If I had to name anyone as my role model in life, it would be my mom. You see, we aren't a traditional family. When I was three years old, my birth mom died of cancer, leaving behind my dad, my 6-month-old baby brother, and myself. After that, my dad moved us across the country, where he raised us as a single father for five years. We were always loved and well-cared for, and my dad is a great dad, but I always felt like something missing. Ask anyone who knows me well and they will tell you that for most of my young life, there were only three things I wanted: a mom, a sister, and a dog. Incredibly, not long after my eighth birthday, one of my wishes came true - my dad married a wonderful woman, and our family grew from three to five, as she had a son herself. I have considered her to be my mother, not my stepmother, since the day they told us they were getting married. Before she married my dad, my mom was a single mother, working as an Occupational Therapist after putting herself through graduate school while raising her young son. That on its own is impressive, but when you factor in her willingness to not only marry a man with children of his own but to raise them as her own, is incredible. As a kid, I didn't realize how hard that must have been, to go suddenly from being a mother of one to a mother of three, and then a mother of four a year later after the birth of my sister. As an adult, I'm only beginning to recognize the number of sacrifices she had to make, and the strength of character required to do so. Over the years, my mom has taught my siblings and me the meaning of hard work. She has always encouraged us to reach for our goals and challenged us to become the best versions of ourselves. My mom has taught me to look outside myself and strive to serve others. It is through her example and support that I felt confident enough to take a leap and go back to school in pursuit of a different degree. She has always told us to pursue our passions, and when I decided I wanted to go to nursing school, she was there helping me find internships and encouraging me to explore all my options. Through her influence, I am pushing myself to achieve a higher standard in nursing school, while working full time to minimize loans and support myself. I am striving to become the best version of myself and find ways to give back. After I graduate nursing school, I hope to use my new knowledge to give back. I want to find ways to serve others, whether that be at free clinics or service trips, or service that doesn't involve my degree. I want to make my mom proud, and use the opportunities I have been given to not only thrive myself but give of myself to others. I will use the perseverance and discipline she has strived to instill to leave the world just a little better than I found it. I don't need acclaim or to be known, just to know, in my heart, that I have done some good.

When I first went to school, I didn't really know what I wanted to do. After graduating, I spent two year teaching, asking myself if that was the direction I wanted to continue in. I loved my students, I loved working with people every day, and knowing that no two days would be exactly the same, I absolutely hated lesson planning. I started looking into the healthcare field, because that had always been something I was drawn to, and eventually quit my job and began working as a home health aide. Working with the elderly has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. No two days are the same, and being able to provide care and companionship to others has taught me so much about life and about myself. It was this experience that enabled me to make the decision to pursue a career in nursing. Deciding to go back to school for an accelerated undergraduate program was scary. In some ways, before making the final decision, I felt like I was moving backwards, watching the people I knew from school moving forward, starting careers or pursuing graduate degrees. By earning my BSN, I will be able to pursue a career as a nurse, and continue to provide care for others. I will not only be able to work in a field that challenges me while still being enjoyable, but will have the freedom to explore different avenues of medicine. I can work with the young or the old, and specialize in a particular type of medicine or not. It's a position that's always needed, and will give me the opportunity to travel, if I choose, or settle down somewhere. A degree in this field, for me, means opportunity. It means constant growth, and provides me with a challenge. It means security and freedom, and I cannot wait to begin this phase of my life.