Last spring, my father suffered a severe stroke that resulted in him being life-flighted to the Denver Hospital. Before this happened, I was enrolled at the University of Wyoming as a social work major. I wanted to administer therapy to children in need. However, I had to leave school in order to help my family find their footing once again. With my father in the hospital and my mother right by his side, my little brother was left alone. I decided to leave school to take care of my little brother, as he suffers from type one diabetes. My mother wouldn't be able to handle the extensive care for my brother along with the needs of my father. I initially left school intending for it to be a short break, however, my dad really struggled out of the hospital and I could not find it in me to go back that semester or the following. This spring semester I will be returning to UW and majoring in pre-nursing. Taking care of my little brother and my dad made me feel extremely useful. I realized that I much prefer taking care of people In a more physical sense rather than emotionally. This sense of purpose gave me the motivation I needed to return to school once again. With the emotional support from my parents, I feel ready to tackle my goals. My education goals include a Bachelors of Science in Nursing and eventually a Masters degree after some experience in the field. Next fall, I plan on getting a CNA certification to gain consistent experience while making progress on my degree. After obtaining my degree, my preferred field of nursing would be pediatrics or pediatric oncology. I would wholeheartedly love to advocate for young children going through a hard time. Giving my patients the best care possible is my number one priority and I hope that this priority can become a reality. This scholarship will help me reach my goals by giving me the means necessary to continue classes and working on my degree. I currently work a full time job as an assistant manager of a food service establishment. Most of my income goes toward common living expenses and student loans. This scholarship would allow me to focus on school rather than working long hours to afford it. Depending on staffing needs, I work 6 days a week or more. It would make all the difference in the world to take two days off a week for studying and focusing on getting homework done. With my parents hospital bills and doctors visits for both my brother and father, financial assistance is not something they can supply me with. This scholarship would help alleviate this financial burden on my shoulders and allow me to give children the care they deserve.

My experience with substance abuse has influenced my beliefs by allowing me to see past the negative stigma around addiction to alcohol or drugs. A close family member of mine has recently passed on due to an alcohol addiction. This addiction started in his teen years and continued into his 50s when his health was too poor to support him further. I had to see how this disease works right in front of me. Addiction causes you to act out of character and hurt those closest to you. The negative stigma associated with addiction involves the idea that it's the person suffering from addiction's fault. I strongly disagree with this opinion because I witnessed this close family member fight against this addiction up until his last days. He genuinely strived to quit and get clean. It was almost as if he had no control whatsoever over his actions and thoughts. Witnessing substance abuse has influenced my relationships strongly. I empathize with those experiencing any sort of addiction. Friends of mine have been able to come to me when they are struggling because I am able to listen without blame or judgment. Although I have personally never dealt with the hardships of addiction, I feel as if I can offer quality advice to avoid the fate of my family member. Within my romantic relationship, this has helped me in the same way. However, avoiding situations that involve the aggression that can come with certain addictions. A negative impact that has resulted from being around addiction is my anxiety towards people suffering from this. Unfortunately, I have experienced the anger and aggression resulting from addiction so I tend to be more cautious than others would. Substance abuse has influenced my career aspirations by providing me with knowledge surrounding substances. I am going into the nursing field hopefully in the future. It is more than likely that I will interact with patients who experience substance abuse. I know how to empathize and have the knowledge necessary to ensure that those patients are heard and taken care of. I have witnessed those with addiction treated as an inconvenience in the presence of healthcare workers. I will be the nurse who treats them as I would everyone else, with care and compassion. It is not hard to be nice, especially to those who have been unfortunate. Overall, addiction is not a choice nor something to be taken lightly. I think it would do us all good to treat those around us with kindness because you have no idea what hardships they may face. It is important to find help as soon as possible, unfortunately, not everyone has access to those resources.

I have attended classes in person at the University of Wyoming and will continue to this next semester in the spring. The main challenge that I have endured while pursuing higher education is the financial burden that comes with obtaining a college degree. While applying for various aid including FAFSA, my parent's yearly income has made it difficult to get any sort of assistance for tuition. Due to constant medical expenses, my family is unable to provide the funds that the University of Wyoming expects them to contribute towards my education. This has caused loans to be taken out and hours spent applying for every scholarship possible. However, I still find myself struggling to pay for the amount left over out of pocket. I ended up taking two semesters off due to financial stress and a family medical crisis. However, I am returning more determined than ever to not let financial stress control what I want to do with my life. I plan on doing this by obtaining as much funds as possible for my education, from my job, scholarships, plasma donations, and doordashing. With my dream of becoming a pediatric nurse, I will work as hard as possible and do whatever I can to make this dream my reality. Currently, I am one of the managers of a small smoothie chain and this job brings a lot of enjoyment and interaction with the people in Laramie. I give back to the community by bringing a little light into everyone's stressful day. This job has given me so much experience when it comes to working with others. We provide donations to organizations around town, giving back to Laramie. We also frequently supply our football team and various other sports teams with protein smoothies, which help them fuel up for an upcoming game or practice. With my future career goals, I hope to give back to my community by taking care of children in hospitals with my nursing degree. More specifically, pediatric oncology is my main goal. I hope to provide a safe and comforting space for all children during a terrifying time for them. I would like for parents to be rest assured that I will be providing the best possible care for their children. Giving back to my community is very important to me because the Wyoming community has always been extremely welcoming and willing to help no matter what.

I am pursuing a career in nursing because I would like to advocate for young kids within hospitals. My main goal is to go into pediatric nursing and possibly pediatric oncology at some point in my career. After a few years of experience, I plan on going back to school to become an APRN. From the perspective of a kid, going to the hospital could be the worst day they've experienced so far in their short lives. Everything is terrifyingly unknown and they have to witness their parents being afraid possibly for the first time. I want to contribute a safe space and a comforting presence to these children and parents. Upon meeting with them for the first time I want the parents to know that their children are in good hands. I feel that when the parent is calmed down, the child will follow and the treatment will go smoothly for all parties involved. Children have always had a soft place in my heart. Growing up with a little brother has made me very protective and caring towards little kids. This is my main reason for pursuing a career in the nursing field. I would like to carry this into my career and treat each of my patients as if they were my little brother or sister. It is extremely important to me that the medical care of children is taken extremely seriously and kindly. I would like to be the nurse to ensure this. Within my career, I plan on doing this by performing proactively and attentively. A hardship that comes to mind is having to witness my little brother struggle with Type 1 Diabetes. However, not a hardship for me directly, it has pained me greatly to watch my brother struggle with this disease. My baby brother has always been a tough little guy, even after receiving this diagnosis. I watched my parents inject him with needles several times a day and he took it like a champ. Unfortunately, everyone has their rough days. Watching my brother cry over this disease and become frustrated because he can't eat like his friends can has broken my heart over and over again. I would love nothing more than to take his place and endure this pain for him. My career aspirations will be impacted by this due to a newfound understanding of these chronic illnesses. I know exactly the amount of work that it takes to deal with these types of diseases and my empathy towards them will allow me to be a better nurse. Overall, advocating for children is my main goal in my career path and I would like to make every child feel safe and comforted during an extremely hard time. I am going to work hard to ensure that every child under my care is receiving the best quality attention possible