Six years ago, I lost my father, who was shot. I was 14 in 8th grade, living with my mother and younger brother, who was 10 years old. In that moment I was devasted, sad, and disconnected. Talking about how I felt 6 years ago, I felt as if I should have expressed more emotions about it. However, when I got that call when my uncle wanted to talk to my mother, I knew instantly that my father was either hurt or dead. And it was confirmed, so I couldn't believe that I was right so I just accepted it for what it was at the time. When I found out, I didn't take the time to step away from school. I went back to school, but I wasn't focused. It was exam week, so I passed some but not all and was able to retake them and I eventually passed. Then after that, it was homecoming. I was having an amazing time with my friends, and yet towards the end of the dance I saw all the fathers pick up their daughters and that's where it hit me. I had to grow up without my father being there throughout all the best memories I made. Went to high school, graduated high school, got my learner permit then my driver's license. Now stepping into college, as a 19-year-old in her sophomore year at JMU. My father had a difficult path, so I wasn't angry or disappointed in him before or after his death because he did everything he could to take care of his children. But why wasn't I angry? Why didn't I lead down a bad road? It's because I let my God walk me through the steps of my life and lead me down the path that I was destined to be in. He kept my mind at peace from the moment I found out till now. Throughout the years I didn't get depressed., but I had my moments when I needed my father, and still do. Losing a parent, especially a father who one's job is to protect their children, the daughter who is the princess of their world. And now they're gone, I didn't have my older brother in my life at the time, but that relationship is slowly coming back together. So I didn't have the protection that I once had before. That's why when it came to relationships and whoever treated me right I would give my all to them because I didn't want to lose them just like how I lost my father, I needed to feel that love again, but the only way I would get a special love is from God. Now, since I'm in college I joined a Christian community called Chi Alpha. Where you come together with other college students to express the love and praise that they have for the lord. I ended up making some great friends in this community that I'm in and I'm grateful enough to be part of it. As for my major, I'm a nursing student who's going to apply to the program during the summer. I've always wanted to help people, growing up I loved helping my family out because seeing them secured made me happy. That's why I want to become a Pediatric Nurse practitioner because I love working with kids, yet to help and make them feel secure. This scholarship will help me with my financials throughout college because I don't come from a wealthy family, so it is a struggle but it's worth having faith in God's hand.

My name is Najeah Gordon, and I am a 19-year-old sophomore at James Madison University pursuing a degree in Nursing and Health Science. I was born and raised in Chesterfield, Virginia, back at home I live with my mother and older brother, my father unfortunately passed away 6 years ago. I believe this scholarship will help me financially, especially with the loans that I have to pay back and up fall/spring semester bills. Not only will it help me financially, but also take the burden off my back and my mother who has helped me ever since I got accepted into JMU. Help her realize that we are not the only ones struggling, and that's why it's never too late to apply for scholarships and pray that God will work it through for us. Also, it will help me stay dedicated to my academics and still have a passion for my majors. Overall, I do still have hope and not lose that faith when I step onto the campus, and still have that when I graduate. My career goal is to become a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner because I am the type to always help out my family, especially the ones that I am close to. So, with that, I realized that I wanted to help people, but I didn't know at first if I wanted to work with children, adults, the elderly, or all of them. During my junior and senior years, I was in the medical assistant program at the Career and Technical Center, and during my senior year in the second year of the MA program, it was a requirement to have an externship at a clinical, and I knew instantly that I wanted to work with pediatrics. I ended up going to the Commonwealth Pediatrics, which was about 5 minutes away from my house, and it was the best experience that I've ever had. I had great medical assistant doctors who showed me the way how to become an MA and showed me the difficulty but the fun of it. Working with children opened my heart up, even though it was quite stressful sometimes, but it's part of the job that I'm willing to work in. Throughout my teenage years, I believed I'd never contributed to my community which makes me feel disappointed in myself because I knew that then I could have done better, but I know that now I can. My goal this year is to contribute to my community by volunteering or mentoring in any kinds of way. If I was allowed to work with kids within my community I would feel joyful because not only would it be beneficial, but also a great experience to learn and thrive in, and wanting to do more of it. A time where I failed and what I've learned from it was during my fall semester as a sophomore and I failed my anatomy lab class. It's a prerequisite course for my nursing major and that class was one of the hardest classes that I've taken since I've been at JMU. I was struggling hard in the class, I couldn't find a proper way to study to pass all my exams. What I learned from it is that I need to reach out for help with my academics instead of struggling by myself which leads to me having to push back my career path. My greatest strengths are adaptability because I'm a flexible person to changes, communication, and patience because I'm a great active listener, having empathy, and being mindful.

