My name is Vivian, I am a 30-year-old college student who had to take time away from school because my mom became disabled in 2008 when I was entering high school. Due to her nerve damage, I learned how to multitask and prioritize. As I was just entering High School I had a lot on my plate and since my single mother couldn't work, I was taking care of her and going to school and work has been my greatest obstacle in life. There were times when we didn't have a roof over our heads and we slept in the car but thankfully through hard work I graduated high school and made enough to help out my mother as much as I could. Due to my circumstances, I had to take a break from college because it became too much for me to handle, now I can go back to school and finally be on the path to my dream career. Ever since my mom got hurt being in the healthcare field has been my number one goal, all the help my mom and I received through those hard times helped me make my decision to be a nurse. Every day with my mom's disability is hard because not many know of her disability, RSD isn’t well known, and there are no cures or treatments so every day is just me helping her not have a high level of pain and a sense of normalcy. Thankfully my mom is doing much better than she was back in 2008, and this has allowed me to go back to school and follow my career path again. I want to be an individual who can help others and be the one they can put their troubles on even if just for a second. The doctors and nurses that helped treat my mother helped take some weight off my shoulders in those days and I will forever be grateful for that. Now I am in my second year of my nursing program and that is much closer to my dreams. I worked at a hospital as a nurse technician and this helped me view the nurses in action I must say even during the pandemic my mind was not swayed to choose a different path, if anything it increased my drive to follow this path to becoming a nurse as it is my passion. Becoming a nurse isn’t only a dream and a passion, it is the ability to help others at any moment. I remember one day I was going to buy food when an elderly lady fell and hit her head on the concrete I immediately went to check on her but because I had no knowledge of how to help other than call an ambulance I was useless. A nurse saw us and immediately started checking vitals and asking the woman questions, I was in awe at that moment. Being able to help others not only at work but at any moment is a blessing like no other and I aspire to be as helpful soon. I am now in my last year of nursing school and hope to further my education and get my bachelor's degree and eventually either get my MSN or PhD. Thankfully with this second chance at college at the right time, my grades are better than ever and I am the first one in my family to get so close to having a college degree. I still take care of my mom but she has improved significantly and has far more autonomy. I now spend some of my free time volunteering with Second Chance Foods, this organization helps those in need have not only cooked food in their homes but groceries as well. Stores donate food that they deem trash because of some bumps or bruises and we make delicious meals out of them. That we don’t use to cook goes to food pantries. This organization means a lot to me because I have had moments in which no food was in our home and my next meal would be that of my school lunch the following day. Before restarting school I made my first big purchase of my life, I bought a home and I moved my mom in with me. The building we lived at would constantly have the elevator breakdown and since my mother couldn’t go downstairs she would be forced to remain indoors for days at a time. I saw this get to her and she became depressed, so I saved all I could for 10 years and got us a home that she would have full freedom in. Then I decided it was time to get my career back on track and enrolled in school. Unfortunately due to the years I wasted trying to do everything at once and failing I had to take out student loans. I am in my last year of nursing school and currently have a little over $5000 in debt from loans. Considering I am not done with school I know those loans are going to increase which means less money for me to use on my other debts and we will still be living paycheck to paycheck. Paying down those loans will help me have some financial freedom. I strive to give my mother the best life I can since as a single mother she did her best for me and without debt I can do that.

My mom became disabled in 2008 when I was entering high school. As I was just entering High School I had a lot on my plate and since my single mother couldn't work, I was taking care of her and going to school and working Her injury has been my greatest obstacle in life as well as hers. There were times when we didn't have a roof over our heads and we slept in the car but thankfully through hard work I graduated high school and made enough to help out my mother as much as I could. Due to my circumstances, I had to take a break from college because it became too much for me to handle, now I have returned to the path of my dream career. I have just finished my first semester of nursing school and couldn’t feel my confident on my cosen path. Ever since my mom got hurt being in the healthcare field has been my number one goal, all the help my mom and me received through those hard times helped me make my decision of first being a nurse and hopefully soon after that either get my MSN or going to Med school. Every day with my mom's disability is hard because not many know of her disability, RSD isn’t well known, and there are no cures or treatments so every day is just me helping her not have a high level of pain and a sense of normalcy. Thankfully my mom is doing much better than she was back in 2008, and this has allowed me to go back to school and follow my career path again. I want to be an individual that can help others and be the one they can put their troubles on even if just for a second. The doctors and nurses that helped treat my mother helped take some weight off my shoulders in those days and I will forever be grateful for that. Now that I am in the nursing program I am one step closer to my dreams. Receiving this scholarship will help me financially, and with that, I'll be allowed to direct my focus on my studies and taking care of my mom. For some time before being accepted into nursing school, I worked at a hospital as a nurse technician and this helped me view the nurses in action I must say even during the pandemic my mind was not swayed to choose a different path, if anything it increased my drive to follow this path to becoming a nurse as it is my passion.

