multiple different specialists. At home, he required a lot of medical attention and I was the oldest of my siblings so I had to step up to help my mother. I would attend to my brother's needs, cleaning his wounds, administering his medications, flushing his chait tube daily, and attending my brother's appointments with my mother. Leaving me with the dream of becoming a nurse in the future.

My experience with mental health has changed my perspective on individuals struggling with mental health. It led me to build more compassion towards others and how they deal with their mental health. Growing up Hispanic, living with depression is viewed as a choice. They believe that you decide to experience depression. Hispanics think that you need to get up, do something to distract yourself, and not think about being sad, leading you to get over it. While growing up I did view it as you can control the outcome and honestly would view others down for the way they decided to numb the pain away. In 2021, a couple of years after having my son I started struggling with depression and anxiety. I got to the point where I started experiencing physical anxiety, I lost hope, and I could no longer ignore the sadness. I could no longer just get up and distract myself from the sadness. I went into a dark space in my head. I couldn’t just drive to work or to the daycare drop-off. I would sometimes daydream that a car crash might end my pain. This experience finally led me to reach out for help. During my husband's deployment in Poland for a year, it led me to take charge of household duties and be a sole provider to my son at home. I’m someone who doesn’t like to ask for help or show weakness. When I was around my family I would fake being happy. I also isolated myself from my friends and cousins because I didn't want them to know that I was struggling inside. The one person that I could let my guard down with and open up to about how I felt was gone on deployment. When speaking on the phone with him I wanted to provide my husband peace and reassurance that we were safe at home. Reaching out for help is a common issue, many individuals struggling with mental health view reaching out for help as a weakness.   Having firsthand experience dealing with mental health issues has increased my understanding of how many individuals in the world have to deal with it. It has shaped my goals for the type of nurse that I want to become. I want to be able to help my future patients who are in pain. I want to see past how they deal with pain and help them with why they are in pain. We never know what someone is going through. I want my patients to feel safe reaching out for help and that it is not a weakness.

My experience with mental health has changed my perspective on individuals struggling with mental health. It led me to build more compassion towards others and how they deal with their mental health. Growing up Hispanic, living with depression is viewed as a choice. They believe that you decide to experience depression. Hispanics think that you need to get up, do something to distract yourself, and not think about being sad, leading you to get over it. While growing up I did view it as you can control the outcome and honestly would view others down for the way they decided to numb the pain away. In 2021, a couple of years after having my son I started struggling with depression and anxiety. I got to the point where I started experiencing physical anxiety, I lost hope, and I could no longer ignore the sadness. I could no longer just get up and distract myself from the sadness. I went into a dark space in my head. I couldn’t just drive to work or to the daycare drop-off. I would sometimes daydream that a car crash might end my pain. This experience finally led me to reach out for help. During my husband's deployment in Poland for a year, it led me to take charge of household duties and be a sole provider to my son at home. I’m someone who doesn’t like to ask for help or show weakness. When I was around my family I would fake being happy. I also isolated myself from my friends and cousins because I didn't want them to know that I was struggling inside. The one person that I could let my guard down with and open up to about how I felt was gone on deployment. When speaking on the phone with him I wanted to provide my husband peace and reassurance that we were safe at home. Reaching out for help is a common issue, many individuals struggling with mental health view reaching out for help as a weakness. Having firsthand experience dealing with mental health issues has increased my understanding of how many individuals in the world have to deal with it. It has shaped my goals for the type of nurse that I want to become. I want to be able to help my future patients who are in pain. I want to see past how they deal with pain and help them with why they are in pain. We never know what someone is going through. I want my patients to feel safe reaching out for help and that it is not a weakness.

The most meaningful relationship in my life is with my father. He has been my biggest motivator and supporter since I was a child. My father has always raised me to be a respectful, responsible, and hard-working individual. He has always been a present, loving father, who provided for his family. Seeing how my father financially provided for us a family of 6 and was emotionally present in our family influenced my romantic relationships. It led me to find a man who put his family first. Someone who knew to work hard and wanted to be present. Growing up my father always preached that education is the most important aspect in life. Education is what will get you ahead in life and provide you with the lifestyle you desire. English was my father's second language and was only able to attend school up until middle school before dropping out to start working. Even then, my father was one of my biggest educators at home in elementary. He taught me to read, write, and do mathematics. He made me read a book every night before bed and the first questuion he would ask me when coming from work was “Have you finished your homework”? Growing up I would go to work in orchard with my father in various weather conditions. He would state “This is why education is important, that way you have options and don’t have to work outdoors in the cold and rain”. That statement has always stuck with me and has pushed me to continue my education. When I become irritated or tired of school work, remembering when I had to go work in the orchard with my father and being cold, thats what motivates me to continue pushing through. To this day, my father is still my biggest motivator. He always tells me how proud he is of my accomplishments. How he is proud of the hard work that I put into my education and into raising my children. Even though I am 28 years old, have been married for 7 years, and have 2 children he is still making sure that I am financially stable and safe. What makes my relationships with my father even more meaningful is that he is just as present to his grandchildren as he was to his children. He helps my family in any means possible, from picking my children from daycare or school, to taking them to the park while I study, buying them clothing, or taking care of them when I don’t have any daycare. Apart from my father being so supportive, he was a strict father. He had strict rules and values that we had to follow. I belive father's values being instilled in me at a young age is why I’m the individual I am today. A respected, respectful, honest, and hard working individual that I am. He is also one of the biggest reasons why I am back in school and in the nursing program. Even after already receiving my associate's degree and medical assistant certificate, he continued to push me. Pushing and motivating me to follow my dream to become a nurse

