It's such an easy question until you reflect on it. After a few minutes, I decided to speak from the heart and let things fall on God's palms. I'll start by introducing myself, My name is Nayelis Navarro Báez. Yes, both surnames are included because we give credit to both parents where I am from, Puerto Rico, the enchanted island! Last year, on August 17, I flew to Pennsylvania to start my studies and life for the first time. It was not an easy year at all, I did not feel welcome where I was staying or on campus. Even though I was familiar with the language, I was never in a situation where I had to use it to survive. Therefore, I was frustrated most of the time since I could not express how I wanted to, let alone socialize successfully, which would make me feel alone. In addition, I come from an extremely close family and do everything together, for that reason, spending the holidays with different people in an unfamiliar place was the cherry on top. After almost ten months, God presented me with the opportunity to make friends, the ones that brought out the best in me and helped me not to feel alone anymore. This experience has motivated me to help others in similar situations, which I was able to accomplish with two people. Now that I think of it, I was already fulfilling one of the traits I consider most important when you decide to major in any medicine-related class; the ambition of helping people in need. I have always been driven by science, I consider myself passionate about anatomy specifically. Then, once I reached high school where the pressure of choosing what I wanted to do for the rest of my life was almost suffocating...it clicked. Even though I must confess I started as a biology major since my main goal was to be a pediatrician, but the long years were not convincing. Therefore, I started to search for other ways that could help achieve the same goal but more directly and I found nursing. The change was terrifying, but once I started taking nursing classes, I knew I made the right decision. The path has not been easy, but I am still motivated to become a nurse. Unfortunately, I am not from a wealthy family and the truth is that the salary in Puerto Rico is way less than the ones in the states. So, I depend considerably on grants and scholarships. After I got my bill, it came with the surprise that those were not enough to cover my full tuition so I had to rely on loans. It turned out that I could not choose how much money I could borrow to cover my full tuition, so I currently have to pay almost 3k each semester. Having to pay this amount has been both a stress for myself and my parents since they cannot afford it and the payment plans are just way too short. Being a nursing student requires a lot and trying to pass all my classes while also trying to take as many shifts as I can to save almost 3k every semester is utterly draining. I have worked extremely hard to the extent that I was rejecting any social gatherings, which I already learned the hard way that I should have a balance between studies and social life. That being said, I would be extremely grateful for any kind of monetary help I could receive so I can keep chasing my dream.

It's such an easy question until you reflect on it. After a few minutes, I decided to speak from the heart and let things fall on God's palms. I'll start by introducing myself, My name is Nayelis Navarro Báez. Yes, both surnames are included because we give credit to both parents where I am from, Puerto Rico, the enchanted island! Last year, on August 17, I flew to Pennsylvania to start my studies and life for the first time. It was not an easy year at all, I did not feel welcome where I was staying or on campus. Even though I was familiar with the language, I was never in a situation where I had to use it to survive. Therefore, I was frustrated most of the time since I could not express how I wanted to, let alone socialize successfully, which would make me feel alone. In addition, I come from an extremely close family and do everything together, for that reason, spending the holidays with different people in an unfamiliar place was the cherry on top. After almost ten months, God presented me with the opportunity to make friends, the ones that brought out the best in me and helped me not to feel alone anymore. This experience has motivated me to help others in similar situations, which I was able to accomplish with two people. Now that I think of it, I was already fulfilling one of the traits I consider most important when you decide to major in any medicine-related class; the ambition of helping people in need. I have always been driven by science, I consider myself passionate about anatomy specifically. Then, once I reached high school where the pressure of choosing what I wanted to do for the rest of my life was almost suffocating...it clicked. Even though I must confess I started as a biology major since my main goal was to be a pediatrician, but the long years were not convincing. Therefore, I started to search for other ways that could help achieve the same goal but more directly and I found nursing. The change was terrifying, but once I started taking nursing classes, I knew I made the right decision. The path has not been easy, but I am still motivated to become a nurse. Unfortunately, I am not from a wealthy family and the truth is that the salary in Puerto Rico is way less than the ones in the states. So, I depend considerably on grants and scholarships. After I got my bill, it came with the surprise that those were not enough to cover my full tuition so I had to rely on loans. It turned out that I could not choose how much money I could borrow to cover my full tuition, so I currently have to pay almost 3k each semester. Having to pay this amount has been both a stress for myself and my parents since they cannot afford it and the payment plans are just way too short. Being a nursing student requires a lot and trying to pass all my classes while also trying to take as many shifts as I can to save almost 3k every semester is utterly draining. I have worked extremely hard to the extent that I was rejecting any social gatherings, which I already learned the hard way that I should have a balance between studies and social life. That being said, I would be extremely grateful for any kind of monetary help I could receive so I can keep chasing my dream.