My mom became disabled in 2008 when I was entering high school. As I was just entering High School I had a lot on my plate and since my single mother couldn't work, I was taking care of her and going to school and working Her injury has been my greatest obstacle in life as well as hers. There were times when we didn't have a roof over our heads and we slept in the car but thankfully through hard work I graduated high school and made enough to help out my mother as much as I could. Due to my circumstances, I had to take a break from college because it became too much for me to handle, now I have returned to the path of my dream career. I have just finished my first semester of nursing school and couldn’t feel my confident on my cosen path. Ever since my mom got hurt being in the healthcare field has been my number one goal, all the help my mom and me received through those hard times helped me make my decision of first being a nurse and hopefully soon after that either get my MSN or going to Med school. Every day with my mom's disability is hard because not many know of her disability, RSD isn’t well known, and there are no cures or treatments so every day is just me helping her not have a high level of pain and a sense of normalcy. Thankfully my mom is doing much better than she was back in 2008, and this has allowed me to go back to school and follow my career path again. I want to be an individual that can help others and be the one they can put their troubles on even if just for a second. The doctors and nurses that helped treat my mother helped take some weight off my shoulders in those days and I will forever be grateful for that. Now that I am in the nursing program I am one step closer to my dreams. Receiving this scholarship will help me financially, and with that, I'll be allowed to direct my focus on my studies and taking care of my mom. For some time before being accepted into nursing school, I worked at a hospital as a nurse technician and this helped me view the nurses in action I must say even during the pandemic my mind was not swayed to choose a different path, if anything it increased my drive to follow this path to becoming a nurse as it is my passion.

Mental health is something I feel has always been taboo, both growing up in my household, and in the Latin community. I grew up not understanding how to talk about how I felt and if I felt pain or stress, I was expected to be strong enough to overcome those feelings on my own or repress them. This difficult subject has since led to how I now interact with my work, relationships and career pathways. My mother became disabled when I was 15 and that not only took a toll on my mental health but my mother's as well. Being confined to the house for years had her depressed and it wasn't until one of her nurses spoke to me about how she was acting while no one else was home, it was then that I realized and began to understand the importance of taking taboo subjects off the table and communicating with the ones you love. After helping her find the proper resources to take improve her mental state, I began to use search for those resources to maintain a level of stability and healthy behavior around stress for myself. I think that more people have suicidal thoughts and are going through depression then what are willing to admit. I have known people from my community who also act on these intrusive thoughts. When we have compassion and empathy towards those dealing with mental health issues, we can take one step closer to making them feel heard and safe. As a future nurse, I plan on keeping an eye out not only for the patient's recovery but watch their mental health to ensure their safety in the long run and get them the help they need. Some people don't have a support system, and I am hoping that my career goals will help me be able to reach many individuals and be that support for them. It is so important to have a health care system that approaches a person as a whole. I hope to take my compassion for people into this new career path to make everyone feel safe and able to open up when interacting with me. I also hope to further my career as a family nurse practitioner and I believe understanding mental health would be a great asset not only for me but my patients. As someone who struggles with depression, I understand that it can be hard some days but there are also ways to work around the bad days and turn them into good ones. The stress and anxiety of going to school, reaching my full potential and getting as far as I can as the first one in my family to graduate, it can get very hard. The stress becomes worse when I start thinking of whether I will be able to afford my career goals since I take care of my disabled mother and go to school full-time. But then I decide to focus all the negative energy on trying to solve the problem and that has led me to what I am doing at the moment. All in hopes of reaching my dream career and helping as many as I can.

