During my senior year of high school, I was faced with the question,” what do you want to do after high school?” Of course, like many teenagers, I knew I wanted to attend college or university in order to pursue a practical career. For a while, I avoided telling others that I wanted to pursue a career in nursing because of the many stigmas. From the time I could remember, I would hear people say,” Nursing is too hard,” “The Nursing turnover rate is incredibly high,” or “Being a nurse is incredibly demanding, you’ll never have time for yourself.” There was an extended period of time where I truly did contemplate pursuing nursing as my life-long career. Despite my doubts, from the time I was a little girl, I knew that I would end up in the medical field. My passion for helping those around me has amplified my interest in becoming a nurse. I want to be able to look back on my life in my later years and be proud of the impact and the difference I made in the world. As a young black woman, I see the need for more black nurses in the field. We as a people need more representation in the medical field as a whole. At the age of sixteen, I had a moment of divine intervention. Strong in my faith, when I feel as though I am at a crossroads, I call on God for guidance. After a message in a dream from my deceased great-grandmother and seeing a red cardinal lingering on my front porch, I quickly realized that nursing would be my definite path, without a doubt. Upon being officially accepted into Newberry College’s School of Nursing, I plan on becoming a labor and delivery nurse. With the black maternal mortality rate being alarmingly high (43.5/100,000 live births), I want to do my part in any way possible to raise awareness and to help with the prevention. I also want to be able to be a part of a life-changing event for all parties involved. I want to be able to provide a sense of comfort to women of all ages and backgrounds during one of the most trying events of their lives. I want to be able to advocate for the young teenager that’s completely terrified and feels helpless or the thirty-year-old that’s doing it all alone. Overall, I just want to make a positive impact on those that I collaborate with and those that I help.

Throughout my teen years I have struggled significantly with social anxiety and clinical depression. My struggle began when I was twelve years old, following the death of my great-grandmother in October of 2015. Up until that point, I had never lost a family member that close to me. I've grown up with very supportive parents, but at the time, I felt that no one could understand exactly what I felt. I felt as though I was screaming for help but no one could hear me. I was diagnosed with clinical depression and felt like an outcast. All of my friends and close cousins were enjoying their lives, meanwhile I'm essentially hating mine. I began to drift away from those closest to me. The people I had grown so close too throughout my elementary school and middle school years became just passerby's in the hallways. I spent the second half of middle school almost friendless, except for my current best friend, Miah. In my darkest hours, she became my light and the one person I could turn to in times of hardship. Now, during my senior year of high school, I am much better at coping with my mental health and being able to talk to my close friends and family about it. I am much more aware on the topic of mental health at nearly eighteen years old. I make it my duty to check on my friends' and family's mental health frequently, especially in the times of COVID19. Although we all go through our hardships, our trials and tribulations, it should always be at the top of your list to check on those around you because your truly never know what is going through someone's mind, or what they are going through.