As a mother raising children can be very challenging; financial hardship, daycare, and self-care. I try to hide my problems from my kids to assure them everything is going to be okay. Whenever an issue occurs I handle it with grace regardless of how hard things can get. one major challenge is supporting my family financially when in school. I always felt balancing the time with the kids and school work sometimes made me feel guilty. I know I'm doing this for the kids to have a better future. I'm showing my daughters that hard work does pay off as long you are consistent and dedicated to the goal. This scholarship would help my financial hardship since I'm not working due to the pandemic. During the pandemic, I was grateful for the little amount of financial aid I had for most of my classes. Now that my loans are used, this would help me finish the nursing program. I'm so close to the finish line and I just want to see my children smile and be proud of their mother (me).

Hello, my name is Stephanie Lopez, a college student pursuing my associate’s in nursing at Sacred Heart University. I've continued my education for a couple of years to get to this point in my life. Being a mid-30s young woman sometimes I get discouraged because I didn't start a college education earlier. I realized it doesn't matter the age you start, it is the determination of wanting to learn and gain knowledge. What draws me to nursing is the compassionate care that is given to patients on their most vulnerable days. My mother passed away from cervical cancer and it sparked my passion to pursue nursing. Focusing on my purpose has been the key when moving forward with my education. Also, my two beautiful daughters continue to shine a light on my days to never give up on the end goal. The motivation for me to complete my nursing degree first started with my oldest daughter. I wanted her to have a better life but also experience new things I never experienced as a child. My daughter made me focus like no other and I always believed a child does change the mindset to wanting to become a better individual. Secondly, when my mom was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2013. It was a draining process watching someone you love endure pain and being treated for a disease that you'll never know the outcome of. I've paid attention whenever the visiting nurses used to come to take care of my mom and showed me different skills like flushing an I.V or manually administering medication through an I.V port. I was so intrigued because hands-on skills help me understand techniques and learn efficiently. As the years passed my mom was in remission (2014/15) which sighed relief for her. I wanted to treat my mother with anything she wanted, although with my per diem money, going on little weekend trips she enjoyed. During that time I found out I was pregnant with my second child at the end of 2018. As the new year was rung in (2019) my mother's health started to decline and finding out cancer had returned. It metastases throughout her body, especially to her brain. This news was beyond nerve-wracking, stressful, and depressing. She became weak, imbalanced, and her speech decreased. Witnessing how a person's health can change drastically pushed me to want to understand “Why?” Cancer isn't the number one top priority in this country to cure. In June 2019, I gave birth to my second child, and four months after my mother passed away. Her last words to me were “Do what you got to do and don't forget about me”. Those words resonated with me because I was going to give up all hope. The day she died I had an anatomy and physiology test and the day of her funeral I had another test to do as well. I worked through the challenges and difficulties. Even going through all of it, I made sure I got all my work done. My children are my motivation but my mom's whole experience changed my mind forever. During the family trauma, making ends meet financially was difficult. I have SNAP benefits for food which is helpful. Before the pandemic, I was working per diem at a pediatric office. It helped for the moment because I only had one child at that time. Living with my dad now is a blessing because I'm not worrying about paying bills. He wants to make sure my schooling is first and I'm able to focus on what I want for my future. On special holidays and birthdays, family members help by buying more than usual. During school financial aid was helpful too. This scholarship will lessen the burden on how I'm going to pay for classes for the semester. It will also give me more time to figure out if I could get a private loan too. My main focus was making sure my children had what they needed before my own needs. The most challenging thing about being a student and a parent is time management. Sometimes I have regrets internally because I'm not focusing fully on my children as I want to. The other part that's challenging is missing out on fun activities because I have homework and multiple tests every other week. Also not having enough energy to clean the house and sleep-deprived at times. Managing quality time with the children is looking at what needs to be done for school ahead of time. I try to get all the school work done at the beginning of the week, so I can bring the kids out by the time the weekend comes around. Before my daughters go to bed I pray with them to ensure their little minds that everything is going to work out for the good. My aspirations and dreams are to become the most reliable, compassionate nurse, and make my mother proud. Becoming a pediatric or public health nurse is the goal. Providing excellent care regardless of the color of someone’s skin, religion, or background. Educate patients that my job as a nurse is to provide the highest patient care in any situation. Being able to learn from different cultures can be helpful to my nursing skills as I practice. The world is very diverse but it doesn’t have to be difficult to treat everyone/patient with the same loving care. I just want to make a difference in this world, and my love for nursing could inspire another child to pursue nursing. Overall, the dedication I have to continue my path to become an RN is undeniable. Being able to have an opportunity to apply for this scholarship is a rare opportunity for me. I'm a natural caregiver without even realizing it at times. I honestly believe every step I’m taking closer to my dream is bigger than myself because it's to help others live a better and healthier life.