My name is Monique, I’m 28 years old, a mother to a 2 years old little girl and a 6 year old boy. I come from a migrant family, I'm the first generation in my family to graduate from high school and the only one of my 4 siblings to attend college till this day. Growing up my father always preached that education is the most important aspect in life. Education is what will get you ahead in life and provide you with the lifestyle you desire. English was my fathers 2nd language and he only attended school up until middle school before having to drop out to start working. Even then my father was one of my biggest educators at home in elementary. He taught me to read, write, and do mathematics. He would make me read a book either in Spanish or in English every night before bed and the first thing he would ask me when coming from work was “Have you finished your homework”?  Growing up I would also go to work in the orchard with my father in various weather conditions. He would always comment “This is why education is important, that way you have options and don’t have to work outdoors in the cold and rain”. That statement has always stuck with me and has pushed me to continue my education. When I get irritated and tired with school, that's what I remember, working in the orchard with my father in the cold, and it gives me motivation to continue pushing through. Even though my son is only 6 years old I also used working in the orchard as a motivation to further our education, by taking my son out to work in the orchard with me in the summer to see that it is hard work and it’s important to go to school. In 2016, I graduated from high school, went immediately into college, and graduated in 2018 with my associate's degree and medical assistant certificate. In 2019, I started building my family. I learned that I wanted to be able to provide an even better life for my children, and that I do not want to ever worry about not being able to provide for my children. I decided to go back to school full-time in 2023, and I am now finishing my first year of nursing school with a 2-year-old daughter and a 6-year-old son. I am teaching them the same values my father did, that education is important, and that it is never too late to advance your education.  This is the legacy I hope to leave for my family and children. I hope to be remembered as someone hard-working, who always continues to push herself to advance her education, a well-educated individual, and is a motivation to her children, nieces, nephews, and cousins to continue their education.

Ever since I was a young child I have always dreamed of being a nurse. I have a little brother with Downs Syndrome, who was always in and out of the emergency department, having surgeries, and attending multiple appointments with multiple different specialists. At home, my brother required a lot of medical attention. I was the oldest of my 4 siblings so I had to step up and help my mother. I used to consider myself my brother's personal nurse. I would attend to my brother's needs, cleaning his wounds, administering his medications, flushing his chait tube daily, helping him perform his daily physical therapy exercises, and attending my brother's appointments with my mother. Apart from helping my mother around the house by cleaning, cooking, and taking care of my siblings. I also grew up taking care of my grandparents when I was in high school. They lived with us for 3 years and required extensive care. I believe my childhood experience is what has led me to my passion for working in the medical field. In 2013, I volunteered to be an individualized helper for special needs children to be able to participate in Special Olympic sports like baseball and soccer. I volunteered over 200 hours of community service working with special needs children. In 2016, I started working as a caregiver and worked for 5 years. In 2018, I graduated from Columbia Gorge Community College with my Associate's in General Studies and Medical Assistant Certificate. I worked as a medical assistant for 7 years, I worked at a Family Medicine clinic for 4 years, and at an Internal Medicine clinic for 3 years. I have been able to work with all ages of life, from newborns to elderly patients. I have been pleased with working as a medical assistant, being able to attend to my patient’s needs. Although, I have been left with the desire to be able to do more for my patients and be more involved in medical procedures. I have been wanting to have the opportunity to attend to medical emergencies in a hospital setting, be more knowledgeable in the information that I relay to my patients, and be able to educate my patients. Working as a medical assistant has only convinced me even further of the passion I have for working in the medical field. I also believe my childhood and work experience have helped me build my communication skills with multiple age groups. I have developed the patience to work with children, compassion to work with the elderly, and the ability to interact with teens or adults. Which are great skills to have as a nurse.

Ever since I was a young child I have always dreamed of being a nurse. I have a little brother with Downs Syndrome, who was always in and out of the emergency department, having surgeries, and attending multiple appointments with multiple different specialists. At home, my brother required a lot of medical attention. I was the oldest of my 4 siblings so I had to step up and help my mother. I used to consider myself my brother's personal nurse. I would attend to my brother's needs, cleaning his wounds, administering his medications, flushing his chait tube daily, helping him perform his daily physical therapy exercises, and attending my brother's appointments with my mother. Apart from helping my mother around the house by cleaning, cooking, and taking care of my siblings. I also grew up taking care of my grandparents when I was in high school. They lived with us for 3 years and required extensive care. I believe my childhood experience is what has led me to my passion for working in the medical field.  In 2013, I volunteered to be an individualized helper for special needs children to be able to participate in Special Olympic sports like baseball and soccer. I volunteered over 200 hours of community service working with special needs children. In 2016, I started working as a caregiver and worked for 5 years. In 2018, I graduated from Columbia Gorge Community College with my Associate's in General Studies and Medical Assistant Certificate. I worked as a medical assistant for 7 years, I worked at a Family Medicine clinic for 4 years, and at an Internal Medicine clinic for 3 years. I have been able to work with all ages of life, from newborns to elderly patients. I have been pleased with working as a medical assistant, being able to attend to my patient’s needs. Although, I have been left with the desire to be able to do more for my patients and be more involved in medical procedures. I have been wanting to have the opportunity to attend to medical emergencies in a hospital setting, be more knowledgeable in the information that I relay to my patients, and be able to educate my patients. Working as a medical assistant has only convinced me even further of the passion I have for working in the medical field. I also believe my childhood and work experience have helped me build my communication skills with multiple age groups. I have developed the patience to work with children, compassion to work with the elderly, and the ability to interact with teens or adults.

