In life, there are always obstacles to get over and you have to stay strong. A song that has an important message to me, is “Stronger,” by Kelly Clarkson. In the lyrics she states, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, stand a little taller.” These lyrics are very telling that you stay strong with everything that life throws at you and in the end you come out even stronger. I can relate this song to trying to get my AA degree in order to apply to nursing school. I almost gave up because I had failed a few courses and thought that I was not smart enough to be a nurse. Now that I have gotten into nursing school, I am so glad I stayed strong and pushed through my obstacles. I can also relate this song to me having type 1 diabetes since I was 5 years old. When I first went to college, I was not taking care of myself. I did not want to have this disease anymore and felt so alone. I ended up in the hospital deathly Ill. From then on, I knew that I needed to change my lifestyle and live a healthier life. I became stronger and healthier.

After I graduated high school in 2015, I knew I wanted to go to college to become a nurse. There was no other degree I wanted more. My parents did not want me to go far away for college due to the cost and being a type 1 diabetic. I started working part time for a private Dermatologist and went to my small local community college where I started my general education credits. I had a lot of struggles starting out at community college. It was tough for me to grasp college since high school was easy for me. I started failing some of my classes that came easy to me and I started doubting myself that maybe nursing was not for me. I also was having a tough time controlling my diabetes and ended up very sick and in the hospital. I sat in the hospital crying for three days that I was not only hurting myself but my family as well. I started taking better care of myself from here on out and made a huge change. Around this time, I started caregiving on the weekends for a family friends mother as well as taking my classes seriously. Caregiving has taught me so much about others, myself, and about life. When people are getting older, they want to stay strong and tend not to want help. They have to be vulnerable and let you into their life and accept your help which is hard. You have to find the right things to say to them so that they trust you and accept your help. I knew I wanted to be a nurse and care for others the rest for my life. I graduated from golden west college in 2020 with my associates in liberal arts with an emphasis in science. Now it was time for me to decide where I wanted to apply to nursing school. In Southern California where I live, the nursing schools are highly impacted. My community college only accepts 30 students per term and it was taking people two years to even be accepted or wait listed. I also could not apply to quite a few colleges due to retaking some of my courses. It left me no choice but to go to a private college. My Mom tried to convince me to do something else or to wait it out so that I did not have to take out a ridiculous amount of money to go to school. I wanted nothing more than to become a nurse as soon as possible and decided to go to West Coast University, a private college. Although my school is a huge financial burden, I know that becoming a nurse will be the best decision I have ever made. I now have straight A’s in my first term and can’t wait to start my clinical rotations. After I graduate I hope to work in maybe pediatrics or get my masters degree and go into diabetic education. I would love to educate others and provide help for those that feel alone as I did with this disease. I would love to educate parents that feel scared with their child’s new diagnosis and let them know that it is possible to live a completely normal life. The possibilities in nursing are truly endless and I am so excited for my future.

Something that Cindy and I have in common, are our empathy and compassion for others. At just five years old, I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. Little did I know, the disease would change my whole life for the worse and for the better. I went through a hard time in High school where I did not want to have the disease anymore. I felt alone and like no one understood me and I stopped taking good care of myself, which lead me to a hospital stay. That stay changed my life. I realized I was not just hurting myself but others around me. I joined an adults diabetes group and became a big advocate for others struggling with the disease. After High school, I started working for a Dermatologist part time, and caregiving for elderly people on the weekends. Both jobs encourage me to get my nursing degree. Both jobs also taught me so much. At the Dermatologist, I learned everything there is to know about the skin whether it was skin cancers or beauty and cosmetics. Caregiving was a different type of learning that I will always love. Each person is so different and their needs are different which I love. Some are very independent while others depend on you to live and feel comfortable. I love making their day and feeling like I did something to help someone. I treat every one of them like they are my family and I love making their day special. Cindy would probably agree with me, that when patients are at the end of their lives, it is important to make them feel happy and comfortable. Throughout my life, I have always put others first before myself. I strive to make others happy. At one point, I questioned myself if I would make a bad nurse because I thought I cared too much for my patients. I put a lot of emotion into my job because I care so much. That is how I know that I will actually be a great nurse one day, because I am so compassionate about taking care of others. I think some nurses lack compassion and think of just as a job. It is more than a job when you are caring for others. I strive to give people the best care that I can give. I know what it is like to be sick and feel horrible, so I hope that I can use my life experiences and knowledge to help others feel better. In my free time, I enjoy trail riding my horse out in nature and walking my dog. My animals are my babies and make me so happy. Riding my horse releases a lot of stress as well. I do not know what type of nurse I want to be just yet, but I can see myself maybe being a Diabetes nurse, pediatric nurse, OR nurse, or a hospice nurse. Like I said before, I am a big advocate for diabetes so educating newly diagnosed patients would be amazing. I know that the diagnosis is scary, but I love educating others that they can live a totally normal life when they control their blood sugars. I would also love to work in hospice care just like Cyndi due to my compassion for others. I read that a lot of older patients die alone which makes me horribly sad. I think it is so important for those patients to feel loved and cared for before they pass. My ultimate end goal is to be an excellent and memorable nurse.

