In the tapestry of life, I find myself woven into the roles of a wife, daughter, nurse, and a relentless pursuer of knowledge in the field of nursing. My journey is a unique blend of resilience, compassion, and unwavering determination, all guided by my deep Christian faith. As a first-generation graduate student who was raised by a single parent, life has been a remarkable teacher, and each experience has shaped the person I am today. Now, as I tread the path of caregiving for my husband during his bone marrow transplant, I see an opportunity not only to share my story but to illustrate how the resources you provide can be a catalyst in weaving a brighter, more fulfilling future for my family and me, grounded in the values of love, faith, and service that my Christian beliefs hold dear. As a first-generation graduate student pursuing a Ph.D. in nursing, my journey is both a testament to my unwavering determination and a reflection of my deep Christian faith. My name Nia means purpose of life and I believe my God given purpose in life is to show love and compassion towards others. A common belief and saying in nursing is that it’s not just a career choice; it’s a calling. My God had aligned my path with my faith, which has guided me through every challenge and triumph. It was my faith that sustained me as I juggled the demands of graduate studies while providing care and emotional support for my husband during his bone marrow transplant. My husband was initial diagnosed with anaplastic large cell lymphoma April of 2022. His cancer made it into remission my August. Unfortunately, before we could celebrate six months of being cancer-free my husband’s cancer had already returned, more aggressive than before. This experience taught me the true meaning of compassion, appreciation, reliance on God and to value every opportunity to share our testimony. Every day I have the opportunity to be reinforced my conviction that my mission as a nurse is to be a source of healing and hope, mirroring God’s love for His people. Receiving the financial support I seek would be an instrumental in transforming my journey towards a better life. With these funds, I can confidently continue to pursue my Ph.D. in nursing, ensuring access to quality education and resources vital to my success. It would also relieve some financial pressure and allow us to focus on my husband’s recovery. Furthermore, this support would enable me to advance my research in chronic illness management, specifically among African American faith communities, contributing to reducing healthcare disparities. The tangible benefits of this assistance are not limited to the immediate; they would create a ripple effect, facilitating a better life for my family, while fostering my ability to serve others through my faith and profession.

Imagine standing at the intersection of passion and purpose, where the path of your career seamlessly merges with the divine plan you believe God has laid out for you. In this journey, each step you take resonates with a higher calling, and every achievement becomes a testament to your faith. This is the story of my dream life, where my career isn’t just a job but a sacred mission, a harmonious dance with the rhythm of God’s intentions. I am fortunate to know what my God-given purpose in life is. I believe I was placed on this earth to help show love and compassion to those in need and do this with a career in nursing. All throughout nursing school I dreamt of becoming a nurse practitioner and would count down the semesters until I had my nursing license and start the next phase of becoming a nurse practitioner but God had a different path for me. Instead of enrolling into a nurse practitioner program I enrolled into a Ph.D. in nursing program. My desired career change when I became a bedside staff nurse and charge nurse. I seen all too often the outcomes of untreated diagnoses and the toil of managing chronic health conditions. I now aspire to become a nurse scientist with focus on chronic illness management among African American faith communities to assist in decreasing health disparities among such communities. In my dream life not only am I a nurse scientist but I am focusing on serving communities in need. In Galatians 5:13 “For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” I am driven by the profound understanding that service is an act of worship. It’s an expression of gratitude for the blessings I’ve received and a humble acknowledgment of my responsibility to uplift others. In my dream career, I am not only successful in the conventional sense but, more importantly, I am a source of light and encouragement for those who cross my path. The impact I aim to make extends beyond the immediate and tangible. It’s about leaving a lasting legacy of kindness, empathy, and positive change. This vision of service isn’t just a part of my dream life; it’s at the very heart of it. It’s the profound joy of knowing that my career, guided by faith, serves as a bridge between the ordinary and the divine, bringing God’s love into the lives of those I touch.

