My interest in nursing began at an extremely young age. My father had a heart bypass procedure when I was in grade school. A few years later, his brother also had to have the same surgery done. That is when my love for the heart developed. I can remember asking the nurses all the questions I could at 8-10 years old. My father passed away in 2017 of Alzheimer's and Chronic Heart Failure. My mother and I made the difficult decision to place him in a nursing home as we became unable to provide the 24/7 care he required. The nursing staff, especially a gentleman named Scott, were absolutely phenomenal towards my father. Scott was in the military as was my father, and on dads good days, he and Scott would sit and talk about their time in the service. Scott then passed those stories along to my mother and I, as dad never spoke of the service to us. When my father passed, we gave Scott one of my dads military awards simply to show our admiration and appreciation of the love and care he provided to my father during his last days. It wasn't much longer after my fathers heart bypass surgery that my appendix flared up and I underwent an open appendectomy (appendix removal). I can remember during my hospital stay, watching The Magic School Bus. But my greatest memory of the few days I was admitted was the first day after the surgery. I encountered the sweetest nurse. She washed my hair and gave me my very first french braid. While her name has long left me, I can visualize her face and how she wore her brown hair in a bun style. Sadly like Mary Jane, my grandmother also underwent a battle with brain cancer. Unfortunately she lost her battle in 2016, just less than 3 months after her original diagnosis. Being close to my grandmother, and mother, I was there right beside the hospice nurses. They, like my appendectomy nurse, were filled with kindness on an unmeasurable scale. The hospice company presented us with the most beautiful wind chime as a condolence gift. Then came the year 2023. I was diagnosed with cervical lesions in April, and had surgery to remove them at the beginning of May. Then came May 23rd. The day my life was forever altered, I tragically lost my mother. She was at my youngest son's birthday party that Saturday, then Tuesday she was gone. I spent all Monday evening and night into Tuesday by her side, watching the nurses ever so closely. From her being placed on a ventilator to being hooked up to an emergency dialysis machine. Being the only family member by her side for the majority of her last day (as it was in the middle of the night when her episode happened and I decided to have my two children stay home) I was able to talk with the nursing staff and like my fathers heart procedure, ask every medically question that crossed my mind. The compassion my mothers head nurse, Jamie showed towards not only myself but my mother, was breath taking. She remained calm when mom 'crashed' and even though my mom was in a medically induced coma, Jamie talked with her and explained to her what she was doing and what was going on just as if she was awake and alert. Jamie explained that hearing is the 'last sense to go' and to talk with my mother, hold her hand, and that while they (the nursing and doctor staff) were doing everything possible, moms prognosis was not very positive. It was that day that I decided I wanted to be like Jamie, Scott, and the nurse that french braided my hair. They made the most traumatic days of my life (thus far) memorable in positive ways. They went above and beyond the scope of just providing medical care. They showed compassion with grace and love with sympathy. They made sure not only were my family members (who were sick) comfortable, but that I and my children, and other family were as well. My passion is to be the light on a person's darkest day, exactly how Jamie was for me. I am enthusiastic about being a cardiac nurse, due to the experiences I encountered during my fathers recovery from his heart bypass. If granted, this scholarship will allow for me to continue my education, during the current financial struggle I'm enduring.