@exclusively.viv

I was born in Guatemala and due to the death of my father, my grandfather decided to bring my mother, sister and I to the States. It wasn't a smooth transition as I recall my mom having to work as a temp because offices didn't like her "accent" and were cruel to her for not being able to speak English fluently. As the years went by we would go from having to live in the car to hopping between family and friends' houses but my fighter of a mom never once stopped being Wonder Woman. Unfortunately due to an accident she had at work my mom became disabled in 2008. This was the year I was entering high school and also the year I decided my mom fought for her daughters for so long that it was time for me to give back and fight for her. This has been my biggest obstacle in life but also my greatest triumph, school took a back-row seat during this time since my mother couldn't work and I was working full-time along with my sister to help pay the bills. My extracurricular activities went from playing sports and being in clubs to taking the bus to get to work. My grades did take a dip but I continued to work and I ended up graduating. I attempted to go right into community college but the distance between home, work and school became too much for me on public transportation and one thing had to give; unfortunately, it had to be school as the bills wouldn't let me drop work. Ever since my mom got hurt being in the healthcare field has been my number one goal, all the help my mom and me received through those hard times helped me make my decision of first being a nurse and hopefully soon after that either get my MSN or go to Med school. Every day with my mom's disability is hard because RSD isn’t well known, and there are no cures or treatments so every day it's just me helping her not have a high level of pain and some sense of normalcy. Thankfully my mom has improved and this has allowed me to dial back having her be my full focus and go back to school. As a first-generation student, getting my education has been important to me because my other family members that have lived here all their lives and faced no struggles like talking down to my mother, sister and me. I want to prove not only to myself but to them that just because I am now almost 30 doesn't mean I cannot achieve degrees they have, I am capable it is just that life handed me a different set of playing cards than the ones they had. My choice of career was rooted in my mother's disability but I also have always wanted to be an individual that can help others and be the one they can put their troubles on even if just for a second. The doctors and nurses that helped treat my mother helped take some weight off my shoulders in those days and I will forever be grateful for that. Now that I have officially been accepted into a nursing program I am one step closer to my dreams. Receiving this scholarship will help me financially, and with that, I'll be allowed to direct my focus would on getting good grades and reaching my career goals.

My mother became disabled when I was 15 and that not only took a toll on my mental health but my mother's as well. Being confined to the house for years had her depressed and it wasn't until one of her nurses spoke to me about how she was acting while no one else was home, it was then that I realized and began to understand the importance of taking taboo subjects off the table and communicating with the ones you love. After watching her use the proper resources to take care of herself did I begin to use those resources to maintain a level of stability and healthy behavior around stress. I think that more people have suicidal thoughts, or ones like it than they're willing to admit. I have known people from my community who also act on these thoughts. When we have compassion and empathy towards those dealing with mental health issues, we can take one step closer to making them feel heard and safe. As a nurse, I plan on keeping an eye out not only for the patient's recovery but watch their mental health to ensure their safety in the long run and get them the help they need. Some people don't have a support system, and this is why I want to serve people as a nurse in my future career. It is so important to have a health care system that approaches a person as a whole. I hope to take my compassion for people into this new career path to make everyone feel safe when interacting with me. While my mother was first figuring out her disability, nurses and doctors were a big help to me and making sure some of the weight I had on my shoulders was removed even if for just a short time. My goal in healthcare is to be the beacon of hope for others as those providers were for me. I also hope to further my career as a family nurse practitioner. As someone who struggles with depression, I understand that it can be hard some days but there are also ways to work around the bad days and turn them into good ones. The stress and anxiety of going to school, reaching my full potential and getting as far as I can as the first one in my family to go to college and hopefully graduate, can get very hard. The stress becomes worse was I also start thinking of whether I will be able to afford my career goals since I take care of my disabled mother and go to school full-time. But then I decided to focus all the negative energy on trying to solve the problem and I start applying for scholarships so I can make my dreams a reality.

My mother became disabled in 2008 when I was entering high school. When I was in my first year of high school my mother got hurt at work and became permanently disabled, her nerve damage was hard to navigate, and we were in and out of hospitals and doctor's offices. My mother’s disability is what helped me realize what I wanted my career path to be, the nurses and doctors were not only helpful to my mom, but they ensured my sister, and I were okay as well. These healthcare workers helped lift the weight off our shoulders which was exactly what we needed, and what I aim to be for others in the future. Unfortunately, since my mother was permanently disabled this meant my sister and I needed to help with bills and that resulted in me needing to leave college my first year because I couldn’t work, take care of my mother, and get good grades. During this process I learned that not everything needs to be done according to the status quo, I always saw myself as less than because all my friends were graduating college meanwhile, I barely got through one year of college. I now realize that it just wasn’t my time to be in college because I was always a straight-A student getting honor roll awards but that first year, I wasn’t able to concentrate and I saw a drastic drop in my grades, now I am back to my excellent student status. Since I am still the primary caretaker of my mother, I am taking all remote classes which I also realized is the best learning method for me. I have learned a lot while taking care of my mother and look forward to one day being a piece of solace for someone else. I think my college path can also show others that there is no one age to start college and that failures just allow you to grow even further than imagined. This scholarship would be a blessing because since I am a full-time student and full-time caretaker it is hard for me to make money to cover education expenses. I was in a private school but the cost became too much for me and thankfully only did one semester before realizing community college is the best route. Unfortunately, I now have student loan debt due to this one semester of close to $6,000 and my first semester of nursing school is looking to be a $1200 investment outside of tuition.