I'm the first generation in my family to graduate from high school and attend college. Growing up my father always preached that education is the most important aspect in life. Education is what will get you ahead in life and provide you with the lifestyle you desire. English was my father’s second language and he only attended school until middle school before having to drop out to start working. Even then, my father was one of my biggest educators at home in elementary school. He taught me to read, write, and do mathematics. He would make me read a book, either in Spanish or in English, every night before bed, and the first thing he would ask me when he came home from work was, “Have you finished your homework?”  Growing up I would also go to work in the orchard with my father in various weather conditions. He would always comment “This is why education is important, that way you have options and don’t have to work outdoors in the cold and rain”. That statement has always stuck with me and has pushed me to continue my education. When I get irritated and tired with school, that's what I remember, working in the orchard with my father in the cold, and it gives me motivation to continue pushing through. Ever since I was a young child I have also always dreamed of being a nurse. I have a little brother with Downs Syndrome, who was always in and out of the emergency department, having surgeries, and attending multiple appointments with multiple different specialists. At home, my brother required a lot of medical attention. I was the oldest of my siblings so I had to step up and help my mother. I used to consider myself my brother's personal nurse because I would attend to my brother's needs, cleaning his wounds, administering his medications, flushing his chait tube daily, and attending my brother's appointments with my mother. Apart from helping my mother around the house by cleaning, cooking, and taking care of my siblings. I believe my childhood experience is what has led me to my passion to work in the medical field.  In September of 2024, I stopped working to attend school full-time. Not working has made a tremendous impact on my family of 4, putting a financial struggle since our total income a month has been cut in half. Although still having the same amount of bills and on top of the additional bills for the courses, nursing program fees, books, and materials needed for school. In the past years I have had to take multiple pauses in my education to relieve us from the financial struggle that it causes us because apart from striving to further my education, my husband and I have always strived to improve our financial life, give our children the life they deserve, and give them a better life then we had growing up and not having to worry about money at such a young age. Thankfully the financial struggle has been worth it because I’m finishing up my first year of the nursing program at Columbia Gorge Community College.

Ever since I was a young child I have always dreamed of being a nurse. I have a little brother with Downs Syndrome, who was always in and out of the emergency department, having surgeries, and attending multiple appointments with multiple different specialists. At home, my brother required a lot of medical attention. I was the oldest of my siblings so I had to step up and help my mother. I used to consider myself my brother's personal nurse. I would attend to my brother's needs, cleaning his wounds, administering his medications, flushing his chait tube daily, and attending my brother's appointments with my mother. I would help my mother around the house by cleaning, cooking, and watching my siblings. I believe my childhood experience is what has led me to my passion for working in the medical field. Once I become a registered nurse, I plan to work at the Emergency Department to further my knowledge and improve my skills since it encounters multiple different situations. I believe that will help me be exposed to more and involved in different procedures or skills that you don’t use regularly. That way I can ensure that I won’t forget those skills when I’m freshly graduated. My dream department that I would love to work at is the labor and delivery department in the hospital. I have had two children and my labor experiences were both completely different. Going into both of my deliveries, I planned on doing my delivery naturally without an epidural. During my first experience I had a nurse continuously coming into the room to ask “Do you want the epidural now?”, even after she knew I was trying to do it without an epidural. I kept refusing, but then the last few times she came into the room she said that it was going to be my last chance to receive an epidural because the anesthetists were going to leave home already. She ended up scaring me into getting the epidural, because I was young, it was my first child, and the nurse continuously kept asking and telling me it was my last chance that I wouldn’t be able to get it anymore even though I was only 3cm dilated.  When I went into my 2nd delivery at the same hospital, I had a completely different experience. The nurse immediately asked me what my birth plan was and asked if I had any preferences or requests from the nurses. I informed her that I was going to try to deliver my baby without getting an epidural. She immediately said that it was amazing and made it known that she wasn’t going to pressure me into getting the epidural that she wouldn’t bring it up unless necessary, but that I was able to change my mind whenever and to let her know. The nurse also kept coming in and giving me tips on what to do to relieve the pain and be able to push through the pain. Going into the bath-tub, walking, bouncing on the ball, breathing techniques, and having my husband massage my shoulder and feet. That delivery experience was amazing and I was able to do it without the epidural. I believe it was all possible because of how the nurse took care of me and motivated me on my birth plan. I hope to be able to give that same experience to other mothers.

I'm the first generation in my family to graduate from high school and attend college. Growing up my father always preached that education is the most important aspect in life. Education is what will get you ahead in life and provide you with the lifestyle you desire. English was my fathers 2nd language and he only attended school up until middle school before having to drop out to start working. Even then my father was one of my biggest educators at home in elementary. He taught me to read, write, and do mathematics. He would make me read a book either in Spanish or in English every night before bed and the first thing he would ask me when coming from work was “Have you finished your homework”?  Growing up I would also go to work in the orchard with my father in various weather conditions. He would always comment “This is why education is important, that way you have options and don’t have to work outdoors in the cold and rain”. That statement has always stuck with me and has pushed me to continue my education. When I get irritated and tired with school, that's what I remember, working in the orchard with my father in the cold, and it gives me motivation to continue pushing through. Even though my son is only 6 years old I also used working in the orchard as a motivation to further our education, by taking my son out to work in the orchard with me in the summer to see that it is hard work and it’s important to go to school. In 2016, I graduated from high school, went immediately into college, and graduated in 2018 with my associate's degree and medical assistant certificate. In 2019, I started building my family. I learned that I wanted to be able to provide an even better life for my children, and that I do not want to ever worry about not being able to provide for my children. I decided to go back to school full-time in 2023, and I am now finishing my first year of nursing school with a 2-year-old daughter and a 6-year-old son. I am teaching them the same values my father did, that education is important, and that it is never too late to advance your education.  This is the legacy I hope to leave for my family and children. I hope to be remembered as someone hard-working, who always continues to push herself to advance her education, a well-educated individual, and is a motivation to her children, nieces, nephews, and cousins to continue their education.