For as long as I can remember, I knew that I wanted to work in healthcare. I used to dress up as a doctor and take care of my baby dolls as if they were my patients. Life really changed for my family and I when I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at just five years old. Having this disease for the last twenty years, has shaped me into who I am today. In high school I had a really hard time with it which led me to a three day stay in the ICU. There was not one day where I didn't cry. I cried because I wasn't hurting myself, but people I care about. My Mom slept in a cot next to my hospital bed and didn't leave my side. That is when I turned my life around. I became a big diabetic advocate and joined a young adults group where I am passionate about helping others. This experience also helped me find who I am and how I have a compassion to care for others. I have become a more understanding, strong, and caring person. I understand what patients whom are sick or struggling, go through. Having this disease has definitely driven me to push through and conquer my dreams of becoming a nurse. Something else that inspired me to become a nurse, is when I started being a personal caregiver to elderly people with dementia. I love getting to know them and their life stories. I also love to play games with them and seeing them become happy again. Caring for them brings me so much joy and gives me a purpose in life. That is how I know I will be a great nurse. I am so exciting to begin my nursing journey and I hope to make a difference in peoples' lives the way that doctors and nurses have made a difference in mine.

In October of 2002, I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. I was 5 at the time and the technology back then was not as great as it is today. My parents were given a three day course on how to take care of me for the rest of my life and sent on their way. We really had no idea how it would effect the rest of our lives. My parents gave me shots and went to all my doctors appointments. Even though this disease consists of constant monitoring, my parents never told me that I could not do something or live my life the way I wanted to. My Mom put me in competitive gymnastics a year after my diagnosis and I got onto the competitive team. My Mom dedicated her afternoons to watching me and making sure I was okay. We created hand signals to each other if my blood sugar was good, high or going low. I think doing competitive gymnastics as well as having supportive parents really shaped who I am today. It helped me to not be scared to do something I wanted to. I own a horse and horse back ride now, I go dirt bike riding, and I travel a lot. If my blood sugar goes low or high I just correct it. My high school years for me, looked a little different with my Type 1 Diabetes. I rebelled a lot. I felt very alone and depressed and stopped testing my blood sugar and giving my insulin shots. It effected my body and mood horrifically and led me to go into the hospital for 3 days. That really made me turn my life around. I started to realize I was hurting a lot of people other than myself so I started taking better care of myself. I also became a huge advocated for type 1 diabetics. I created a blog on Wordpress called Liv With Type 1 to share my story and help others feel less alone. I shared the good and the bad on there. I also created a diabetes instagram with my best friend that is also type 1 diabetic called doublethepricks. I also started going to an Adults diabetes support group that meets once a month for casual dinner and it helped me create amazing friends. Putting myself out there with the good, the bad, and the ugly is not what I would have ever done ten years ago but I hope that I could just help at least one person struggling. Growing up with this disease really helped pave the way for my career of nursing. I start nursing school in April of 2022 and I could not be more excited. I hope to help others the way that doctors and nurses have helped me. I would love to become a diabetes educator and help kids and their families that are newly diagnosed. I would love to show families that even though in the moment it may be very scary, but you can live a normal and fun life with this disease. If you take care of your body and do what you are supposed to do, you can really do anything you want. After high school, I would have never thought I would be going into nursing school today. I am so glad I pushed passed my struggles and I hope to rock nursing school.