I was born in Guatemala and due to the death of my father, my grandfather decided to bring my mother, sister and I to the States. It wasn't a smooth transition as I recall my mom having to work as a temp because offices didn't like her "accent" and were cruel to her for not being able to speak English fluently. As the years went by we would go from having to live in the car to hopping between family and friends' houses but my fighter of a mom never once stopped being Wonder Woman. Unfortunately due to an accident she had at work my mom became disabled in 2008. This was the year I was entering high school and also the year I decided my mom fought for her daughters for so long that it was time for me to give back and fight for her. This has been my biggest obstacle in life but also my greatest triumph, school took a back-row seat during this time since my mother couldn't work and I was working full-time along with my sister to help pay the bills. My extracurricular activities went from playing sports and being in clubs to taking the bus to get to work. My grades did take a dip but I continued to work and I ended up graduating. I attempted to go right into community college but the distance between home, work and school became too much for me on public transportation and one thing had to give; unfortunately, it had to be school as the bills wouldn't let me drop work. Ever since my mom got hurt being in the healthcare field has been my number one goal, all the help my mom and me received through those hard times helped me make my decision of first being a nurse and hopefully soon after that either get my MSN or go to Med school. Every day with my mom's disability is hard because RSD isn’t well known, and there are no cures or treatments so every day it's just me helping her not have a high level of pain and some sense of normalcy. Thankfully my mom has improved and this has allowed me to dial back having her be my full focus and go back to school. As a first-generation student, getting my education has been important to me because my other family members that have lived here all their lives and faced no struggles like talking down to my mother, sister and me. I want to prove not only to myself but to them that just because I am now almost 30 doesn't mean I cannot achieve degrees they have, I am capable it is just that life handed me a different set of playing cards than the ones they had. My choice of career was rooted in my mother's disability but I also have always wanted to be an individual that can help others and be the one they can put their troubles on even if just for a second. The doctors and nurses that helped treat my mother helped take some weight off my shoulders in those days and I will forever be grateful for that. Now that I have officially been accepted into a nursing program I am one step closer to my dreams. Receiving this scholarship will help me financially, and with that, I'll be allowed to direct my focus would on getting good grades and reaching my career goals.

I was born in Guatemala and due to the death of my father, my grandfather decided to bring my mother, sister and I to the States. It wasn't a smooth transition as I recall my mom having to work as a temp because offices didn't like her "accent" and were cruel to her for not being able to speak English fluently. As the years went by we would go from having to live in the car to hopping between family and friends' houses but my fighter of a mom never once stopped being Wonder Woman. Unfortunately due to an accident she had at work my mom became disabled in 2008. This was the year I was entering high school and also the year I decided my mom fought for her daughters for so long that it was time for me to give back and fight for her. This has been my biggest obstacle in life but also my greatest triumph, school took a back-row seat during this time since my mother couldn't work and I was working full-time along with my sister to help pay the bills. My extracurricular activities went from playing sports and being in clubs to taking the bus to get to work. My grades did take a dip but I continued to work and I ended up graduating. I attempted to go right into community college but the distance between home, work and school became too much for me on public transportation and one thing had to give; unfortunately, it had to be school as the bills wouldn't let me drop work. Ever since my mom got hurt being in the healthcare field has been my number one goal, all the help my mom and me received through those hard times helped me make my decision of first being a nurse and hopefully soon after that either get my MSN or go to Med school. Every day with my mom's disability is hard because RSD isn’t well known, and there are no cures or treatments so every day it's just me helping her not have a high level of pain and some sense of normalcy. Thankfully my mom has improved and this has allowed me to dial back having her be my full focus and go back to school. As a first-generation student, getting my education has been important to me because my other family members that have lived here all their lives and faced no struggles like talking down to my mother, sister and me. I want to prove not only to myself but to them that just because I am now almost 30 doesn't mean I cannot achieve degrees they have, I am capable it is just that life handed me a different set of playing cards than the ones they had. My choice of career was rooted in my mother's disability but I also have always wanted to be an individual that can help others and be the one they can put their troubles on even if just for a second. The doctors and nurses that helped treat my mother helped take some weight off my shoulders in those days and I will forever be grateful for that. Now that I have officially been accepted into a nursing program I am one step closer to my dreams. Receiving this scholarship will help me financially, and with that, I'll be allowed to direct my focus would on getting good grades and reaching my career goals.