If you ever heard of the term being "God's strongest soldiers", you can say I am one of them with everything that God has brought me through and still is today. I am currently a 19-year-old undergraduate student at James Madison University, back at home in Chesterfield, Virginia I live with my single mother and younger brother. When I was a younger girl, my grandmother was the one who raised me in church, so I grew up Christian, and ever since I was about 5 to 6 years old I've been a praise dancer, so you can say I've always had God faithfully in my life. Growing up was quite difficult, moving in and out of homes and apartments, and always ended up living at my grandmother's house throughout my childhood and teenage years. I knew God had me then, but at some point, I just always wondered why this was happening to me personally. Around 2017, my mother got our first house, so I was in middle school at the time, we stayed there for a year until the landlord decided to put the house for sale, so we moved back into my grandmother's house once again. Two years later my mom found another house and I was in 8th grade by then, and again the landlord decided to put the house for sale. The moving back and forth made me feel angry inside because I was wondering why God was letting this affect my family as if we were getting our hopes up that this house was the one or the other. From that moment on I lived with my grandmother throughout my whole high school years, and it was a handful living in a full house, don't have your room so you're sharing a room with your younger brother. At some point I accepted it and continued going to church and praise dancing because I felt like that was the only thing keeping me close with God. However in 2019 was when I lost my dad, and that year was the worst of my life. An 8th-grade student who lost her dad had to quickly accept and mature up, went to the homecoming dance without my father being able to pick me up, graduated from high school, got my driver's license, stepping into college. It was a lot that I had to endure in without my father being there for me and it took a toll on me. Yet, that's why I am one of God's strongest soldiers because he knew deep down I was able to get through it and conquer it. After all, I am more than a conqueror. No matter how many trials and tribulations God had put me through whether it was with financials with college, family matters, or even with relationships. It was a lesson over and over again that I was learning from to be a better person, a child of God. Throughout all of it, I almost gave up on praise dancing because I didn't feel the worth of it anymore, but there were times currently in college when a difficult situation would come up and I wouldn't know what to do or who to turn to I would end up praise dancing, giving thanks to the lord for putting me where I am today in college as a first generation student. I am beyond grateful for the doors that I had to kick down or turn away because without all of it, I wouldn't be where I am today and that's because of my lord and Savior.

Throughout my childhood when I was in elementary school. They would have these career days where they dress up to who they want to become when they get older. So, for I dressed up as a nurse I wore my mom's nurse shirt and had a fake stethoscope one with a name tag. That idea never changed, becoming a nurse always stayed in my mind throughout my childhood to my adulthood. You can say my mother was the one who inspired me, she is currently a CNA and a med tech who works at a memory center and takes care of elderly people. She even took care of my great-grandmother and she was amazing at it, she's good at her job and knows how to be professional with it too. Since my mom's passion is working with geriatrics, my passion is to work with peds. During my junior year in high school, there was a program called Career and Technical Education in Chesterfield, Virginia. Where they help you decide which career path you wish to take, and as for me I decided to apply to the medical assistant program, and I got accepted. The medical assistant program is split into 2 where the first year you learn how to become a medical assistant. So, in my junior year while I was in the program I learned how to take vitals, practice asking patient questions, and learn about medical terminology and also anatomy, and physiology. The second year was mainly about going to clincals and this is when I knew I had the desire to with the peds. Luckily I was assigned to the Commonwealth Pediatrics in Richmond, Virginia and I was nervous for my first day because as a student working her way to become a medical assistant, I get to see the background work instead of being the patient. I loved the environment and the MA's who were very helpful and kind. I took vitals, answered the phone, did paperwork, preparing medications. That was the best part about it, but the difficult part about shadowing and doing hands-on work was about working with the children who didn't want to be touched, screamed, crying, and parents who were very cautious over their children where they didn't seem to think I had to ability to perform certain tasks since I wasn't a certified medical assistant. Which I didn't take personally because I was still learning at the time. However, being able to hold the newborns and infants made my heart melt especially when they were calm and giggly. It made me enjoy the job even more even though the children would behave the exact opposite, but it's all part of the job that I was willing to deep dive into. Now, I am currently a sophomore at James Madison University, I started with my declaring degree in nursing, but now I double majored in health science. I knew before applying to the nursing program would be difficult with the prerequisite courses and maintaining certain grades and a GPA because in high school I graduated with a 4.3 and now I have a 2.7 and I didn't expect that to happen, but I realize the classes do get harder, but I didn't allow myself to give up. Unfortunately, I couldn't apply to the nursing program in December of 2024 because you have to maintain a 3.0 but my GPA for my degree in nursing was 2.8, at first it was disappointing and I was devasted. I could have dropped nursing and focused on health science, but I didn't I just had to take another route that may have been longer and that was something I was willing to accept. My goal is to achieve and not lose the love of being a registered nurse because it's challenging and I'm not surprised about that because it's about saving lives and having empathy for the patients and that's a desire that I want to have and achieve in. I believe I was called to make a positive impact on the lives of others because as a daughter and sister, it is an instinct of mine to take care of my family and friends, before I think about myself I think about my mother and younger brother to make sure that they're well and satisfied because I have the compassion and the sensitivity to care for others who I may or may not know, but its a part of who I am and who I was destined to be. I may not be an official nursing student yet, but best believe I will become one because if this wasn't a career I was determined to have I wouldn't be this passionate about it, but here I am destined and vividly can see myself becoming an RN helping children every single day with challenges that may come my way whether it's the good or bad days, but that's the joy about it.