Ever since I was a young child I have always dreamed of being a nurse. I have a little brother with Downs Syndrome, who was always in and out of the emergency department, having surgeries, and attending multiple appointments with multiple different specialists. At home my brother required a lot of medical attention. I was the oldest of my siblings so I had to step up and help my mother. I used to consider myself my brother's personal nurse because I would attend to my brother's needs, cleaning his wounds, administering his medications, flushing his chait tube daily, and attending my brother's appointments with my mother. Apart from helping my mother around the house by cleaning, cooking, and taking care of my siblings. I believe my childhood experience is what has led me to my passion to work in the medical field. Once I graduate and become a registered nurse I plan to work at the Emergency Department to further my knowledge and improve my skills since that department encounters multiple different medical situations. I believe that will help me be exposed to more and involved in different procedures or skills that you don’t use at every department or everyday. That way I can ensure that I won’t forget those skills when I’m freshly graduated. My dream department that I would love to work at is the labor and delivery department in the hospital. I have had two children and my labor experience were both completely different. Going into both of my deliveries, I planned on doing my delivery naturally without an epidural. During my first experience I had a nurse continuously coming into the room to ask “do you want the epidural now?”, even after she knew I was trying to do it without epidural. I kept refusing, but then the last few times she came into the room she said that it was going to be my last chance to receive an epidural because the anesthetists were going to leave home already. She ended up scaring me into getting the epidural, because I was young, it was my first child, and the nurse continuously kept asking and telling me it was my last chance that I wouldn’t be able to get it anymore even though I was only 3cm dilated. When I went into my 2nd delivery at the same hospital, I had a completely different experience. The nurse immediately asked me what my birth plan was and asked if I had any preferences or requests from the nurses. I informed her that I was going to try and deliver my baby without getting the epidural. She immediately said that it was amazing and made it known that she wasn’t going to pressure me into getting the epidural that she wouldn’t bring it up unless necessary, but that I was able to change my mind whenever and to let her know. The nurse also kept coming in and giving me tips on what to do to relieve the pain and be able to push through the pain. From going into the bath tub, walking, bouncing on the ball, breathing techniques, and having my husband massage my shoulder and feet. That delivery experience was amazing and I was able to do it without the epidural and I believe it was all possible because of how the nurse took care of me and motivated me on my birth plan. I hope to be able to give that same experience to other mothers.

To start off I want to thank you for your time in reading about my life and giving me the chance to take me into consideration for this scholarship. I am 27 years old, I’m a mother to a 2 years old little girl and a six year old boy. I come from a migrant family, the first in my family to graduate from high school and till this day the only one to attend college out of my three siblings. In 2018 I graduated from Columbia Gorge Community College with my Associates in General Studies and Medical Assistant Certificate. I have worked as a medical assistant for 7 years and as a caregiver to my brother Moises who has Downs Syndrome for 5 years. Which has only convinced me even further for the passion I have in working in the medical field. Ever since I was a young child I have always dreamed of being a nurse. Caring for my little brother Moises, who was always in and out of the emergency department, having surgeries, and attending multiple appointments with multiple different specialists. At home my brother required a lot of medical attention. I was the oldest of my siblings so I had to step up when I was only 7 years old and help my mother. I used to consider myself my brother's personal nurse because I would attend to my brother's needs, cleaning his wounds, administering his medications, flushing his chait tube daily, and attending my brother's appointments with my mother. Apart from helping my mother around the house by cleaning, cooking, and taking care of my siblings. I believe my childhood experience is what has led me to my passion to work in the medical field. The person who has made a huge impact in my education, who pushed me the most to continue my education is my father. My father also taught me to be a hard worker. I have worked in the orchard with my father since I was 9 years old. He wanted me to see how hard it is to make money to encourage me to get a higher education. He never let anything get in the way of my education, even though English was his second language he always assisted me in my homework and would have me read a book every night. He has always supported, motivated and been the first one to let me know how proud he is of me continuing my education. Now that I have children I want to make them proud, teach them they can also accomplish their dreams, provide for them, and give them the life they deserve like my father did for me. I am very passionate about playing soccer, I have been in soccer traveling teams since I was 11 years old. I played all year long, adult teams even when I was only 15 years old as well as coed. When I got to high school I played 4 years varsity and out of high school I continued to play coed and indoor soccer. My biggest regret was not continuing to play soccer in college. Now as an adult I still love playing soccer but no longer have the time with attending nursing school full time and have children.

To start off I want to thank you for your time in reading about my life and giving me the chance to take me into consideration for this scholarship. I am 27 years old, I’m a mother to a 2 years old little girl and a six year old boy. I come from a migrant family, the first in my family to graduate from high school and till this day the only one to attend college out of my three siblings. In 2018 I graduated from Columbia Gorge Community College with my Associates in General Studies and Medical Assistant Certificate. I have worked as a medical assistant for 7 years and as a caregiver to my brother Moises who has Downs Syndrome for 5 years. Which has only convinced me even further for the passion I have in working in the medical field. Ever since I was a young child I have always dreamed of being a nurse. Caring for my little brother Moises, who was always in and out of the emergency department, having surgeries, and attending multiple appointments with multiple different specialists. At home my brother required a lot of medical attention. I was the oldest of my siblings so I had to step up when I was only 7 years old and help my mother. I used to consider myself my brother's personal nurse because I would attend to my brother's needs, cleaning his wounds, administering his medications, flushing his chait tube daily, and attending my brother's appointments with my mother. Apart from helping my mother around the house by cleaning, cooking, and taking care of my siblings. I believe my childhood experience is what has led me to my passion to work in the medical field. Many people think that because I was only 7 years old there wasn’t much I could help with. Coming from a Hispanic family, you are never too young to help. We are taught to be hard workers, respectful individuals, to stand up for yourselves, dream big and go for it, never give up. My father stopped going to school in elementary because he had to start working. He came to the U.S at 15 years old to work and be able to send money back to his parents. My father has always been a hard working man who provided for his family. I never had to worry about money, I was always provided everything I needed or wanted, never worried about not being able to play my soccer, which I played on traveling teams since I was 11 years old, played all year long which is expensive and played 4 years varsity in high school. But my father also taught me to be a hard worker. I have worked in the orchard with my father since I was 9 years old. He wanted me to see how hard it is to make money to encourage me to get a higher education. He never let anything get in the way of my education, he has always supported and motivated me. He has told me how happy and proud he is of me for constantly pursuing a higher education.