My health journey started back when I was in high school. I decided to give up fast food, sodas, and red meat in high school. This change in diet set me up for a healthy lifestyle to start college. However, a healthy diet was only one of the things I needed to maintain a healthy lifestyle; I also had to keep a fitness schedule. My fitness schedule included working for one hour and focusing on three muscle groups that day. Having this routine in place helped me with managing my stress. After graduating and creating a new schedule, a new career took a little more time to figure out. I chose a career in healthcare and became a nurse. And I was hired for night shifts, so I had to be very strategic and how I would maintain a healthy lifestyle now with minimal food options at night. So I had to keep a routine I created in high school and college and add additional components. I had to start bringing my lunch and limiting the use of the elevator. At that time, I was training on the hospital's fifth floor, so I took the staircase anytime I did not have a patient. Currently today, I have worked at this hospital for five years and still am only using the elevator if I am with a patient or have heavy supplies with me. I have been able to maintain the routine I started in early adulthood. I am still focusing on working three times a week and staying away from fast foods, soda, and red meat. I now work out in different ways as well. I have taken care of running and have run four 5K in the last two years. I recently got married back in June and maintaining a healthy lifestyle, and her marriage is a priority. My husband had been battling cancer, so we tried our hardest to keep him healthy and maintain longevity. Our current goal is to do one 5K every other month and try for a 10K next year. Even before working in healthcare, I understood how your lifestyle could impact your health. For me, a healthy lifestyle also has a spiritual component. I have continued my faith in God and have been striving to build my relationship with the Lord. Though it took time, I now have a home church in my city and serve in the children's ministry. I have actively served in this ministry for one year now. My spiritual health was an essential element of health that was missing in my lifestyle. However, working in healthcare for five years, I see the detrimental effects of an unhealthy lifestyle. It does not just affect one individual but impacts the entire family unit. I am blessed to have worked and created a foundation for a healthy lifestyle.

When starting at Methodist Stone Oak, I worked on a neuroscience medical-surgical unit. We specialized in craniotomies, spine and cervical surgeries, and strokes. I’ve noticed a continued pattern in which patients are being readmitted from previous strokes. There is a high prevalence of individuals with uncontrolled and newly diagnosed hypertension. Hypertension is typically asymptomatic, and many patients are unaware of the disease until being admitted for a stroke or other chronic conditions. I currently work in dialysis, and hypertension is the second leading cause of kidney disease. Individuals with consistently high blood volumes are precursors for stroke, kidney disease, and heart disease, yet there seems to be a gap in educating our communities. I am back in school because I want to focus on the use of partnerships with our community as a means to help alleviate the gap in communication and education. Community-based participatory research allows for a partnership to be obtained between the community and the researcher to evaluate and challenge current issues the community faces. One of my career goals as a nurse researcher is to research the use and effects of community-based participatory research on patients and communities with chronic diseases such as hypertension. Another career goal involves attending a post-doctoral fellowship program. Attending a post-doctoral fellowship program provides the opportunity to refine specific skills necessary to be a successful researcher so that I can effectively impact my community. I am currently enrolled in the BSN-PhD program with UTHSCSA. My current focus for my dissertation is to work with African American community church members to explore different influences on their health. First, I am interested in using the Life Course Theory as a sanitizing framework. The theory uses five main concepts: health pathways or trajectories, cumulative impacts, critical or sensitive periods, early life experiences, and risk and protective factors. Using such a theory would allow me to explore different factors that might have influenced their health across an individual's life course. Second, I am interested in using a qualitative descriptive approach. I plan to conduct one-on-one in-depth interviews lasting between 30 minutes to an hour with community church members at one specific church. I was motivated to become a nurse because of the numerous opportunities to show love and compassion toward others. The profession closely aligns with my purpose and goals as a Christian. I define love as the ability to display kindness and an eagerness to provide understanding and comfort. I define compassion as the use of being sympathetic, and relational, and having the willingness to be present for the patient. As a nurse, you have the opportunity to connect with individuals during their time of need. Nia means the purpose of life, and I believe my God-given mission is to provide care to those who cannot care for themselves. Patients are often vulnerable in this state when needing access to care and entrust an individual to support them and listen to their needs. Being a Christian, I aim for patients to see God working through me, and the use of love and compassion allows me closer steps to achieving this goal. I am fortunate that every day I have the opportunity to manifest love and compassion in my daily routine as a nurse.