To learn about my background, let's start with something easy. Right now, I am living with my single mother and younger brother. Five years ago my father passed away, which did take a big step back in my life. Before my father passed, my family and I were living with my grandmother and this was our second time living there. Sometimes, I look at how I was living before and now. I always wondered why God put me in this position to live like this because it felt like when everything started going well with my family, there was something bad that would sneak behind and grab it all. When my mother got our first house, it was amazing where all of us were able to have our rooms and space, but then the landlord decided to put it up for sale, so we went to live with my grandmother for the first time. Then when my mother was able to get our second house, during that time my father passed away and a few months later the landlord decided to put the house for sale. So, as you can see with my life it's as if God opened up each door for me to walk in, live through it, go through it, grow through it, and shut the door to open up a new one. I didn't understand it at the age of 15, but now at 19 I finally understand it. To speed up the process with my background story, my mother is a CNA and a med tech and she currently works in a memory center with elderly people. My grandmother who has been babysitting for years now works at a daycare. These are the two people who have inspired me to pursue my passion. In high school during my junior and senior years, I was in the Technical and Career Center School and got accepted into the medical assistant program. During my senior year, I was in clinical from November to March at Commonwealth Pediatrics, and I can say I learned a lot when it came to working with the kids, medical assistants, and doctors as well. I was able to work behind the scenes because all of my life as a teenager we would have to wait and wait for the doctors to show up, get shots when we didn't want to and in the end get a sticker. However, when I was working with the medical assistants and doctors it came with responsibility and dedication when working with kids and the parents as well. There were some moments, but I believe it's normal to experience those types of situations when you worked in the nursing field for years, and I did get to witness a lot of that. This made me want to work with kids in the future when I graduate from James Madison University with my Bachelor's degree in Science and become a Registered Nurse and then go back to school to become a Nurse practitioner and work with pediatrics. That's the reason why I entered the nursing field because through it all working with the kids and seeing how my mother and grandmother handle the field that they're in I know for myself I'm able to do the same.

To start my story I will say that my life has been mind-blowing with so many good and bad memories, and experiences that I had gone through that made me who I am today. The major impact that affected my life was when I lost my father 5 years ago, so it was mainly just me, my brother, and my mother. My parents were already separated when I was in my young teens, so my mom has been a single mother for almost all of my life. I am very grateful for what my parents were able to endure for me at a young age and now even though my father is no longer here. My mother is a CNA and a med-tech who works in a memory center with geriatrics and my grandmother works at a daycare center. So these two specific people in my life who have a job and have a responsibility to care for and help people took it upon me to head into that direction. While I was in high school during my junior and senior years I was in the Career and Technical Center program, specifically in the medical assistant program. Throughout my senior year, I was able to do an externship job where I worked in a pediatrics office with other medical assistants and doctors. Being able to see the real-life work of what the nurses and doctors do did take a toll on me because it felt like I was behind the scenes but playing a major role while I was learning my mistakes and was able to progress as I went. My goal for my interest in nursing is to be able to learn, grow, and acknowledge my mistakes because I feel like in this generation it's all about making money. However, as for someone who is a sensitive person it's been part of me to put people first before my needs. So when I do reach my accomplishment of becoming a Registered Nurse and then a Nurse Practitioner the only duty that I want to maintain and fulfill is healing and taking care of my patients and the strength that God will give me when I am at my lowest and even my highest because everything is not going to be easy, but it's about if we're able to get through it and face the challenges. God has put nurses and doctors on this earth for a reason because they have a gift of compassion and when its my time I will be able to fulfill that and continue to complete my accomplishments as a walk through the faith of God.