Hello, my name is Stoney Sesvechan and I am a current Senior at Piedra Vista here in Farmington, New Mexico. I am actively involved in multiple extracurriculars here at PV and they include Band, Jazz Band, Boys Volleyball, Indigenous Club, and previously Track & Field. I also am taking Dual-Credit classes to align myself with my future career as I plan on attending Fort Lewis College to Major in Pre-Nursing to then get accepted into the Nursing Program at FLC and Minor in Music while also participating by playing with the FLC Symphonic Band. I also actively volunteer at the local hospital here in Farmington, San Juan Regional Medical Center (SJRMC). I was awarded a certificate for having committed 100 hours of service last year at SJRMC, and in a few weeks will have over 300 hours of service. I was also accepted into the Shadow Program at SJRMC and it shows and teaches you first-hand how you deal with patients in the medical field. I was named Woodwind Captain for the PVHS Panther Pride Marching Band for the past two marching seasons and run the Band's Instagram page. I have made multiple honors bands and can actively play Alto Sax, Flute, and Clarinet. I feel as if being involved with different activities and being in a diverse/variety of activities is beneficial, as you gain yourself an array of lifelong friends and open yourself up to many opportunities by being involved with your school/community. Athletically involved in my school, I play Boys Volleyball here at Piedra Vista and previously ran Distance Track, but had to leave as I played Volleyball last year, but am considering joining the Track team again this upcoming season. Despite Boy's Volleyball not being an NMAA-sanctioned sport here in New Mexico, we abide by AAU rules and represent our schools. Specifically, the team here in Farmington is unlike the others, we combined both our rival school (Farmington High School) and ourselves (Piedra Vista High School) to play the sport. At the end of the season last year we lost many of our strong players and a substantial amount of team members, but I remained. Practices have been hard as only around 3-5 boys show up to open gyms and we play with the girls' team and I am the only boy here at PV that actively attends practice. I am hoping when the next season officially starts, we gain more players as being part of the Volleyball team sometimes I was scared I would be judged to show up to practice wondering whether or not I would be the only boy that showed up and sometimes was, but I remained focused on the goal to play the sport and gained many friendships. Being involved in many activities I feel teaches you to be hard on yourself and for you to take accountability and be self-disciplined. Personally, being involved in activities has made me become very independent and I strive if given the chance to take an opportunity knowing it will benefit myself and not the outlook of others. My mom usually doesn't know I did something until after I did it and she's proud of how independent I am at times. By getting yourself out there you also make a name for yourself, make numerous friends, and have teammates that all care for each other. We all get together to either play or first-hand show how much we care about our passion by being involved with extracurriculars at school or with programs.

What inspired me to want to pursue nursing was my baby brother, he was born 5 weeks premature and diagnosed with Tetralogy of Fallot (a heart defect). Just a few days after he was born, he stopped breathing and was rushed to one of our state's biggest hospitals (Presbyterian Hospital. ABQ, NM) and admitted to the NICU. They specialize more in the care of premature newborns, and more specifically, cardiology issues. While there, I was mesmerized by how passionately the nurses worked with him and I would ask questions and gained a strong bond with several of his nurses. He was discharged before his due date and seemed healthy, there was a follow-up appointment a month after his discharge and it was an ECHO of his heart due to his birth defect. He was home for a few weeks then his check-up was bound and an anomaly happened, his condition was worse than estimated, one of his valves wasn't completely closing and blood flow was going backward, his atrial septum hole grew bigger compared to his previous ECHO. He was admitted to Presbyterian again and was scheduled for open-heart surgery at only 3 months old when typically surgery happens at 1-2 years old. After the surgery was conducted he was put in the PICU at Presbyterian. The state he was in was terrifying, but I was oddly intrigued by how the nurses were able to administer his medications through his infusion pumps (he had over 8) and how they knew so much about what specific meds they were putting into his body as the dosage for his little body. While my family and I were all scared, it was best for him, and we went on day by day watching his slow recovery. While healing he ended up collapsing one of his lungs and got pneumonia. He was given even more medication and was being constantly watched over, this is when I started getting intrigued by how they would observe him. This is what started my research and wonder about careers in healthcare. Even when he was healing I would overhear his doctor and nurses discussing medical terminology and anatomy, this made me want to learn even more. As I started researching more I fell further in love with what I want to do. As I am a little younger for my grade, and should technically be a Junior, I was a little behind on how I could launch my career in healthcare, but my passion for nursing and healthcare far exceeded others. Wondering how I could involve myself in healthcare at such a young age my healthcare career exploration teacher, Ms. Houghton, brought up that we could volunteer at our local hospital (San Juan Regional Medical Center) as COVID restrictions were dialing down. Once given that opportunity, I took advantage and some of my teachers for letters of recommendation and turned in my application. I was accepted and going into my interview I was hired on the spot. Volunteering is how I give back to my community. I have over 275+ hours of service further extending my passion for nursing/healthcare. I plan on being a PICU nurse as I aspire to be like the same nurses who took care of my baby brother. I am also Woodwind Captain, for my school's band and know how to push others to succeed and have made numerous honor bands. I also am part of my school's boys' volleyball team and am one of only a few other male players showing I commit to my passions no matter the circumstances.