I was born in Guatemala and due to the death of my father, my grandfather decided to bring my mother, sister and I to the States. It wasn't a smooth transition as I recall my mom having to work as a temp because offices didn't like her "accent" and were cruel to her for not being able to speak English fluently. As the years went by we would go from having to live in the car to hopping between family and friends' houses but my fighter of a mom never once stopped being Wonder Woman. Unfortunately due to an accident she had at work my mom became disabled in 2008. This was the year I was entering high school and also the year I decided my mom fought for her daughters for so long that it was time for me to give back and fight for her. This has been my biggest obstacle in life but also my greatest triumph, school took a back-row seat during this time since my mother couldn't work and I was working full-time along with my sister to help pay the bills. My extracurricular activities went from playing sports and being in clubs to taking the bus to get to work. My grades did take a dip but I continued to work and I ended up graduating. I attempted to go right into community college but the distance between home, work and school became too much for me on public transportation and one thing had to give; unfortunately, it had to be school as the bills wouldn't let me drop work. Ever since my mom got hurt being in the healthcare field has been my number one goal, all the help my mom and me received through those hard times helped me make my decision of first being a nurse and hopefully soon after that either get my MSN or go to Med school. Every day with my mom's disability is hard because RSD isn’t well known, and there are no cures or treatments so every day it's just me helping her not have a high level of pain and some sense of normalcy. Thankfully my mom has improved and this has allowed me to dial back having her be my full focus and go back to school. As a first-generation student, getting my education has been important to me because my other family members that have lived here all their lives and faced no struggles like talking down to my mother, sister and me. I want to prove not only to myself but to them that just because I am now almost 30 doesn't mean I cannot achieve degrees they have, I am capable it is just that life handed me a different set of playing cards than the ones they had. My choice of career was rooted in my mother's disability but I also have always wanted to be an individual that can help others and be the one they can put their troubles on even if just for a second. The doctors and nurses that helped treat my mother helped take some weight off my shoulders in those days and I will forever be grateful for that. Now that I have officially been accepted into a nursing program I am one step closer to my dreams. Receiving this scholarship will help me financially, and with that, I'll be allowed to direct my focus would on getting good grades and reaching my career goals. Heavy Metal was introduced to me by my exboyfriend and I always say that's the one good thing that came from that relationship, since then heavy metal has been a sense of calm for me. It allows me to express a multitude of emotions and as someone with an attention span of a squirrel listening to the drummer helps me learn how to maintain my focus on one aspect.

My mom became disabled in 2008 when I was entering high school. Due to her nerve damage, I learned how to multitask and prioritize. As I was just entering High School I had a lot on my plate and since my single mother couldn't work, I was taking care of her and going to school and work has been my greatest obstacle in life. There were times when we didn't have a roof over our heads and we slept in the car but thankfully through hard work I graduated high school and made enough to help out my mother as much as I could. Due to my circumstances, I had to take a break from college because it became too much for me to handle, now I can go back to school and finally be on the path to my dream career. Ever since my mom got hurt being in the healthcare field has been my number one goal, all the help my mom and me received through those hard times helped me make my decision of first being a nurse and hopefully soon after that either get my MSN or go to Med school. Every day with my mom's disability is hard because not many know of her disability, RSD isn’t well known, and there are no cures or treatments so every day is just me helping her not have a high level of pain and a sense of normalcy. Thankfully my mom is doing much better than she was back in 2008, and this has allowed me to go back to school and follow my career path again. I want to be an individual that can help others and be the one they can put their troubles on even if just for a second. The doctors and nurses that helped treat my mother helped take some weight off my shoulders in those days and I will forever be grateful for that. Now that I have officially been accepted into a nursing program I am one step closer to my dreams. Receiving this scholarship will help me financially, and with that, I'll be allowed to direct my focus would on getting good grades and taking care of my mom. For some time before being accepted into nursing school, I worked at a hospital as a nurse technician and this helped me view the nurses in action I must say even during the pandemic my mind was not swayed to choose a different path, if anything it increased my drive to follow this path to becoming a nurse as it is my passion. Taking care of myself has also taken the backseat over the years, thankfully this year both my mother and I have made the decision to go vegan and take 10,000 daily steps. Making these changes has helped both my mother and I be healthier and have more energy for our daily activies. Personally I think these changes have helped my mother improve her health drastically, I myself have had a pancreatic cyst shrink half its size so I'm eager to see just how far this lifestyle change will take us.