I was motivated to become a nurse because of the numerous opportunities to show love and compassion toward others. The profession closely aligns with my purpose and goals as a Christian. I define love as the ability to display kindness and an eagerness to provide understanding and comfort. I define compassion as the use of being sympathetic, and relational, and having the willingness to be present for the patient. As a nurse, you have the opportunity to connect with individuals during their time of need. Nia means the purpose of life, and I believe my God-given mission is to provide care to those who cannot care for themselves. Patients are often vulnerable in this state when needing access to care and entrust an individual to support them and listen to their needs. Being a Christian, I aim for patients to see God working through me, and the use of love and compassion allows me closer steps to achieving this goal. I am fortunate that every day I have the opportunity to manifest love and compassion in my daily routine as a nurse. I have been a nurse for five years and am seeing the need for nurses to further their education not only for themselves but for their patients. I strive to deliver patient-centered care that is unique and individualized to each patient I encounter. More research is needed on the care we provide for our patients. The healthcare system often pushes for more ways to standard care, all in an effort to improve satisfaction scores. Once hospitals step away from the idea of being a service and business industry, we then reach the essence of nursing. The essence of nursing is to optimize and promote health. We should be in our communities, offering resources and education on health disparities, not waiting for the patient to be diagnosed. We should be proactive and not reactive, and only with evidence from the research will such an entity change. Once healthcare professionals choose to walk away from this healthcare trend, we can then truly make a difference in our community and our society. I want to implement change in healthcare and my community; I want better health outcomes for patients managing chronic illnesses. Receiving this scholarship allows me to continue towards my doctoral degree, which will give me the necessary education to transform my community and the healthcare we deliver to patients.

I was motivated to become a nurse because of the numerous opportunities to show love and compassion toward others. The profession closely aligns with my purpose and goals as a Christian. I define love as the ability to display kindness and an eagerness to provide understanding and comfort. I define compassion as the use of being sympathetic, and relational, and having the willingness to be present for the patient. As a nurse, you have the opportunity to connect with individuals during their time of need. Nia means the purpose of life, and I believe my God-given mission is to provide care to those who cannot care for themselves. Patients are often vulnerable in this state when needing access to care and entrust an individual to support them and listen to their needs. Being a Christian, I aim for patients to see God working through me, and the use of love and compassion allows me closer steps to achieving this goal. I am fortunate that every day I have the opportunity to manifest love and compassion in my daily routine as a nurse. I plan to make a positive impact in my community. I have an interest in working in the community and with my community. I believe community members can have an active role in assisting in the conduction of research. I am interested in conducting Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) on the desired goals of the community. CBPR allows community members and researchers to partner together in researching problems in the community. CBPR removes the focus from the researcher and their primary goals and shifts the attention towards communities and their desires. I want to work with different organizations in our communities to see if we can work together to solve community issues and help community members manage health disparities. I also have an interest in becoming a public health nurse. Public health nursing assists in educating, preventing, and developing community advocacy strategies. The position provides me with the opportunity to serve in my community actively. I have been a nurse for five years and am seeing the need for nurses to further their education not only for themselves but for their patients. I strive to deliver patient-centered care that is unique and individualized to each patient I encounter. More research is needed on the care we provide for our patients. The healthcare system often pushes for more ways to standard care, all in an effort to improve satisfaction scores. Once hospitals step away from the idea of being a service and business industry, we then reach the essence of nursing. The essence of nursing is to optimize and promote health. We should be in our communities, offering resources and education on health disparities, not waiting for the patient to be diagnosed. We should be proactive and not reactive, and only with evidence from the research will such an entity change. Once healthcare professionals choose to walk away from this healthcare trend, we can then truly make a difference in our community and our society. I want to implement change in healthcare and my community. Receiving this scholarship allows me to continue towards my doctoral degree, which will give me the necessary education to transform my community and the healthcare we deliver to patients.