To start off I want to thank you for your time in reading about my life and giving me the chance to take me into consideration for this scholarship. I am 27 years old, I’m a mother to a 2 years old little girl and a six year old boy. I come from a migrant family, the first in my family to graduate from high school and till this day the only one to attend college out of my three siblings. In 2018 I graduated from Columbia Gorge Community College with my Associates in General Studies and Medical Assistant Certificate. I have worked as a medical assistant for 7 years and as a caregiver to my brother Moises who has Downs Syndrome for 5 years. Which has only convinced me even further for the passion I have in working in the medical field. Ever since I was a young child I have always dreamed of being a nurse. I have a little brother with Downs Syndrome, who was always in and out of the emergency department, having surgeries, and attending multiple appointments with multiple different specialists. At home my brother required a lot of medical attention. I was the oldest of my siblings so I had to step up and help my mother. I used to consider myself my brother's personal nurse because I would attend to my brother's needs, cleaning his wounds, administering his medications, flushing his chait tube daily, and attending my brother's appointments with my mother. Apart from helping my mother around the house by cleaning, cooking, and taking care of my siblings. I believe my childhood experience is what has led me to my passion to work in the medical field. In September of 2024 I stopped working to attend school full time. Not working has made a tremendous impact in my family of 4, putting a financial struggle since our total income a month has been cut in half. Although still having the same amount of bills and on top of the additional bills for the courses, nursing program fees, books and materials needed for school. In the past years I have had to take multiple pauses in my education to relieve us from the financial struggle that it causes us because apart from striving to further my education, my husband and I have always strived to improve our financial life, give our children the life they deserve, and give them a better life then we had growing up and not having to worry about money at such a young age. Thankfully the financial struggle has been worth it because I have been accepted into the nursing program at Columbia Gorge Community College, to start in September of 2025

I come from a migrant family, the first in my family to graduate from high school and till this day the only one to attend college out of my three siblings. In 2018 I graduated from Columbia Gorge Community College with my Associates in General Studies and Medical Assistant Certificate. I have worked as a medical assistant for 7 years and as a caregiver to my brother Moises for 5 years after I turned 18 years old. Which has only convinced me even further for the passion I have in working in the medical field. Previously before working as my brothers caregiver, ever since I was a young child I have always dreamed of being a nurse. My little brother Moises has Downs Syndrome, who was always in and out of the emergency department, having surgeries, and attending multiple appointments with multiple different specialists. At home my brother required a lot of medical attention. I was the oldest of my siblings so I had to step up and help my mother. I used to consider myself my brother's personal nurse because I would attend to my brother's needs, cleaning his wounds, administering his medications, flushing his chait tube daily, and attending my brother's appointments with my mother. Apart from helping my mother around the house by cleaning, cooking, and taking care of my siblings. I believe my childhood experience is what has led me to my passion to work in the medical field. Currently my biggest motivation right now is my 2 children. I strived to improve our financial life, give my children the life they deserve, better life than I had growing up and not having to worry about money at such a young age. I bought my first home at 20 years old when i had my first child to ensure they had a stable home. I have always made it possible for my children to have the opportunity to participate in sports and programs that I wasn’t able to participate in as children due to money. Continuing my education to be a nurse will only open my doors for my children and I for a better life. Human touch in nursing is more than just physically touching a patient. Although physical touch is just as important when trying to educate, console, and motivate a patient and their family. From holding their hand, patting them on the back, respectfully helping them groom themselves so they feel better about themselves, combing their hair, painting their nails, and cleaning their mouth when eating and the patient is too weak to do it themselves. But human touch to me is also just being a caring and loving human being, treating your patience as they are your loved ones. Showing compassion by striving to make a change to make them feel better, from going on a walk when they feel down and stuck in their room. Showing empathy as well, by letting them know you know what they are going through, understanding how difficult it is, and validating their feelings. Also building a relationship with their patients by genuinely interacting with them, not just interacting with patients to complete your necessary duties and asking the mandatory questions to perform your duties. Genuinely interact with them, by asking how they are feeling today, ask them what you can do to help them feel better or feel more at home. If they have family, talk about their family, help them get in contact with them through FaceTime or phone call. Have a discussion about their passion, their interests, let them tell you stories about their past. Many elderly individuals do not have anyone to talk to, and they love to talk about their past and to reminisce in their past. Providing this type of care promotes the patient to be more compliant in their medical care and become genuinely motivated to make necessary changes to improve their lifestyle. It also promotes the patient's family to be compliant with medical care, be appreciative of the type of care you are giving their loved ones, and allow them to feel ease when they have to leave their loved ones in hospital.

