Two people impacted my life profoundly. One of the people that has impacted my life was one of my son's nurses...SherryD is what I like to call her. When I gave birth to my some over 16 years ago, it was the most terrifying moment of my life. I was only 24 weeks pregnant and had no idea what to do. My son was taken to a hospital almost 2 hours away, and I now have to trust strangers with my baby. From the moment I met Sherry, I knew that although the road that Joshua and I were about to face was going to be tough, we were both in good hands. Sherry held my hand through every procedure and trip to the operating room that we went through. She made sure that I understood what was happening and never kept me in the dark. She was also very big in allowing me to be very hands-on with Joshua, and that was scary. I remember the first time I held him. He barely weighed a pound and was connected to so many tubes and cords. But she reassured me as time continued to pass by. She taught me how to hold him, bathe him, and comfort him after every surgical procedure. And even the night he passed away, Sherry was right there. She encouraged me to hold and comfort him through his last moments on earth. She talked me through the 2nd hardest moment of my life...my son dying in my arms. Fast forward to my expressing that I wanted to pursue the nursing field, and Sherry has been on the frontlines encouraging me and cheering me on. She has written me letters of recommendation and has been at every graduation. When I have a question or am just unsure, Sherry is right there telling me that I've got this. Sherry is one of the greatest people and nurses that I have in my cheerleading squad. The second person is my son Joshua. The very person that placed Sherry in my life. While I have seen so many fight many tough battles, no one fought as hard as my son. I may be biased in making that statement, but that is truly how I feel. For 12 and a half months, Joshua survived through 2 brain bleeds which were grades 3 and 4, open heart surgery, laser eye surgery, and multiple surgeries on his intestines. From the day I gave birth to him, he fought, so I had to do the same. And I have continued for almost 16 years after his passing away. These 2 people taught me that I can survive anything with prayer and that if I fight with all that I have, I can accomplish anything. The road may be tough, but I am strong and have everything I need to succeed.

Becoming a nurse is a dream that I have wanted to pursue for over 16 years. I have taken care of people in some capacity for the majority of my life, but when my Mother was diagnosed with cancer, that was my first face-to-face interaction with care for someone with a disease of that kind. 5 years after my mother passed away, I had a baby prematurely and the year we spent in the children's hospital was my first experience dealing with a healthcare team that closely. I say the day-to-day of details and care that was put into caring for each patient. I began learning the differences between IVs and PICC lines. The differences in medications and how one could affect another. I saw the healing process and the meticulousness of changing bandages and wound care after every surgery my son had. Those months that my son lived in were tough, but I began to learn so much and had the desire to become a nurse as well. It is important to me because the exhaustion that nurses work with is without question a problem in the healthcare system. Specifically, acute care and long-term care hospitals and facilities. I am currently a Patient Care Technician in the surgical and orthopedic unit and at times, I work on the oncology unit. The average ratio is 5-6 patients to every nurse. That number increases for PTCs who are there as their assistants and can have anywhere from 8-12 patients. There are even days when PCTs have the entire unit. There are days when lunch just doesn't happen, and what should be a 12-13 hour day extends to about 15 hours or more. I want to become a nurse, not only to assist with relieving other nurses of working so many hours and 4-6 days a week but to be able to allow for more clear care to patients. I've met many patients in some of the hardest moments of their lives since becoming a PCT, and the desire to become a Registered Nurse has continued to grow. When nurses are burned out, mistakes can happen, patients don't receive the quality of care needed for them to recover properly, and the love for caring for patients is forgotten. I also think that reaching patients and their families is much harder when you are fighting through exhaustion. I believe my experience in being the family of a patient, and now a PCT gives me the experience in how to manage my day and to effectively reach my patients, thus making me a great asset to any nursing team that I will be apart of.

Hello. My name is Sarita and I am a 41-year-old woman from the Outer Banks of NC. I am a 1st generation college student and very excited to pursue my dream of becoming a NICU nurse. I currently reside in Newport News, VA and am working as a Patient Care Technician. Last year, I took a leap of faith and left retail to pursue nursing. I have always taken care of people in some capacity, but never have I just walked out of job security to pursue this type of dream. I took a huge paycut, and 1st obtained my certification as a Patient Care Tech within 7 months of leaving my job. From there, I applid to nursing school, and here I am! The persons who inspired me to pursue my dream have both passed away. The first one was my son, Joshua. He was a premature baby at birth, and the journey within his 12 months of life were hard, but I learned so much as well. The nurses took the time to explain everything that was happening, every procedure, every good and bad thing. Not only did this make my time there easier, but it made me open up myself to doing the same on a different scale for others. After losing my son, my father used to ask me when I was going to become a nurse. He was definitely my biggest cheerleader. Now the time and opportunity has come, and I am trying to ensure that finances do not hender me from fufilling what I know is a dream and purpose. The truth is, I make enough money to take care of the bills I have at the moment, but to be able to afford the required uniforms, books, and credit hours is not something I can do on my own. This scholarship would definitly aid in those things being taken care of. Out of everything that I get out of my time working with patients and their families, hearing directly from them that the things I did/do for them made their stay more bearable. To me, that is what this is all about. I make a difference in the lives of many people everyday on the scale that I am at, and I know that I am called to impact on an even larger scale. I also work with a team of nurses who have put themselves in position to ensure that I am successful in my journey. So, this scholarship will help me to do just that.