To start off I want to thank you for your time in reading about my life and giving me the chance to take me into consideration for this scholarship. I am 27 years old, I’m a mother to a 2 years old little girl and a six year old boy. I come from a migrant family, the first in my family to graduate from high school and till this day the only one to attend college out of my three siblings. In 2018 I graduated from Columbia Gorge Community College with my Associates in General Studies and Medical Assistant Certificate. I have worked as a medical assistant for 7 years and as a caregiver for 5 years to my brother Moises who has Downs Syndrome. Ever since I was a young child I have always dreamed of being a nurse. My little brother Moises, who was always in hospital, having surgeries, and attending multiple appointments with specialists who also required a lot of medical attention at home. I was the oldest of my siblings so I had to step up and help my mother. I used to consider myself my brother's personal nurse, attending to his brother's needs, cleaning his wounds, administering his medications, flushing his chait tube daily, and attending my brother's appointments with my mother. Apart from helping my mother around the house cleaning, cooking, and taking care of my siblings. I believe my childhood experience is what has led me to my passion to work in the medical field. Once I graduate and become a registered nurse I plan to work at the Emergency Department to further my knowledge and improve my skills since that department encounters multiple different medical situations. That way I can ensure that I won’t forget my skills when I’m freshly graduated. My dream department to work at is labor and delivery. I have had two children with completely different labor experience. Going into both of my deliveries, I planned on doing it without an epidural. During my first experience I had a nurse continuously coming into the room to ask “do you want the epidural now?” Or saying “This is your last chance, the anesthetist is leaving home.” She ended up scaring me into getting the epidural, because I was young, it was my first child, and the nurse continuously kept asking and telling me it was my last chance. When I went into my 2nd delivery at the same hospital, I had a completely different experience. The nurse immediately asked me what my birth plan was and asked if I had any preferences or requests from the nurses. I informed her that I was going to try and deliver my baby without getting the epidural. She immediately said that it was amazing and made it known that she wasn’t going to pressure me into getting the epidural that she wouldn’t bring it up unless necessary, but that I was able to change my mind whenever and to let her know. The nurse also kept coming in and giving me tips on what to do to relieve the pain and be able to push through the pain. From going into the bath tub, walking, bouncing on the ball, breathing techniques, and having my husband massage my shoulder and feet. That delivery experience was amazing and I was able to do it without the epidural and I believe it was all possible because of how the nurse took care of me and motivated me on my birth plan. I hope to be able to give that same experience to other mothers.

To start off I want to thank you for your time in reading about my life and giving me the chance to take me into consideration for this scholarship. I am 27 years old, I’m a mother to a 2 years old little girl and a six year old boy. I come from a migrant family, the first in my family to graduate from high school and till this day the only one to attend college out of my three siblings. In 2018 I graduated from Columbia Gorge Community College with my Associates in General Studies and Medical Assistant Certificate. I have worked as a medical assistant for 7 years and as a caregiver to my brother Moises who has Downs Syndrome for 5 years. Which has only convinced me even further for the passion I have in working in the medical field. Ever since I was a young child I have always dreamed of being a nurse. I have a little brother with Downs Syndrome, who was always in and out of the emergency department, having surgeries, and attending multiple appointments with multiple different specialists. At home my brother required a lot of medical attention. I was the oldest of my siblings so I had to step up and help my mother. I used to consider myself my brother's personal nurse because I would attend to my brother's needs, cleaning his wounds, administering his medications, flushing his chait tube daily, and attending my brother's appointments with my mother. Apart from helping my mother around the house by cleaning, cooking, and taking care of my siblings. I believe my childhood experience is what has led me to my passion to work in the medical field. Once I graduate and become a registered nurse I plan to work at the Emergency Department to further my knowledge and improve my skills since that department encounters multiple different medical situations. I believe that will help me be exposed to more and involved in different procedures or skills that you don’t use at every department or everyday. That way I can ensure that I won’t forget those skills when I’m freshly graduated. My dream department that I would love to work at is the labor and delivery department in the hospital. I have had two children and my labor experience were both completely different. Going into both of my deliveries, I planned on doing my delivery naturally without an epidural. During my first experience I had a nurse continuously coming into the room to ask “do you want the epidural now?”, even after she knew I was trying to do it without epidural. I kept refusing, but then the last few times she came into the room she said that it was going to be my last chance to receive an epidural because the anesthetists were going to leave home already. She ended up scaring me into getting the epidural, because I was young, it was my first child, and the nurse continuously kept asking and telling me it was my last chance that I wouldn’t be able to get it anymore even though I was only 3cm dilated. When I went into my 2nd delivery at the same hospital, I had a completely different experience. The nurse immediately asked me what my birth plan was and asked if I had any preferences or requests from the nurses. I informed her that I was going to try and deliver my baby without getting the epidural. She immediately said that it was amazing and made it known that she wasn’t going to pressure me into getting the epidural that she wouldn’t bring it up unless necessary, but that I was able to change my mind whenever and to let her know. The nurse also kept coming in and giving me tips on what to do to relieve the pain and be able to push through the pain. From going into the bath tub, walking, bouncing on the ball, breathing techniques, and having my husband massage my shoulder and feet. That delivery experience was amazing and I was able to do it without the epidural and I believe it was all possible because of how the nurse took care of me and motivated me on my birth plan. I hope to be able to give that same experience to other mothers.

Ever since I was a young child I have always dreamed of being a nurse. I have a little brother with Downs Syndrome, who was always in and out of the emergency department, having surgeries, and attending multiple appointments with multiple different specialists. At home my brother required a lot of medical attention. I was the oldest of my siblings so I had to step up and help my mother. I used to consider myself my brother's personal nurse because I would attend to my brother's needs, cleaning his wounds, administering his medications, flushing his chait tube daily, and attending my brother's appointments with my mother. Apart from helping my mother around the house by cleaning, cooking, and taking care of my siblings. I believe my childhood experience is what has led me to my passion to work in the medical field. Once I graduate and become a registered nurse I plan to work at the Emergency Department to further my knowledge and improve my skills since that department encounters multiple different medical situations. I believe that will help me be exposed to more and involved in different procedures or skills that you don’t use at every department or everyday. That way I can ensure that I won’t forget those skills when I’m freshly graduated. My dream department that I would love to work at is the labor and delivery department in the hospital. I have had two children and my labor experience were both completely different. Going into both of my deliveries, I planned on doing my delivery naturally without an epidural. During my first experience I had a nurse continuously coming into the room to ask “do you want the epidural now?”, even after she knew I was trying to do it without epidural. I kept refusing, but then the last few times she came into the room she said that it was going to be my last chance to receive an epidural because the anesthetists were going to leave home already. She ended up scaring me into getting the epidural, because I was young, it was my first child, and the nurse continuously kept asking and telling me it was my last chance that I wouldn’t be able to get it anymore even though I was only 3cm dilated. Then when I went into my 2nd delivery at the same hospital, I had a completely different experience. The nurse immediately asked me what my birth plan was and asked if I had any preferences or requests from the nurses. I informed her that I was going to try and deliver my baby without getting the epidural. She immediately said that it was amazing and made it known that she wasn’t going to pressure me into getting the epidural that she wouldn’t bring it up unless necessary, but that I was able to change my mind whenever and to let her know. The nurse also kept coming in and giving me tips on what to do to relieve the pain and be able to push through the pain. From going into the bath tub, walking, bouncing on the ball, breathing techniques, and having my husband massage my shoulder and feet. That delivery experience was amazing and I was able to do it without the epidural and I believe it was all possible because of how the nurse took care of me and motivated me on my birth plan. I hope to be able to give that same experience to other mothers.

To start off I want to thank you for your time in reading about my life and giving me the chance to take me into consideration for this scholarship. I am 27 years old, I’m a mother to a 2 years old little girl and a six year old boy. I come from a migrant family, the first in my family to graduate from high school and till this day the only one to attend college out of my three siblings. In 2018 I graduated from Columbia Gorge Community College with my Associates in General Studies and Medical Assistant Certificate. I have worked as a medical assistant for 7 year, which has only convinced me even further for the passion I have in working in the medical field. Ever since I was a young child I have always dreamed of being a nurse. I have a little brother with Downs Syndrome, who was always in and out of the emergency department, having surgeries, and attending multiple appointments with multiple different specialists. At home my brother required a lot of medical attention. I was the oldest of my siblings so I had to step up and help my mother. I used to consider myself my brother's personal nurse because I would attend to my brother's needs, cleaning his wounds, administering his medications, flushing his chait tube daily, and attending my brother's appointments with my mother. Apart from helping my mother around the house by cleaning, cooking, and taking care of my siblings. I believe my childhood experience is what has led me to my passion to work in the medical field. In the past years I have had to take multiple pauses in my education to relieve us from the financial struggle that it causes us because apart from striving to further my education, my husband and I have always strived to improve our financial life, give our children the life they deserve, and give them a better life then we had growing up and not having to worry about money at such a young age. We bought our first home at 20 years old to make sure that our baby that was on the way had a stable home. We have always made it possible for our children to have the opportunity to participate in sports and programs that we weren’t always able to participate in as children due to money. I am happy to be a good role model for my children to show them they can follow their dreams and obtain a higher education. Thankfully I will be going into my 2nd term of the nursing program in January of 2026.

To start off I want to thank you for your time in reading about my life and giving me the chance to take me into consideration for this scholarship. I am 27 years old, I’m a mother to a 2 years old little girl and a six year old boy. I come from a migrant family, the first in my family to graduate from high school and till this day the only one to attend college out of my three siblings. In 2018 I graduated from Columbia Gorge Community College with my Associates in General Studies and Medical Assistant Certificate. I have worked as a medical assistant for 7 year, which has only convinced me even further for the passion I have in working in the medical field. Ever since I was a young child I have always dreamed of being a nurse. I have a little brother with Downs Syndrome, who was always in and out of the emergency department, having surgeries, and attending multiple appointments with multiple different specialists. At home my brother required a lot of medical attention. I was the oldest of my siblings so I had to step up and help my mother. I used to consider myself my brother's personal nurse because I would attend to my brother's needs, cleaning his wounds, administering his medications, flushing his chait tube daily, and attending my brother's appointments with my mother. Apart from helping my mother around the house by cleaning, cooking, and taking care of my siblings. I believe my childhood experience is what has led me to my passion to work in the medical field. In the past years I have had to take multiple pauses in my education to relieve us from the financial struggle that it causes us because apart from striving to further my education, my husband and I have always strived to improve our financial life, give our children the life they deserve, and give them a better life then we had growing up and not having to worry about money at such a young age. We bought our first home at 20 years old to make sure that our baby that was on the way had a stable home. We have always made it possible for our children to have the opportunity to participate in sports and programs that we weren’t always able to participate in as children due to money. I am happy to be able to be a good role model to my children by showing them that they can follow their dreams and get a higher education.

To start off I want to thank you for your time in reading about my life and giving me the chance to take me into consideration for this scholarship. I am 27 years old, I’m a mother to a 2 years old little girl and a six year old boy. I come from a migrant family, the first in my family to graduate from high school and till this day the only one to attend college out of my three siblings. In 2018 I graduated from Columbia Gorge Community College with my Associates in Genera Studies and Medical Assistant Certificate. I have worked as a medical assistant for 7 year, which has only convinced me even further for the passion I have in working in the medical field. Ever since I was a young child I have always dreamed of being a nurse. I have a little brother with Downs Syndrome, who was always in and out of the emergency department, having surgeries, and attending multiple appointments with multiple different specialists. At home my brother required a lot of medical attention. I was the oldest of my siblings so I had to step up and help my mother. I used to consider myself my brother's personal nurse because I would attend to my brother's needs, cleaning his wounds, administering his medications, flushing his chait tube daily, and attending my brother's appointments with my mother. Apart from helping my mother around the house by cleaning, cooking, and taking care of my siblings. I believe my childhood experience is what has led me to my passion to work in the medical field. In the past 5 years I have had to take multiple pauses in my education to relieve us from the financial struggle that it causes us because apart from striving to further my education, my husband and I have always strived to improve our financial life, give our children the life they deserve, and give them a better life then we had growing up and not having to worry about money at such a young age. We bought our first home at 20 years old to make sure that our baby that was on the way had a stable home. We have always made it possible for our children to have the opportunity to participate in sports and programs that we weren’t always able to participate in as children due to money. I am happy to be a role model to my children to follow their dream and obtain higher education.

To start off I want to thank you for your time in reading about my life and giving me the chance to take me into consideration for this scholarship. I am 27 years old, I’m a mother to a soon to be 2 years old little girl and a six year old boy. I come from a migrant family, the first in my to graduate from high school and till this day the only one to attend college out of my three siblings. In 2018 I graduated from Columbia Gorge Community College with my Associates in General Studies and Medical Assistant Certificate. I have worked as a medical assistant for 7 year, which has only convinced me even further for the passion I have in working in the medical field. Ever since I was a young child I have always dreamed of being a nurse. I have a little brother with Downs Syndrome, who was always in and out of the emergency department, having surgeries, and attending multiple appointments with multiple different specialists. At home my brother required a lot of medical attention. I was the oldest of my siblings so I had to step up and help my mother. I used to consider myself my brother's personal nurse because I would attend to my brother's needs, cleaning his wounds, administering his medications, flushing his chait tube daily, and attending my brother's appointments with my mother. Apart from helping my mother around the house by cleaning, cooking, and taking care of my siblings. I believe my childhood experience is what has led me to my passion to work in the medical field. In September of 2024 I stopped working to attend school full time. Not working has made a tremendous impact in my family of 4, putting a financial struggle since our total income a month has been cut in half. Although still having the same amount of bills and on top of the additional bills for the courses, books and materials needed for school. In the past years I have had to take multiple pauses in my education to relieve us from the financial struggle that it causes us because apart from striving to further my education, my husband and I have always strived to improve our financial life, give our children the life they deserve, and give them a better life then we had growing up and not having to worry about money at such a young age. Thankfully the Finacial struggle has been worth it because I have been accepted into the nursing program at Columbia Gorge Community College, to start in September of 2025. Once I graduate and become a registered nurse I plan to work at the Emergency Department to further my knowledge and improve my skills since that department encounters multiple different medical situations. I believe that will help me be exposed to more and involved in different procedures or skills that you don’t use at every department or everyday. That way I can ensure that I won’t forget those skills when I’m freshly graduated. My dream department that I would love to work at is the obstetric care department in the hospital. During both of my labors I had an amazing experience and I believe the nurses that were involved made that possible. I hope to give that same experience to other mothers when i’m a nurse. I also find the surgery department very interesting and exciting to be involved in, to only imagine that I can be in a surgery room assisting the surgeon.

To start off I want to thank you for your time in reading about my life and giving me the chance to take me into consideration for this scholarship. I am 27 years old, I’m a mother to a soon to be 2 years old little girl and a six year old boy. I come from a migrant family, the first in my to graduate from high school and till this day the only one to attend college out of my three siblings. In 2018 I graduated from Columbia Gorge Community College with my Associates in General Studies and Medical Assistant Certificate. I have worked as a medical assistant for 7 year, which has only convinced me even further for the passion I have in working in the medical field. Ever since I was a young child I have always dreamed of being a nurse. I have a little brother with Downs Syndrome, who was always in and out of the emergency department, having surgeries, and attending multiple appointments with multiple different specialists. At home my brother required a lot of medical attention. I was the oldest of my siblings so I had to step up and help my mother. I used to consider myself my brother's personal nurse because I would attend to my brother's needs, cleaning his wounds, administering his medications, flushing his chait tube daily, and attending my brother's appointments with my mother. Apart from helping my mother around the house by cleaning, cooking, and taking care of my siblings. I believe my childhood experience is what has led me to my passion to work in the medical field. In September of 2024 I stopped working to attend school full time. Not working has made a tremendous impact in my family of 4, putting a financial struggle since our total income a month has been cut in half. Although still having the same amount of bills and on top of the additional bills for the courses, books and materials needed for school. In the past years I have had to take multiple pauses in my education to relieve us from the financial struggle that it causes us because apart from striving to further my education, my husband and I have always strived to improve our financial life, give our children the life they deserve, and give them a better life then we had growing up and not having to worry about money at such a young age. Thankfully the Finacial struggle has been worth it because I have been accepted into the nursing program at Columbia Gorge Community College, to start in September of 2025. Once I graduate and become a registered nurse I plan to work at the Emergency Department to further my knowledge and improve my skills since that department encounters multiple different medical situations. I believe that will help me be exposed to more and involved in different procedures or skills that you don’t use at every department or everyday. That way I can ensure that I won’t forget those skills when I’m freshly graduated. My dream department that I would love to work at is the obstetric care department in the hospital. During both of my labors I had an amazing experience and I believe the nurses that were involved made that possible. I hope to give that same experience to other mothers when i’m a nurse. I also find the surgery department very interesting and exciting to be involved in, to only imagine that I can be in a surgery room assisting the surgeon.