I was born in Guatemala and due to the death of my father, my grandfather decided to bring my mother, sister and I to the States. It wasn't a smooth transition as I recall my mom having to work as a temp because offices didn't like her "accent" and were cruel to her for not being able to speak English fluently. As the years went by we would go from having to live in the car to hopping between family and friends' houses but my fighter of a mom never once stopped being Wonder Woman. Unfortunately due to an accident she had at work my mom became disabled in 2008. This was the year I was entering high school and also the year I decided my mom fought for her daughters for so long that it was time for me to give back and fight for her. This has been my biggest obstacle in life but also my greatest triumph, school took a back-row seat during this time since my mother couldn't work and I was working full-time along with my sister to help pay the bills. My extracurricular activities went from playing sports and being in clubs to taking the bus to get to work. My grades did take a dip but I continued to work and I ended up graduating. I attempted to go right into community college but the distance between home, work and school became too much for me on public transportation and one thing had to give; unfortunately, it had to be school as the bills wouldn't let me drop work. Ever since my mom got hurt being in the healthcare field has been my number one goal, all the help my mom and me received through those hard times helped me make my decision of first being a nurse and hopefully soon after that either get my MSN or go to Med school. Every day with my mom's disability is hard because RSD isn’t well known, and there are no cures or treatments so every day it's just me helping her not have a high level of pain and some sense of normalcy. Thankfully my mom has improved and this has allowed me to dial back having her be my full focus and go back to school. As a first-generation student, getting my education has been important to me because my other family members that have lived here all their lives and faced no struggles like talking down to my mother, sister and me. I want to prove not only to myself but to them that just because I am now almost 30 doesn't mean I cannot achieve degrees they have, I am capable it is just that life handed me a different set of playing cards than the ones they had. My choice of career was rooted in my mother's disability but I also have always wanted to be an individual that can help others and be the one they can put their troubles on even if just for a second. The doctors and nurses that helped treat my mother helped take some weight off my shoulders in those days and I will forever be grateful for that. Now that I have officially been accepted into a nursing program I am one step closer to my dreams. Receiving this scholarship will help me financially, and with that, I'll be allowed to direct my focus would on getting good grades and reaching my career goals.

I was born in Guatemala and due to the death of my father, my grandfather decided to bring my mother, sister and I to the States. It wasn't a smooth transition as I recall my mom having to work as a temp because offices didn't like her "accent" and were cruel to her for not being able to speak English fluently. As the years went by we would go from having to live in the car to hopping between family and friends' houses but my fighter of a mom never once stopped being Wonder Woman. Unfortunately due to an accident she had at work my mom became disabled in 2008. This was the year I was entering high school and also the year I decided my mom fought for her daughters for so long that it was time for me to give back and fight for her. This has been my biggest obstacle in life but also my greatest triumph, school took a back-row seat during this time since my mother couldn't work and I was working full-time along with my sister to help pay the bills. My extracurricular activities went from playing sports and being in clubs to taking the bus to get to work. My grades did take a dip but I continued to work and I ended up graduating. I attempted to go right into community college but the distance between home, work and school became too much for me on public transportation and one thing had to give; unfortunately, it had to be school as the bills wouldn't let me drop work. Ever since my mom got hurt being in the healthcare field has been my number one goal, all the help my mom and me received through those hard times helped me make my decision of first being a nurse and hopefully soon after that either get my MSN or go to Med school. Every day with my mom's disability is hard because RSD isn’t well known, and there are no cures or treatments so every day it's just me helping her not have a high level of pain and some sense of normalcy. Thankfully my mom has improved and this has allowed me to dial back having her be my full focus and go back to school. As a first-generation student, getting my education has been important to me because my other family members that have lived here all their lives and faced no struggles like talking down to my mother, sister and me. I want to prove not only to myself but to them that just because I am now almost 30 doesn't mean I cannot achieve degrees they have, I am capable it is just that life handed me a different set of playing cards than the ones they had. My choice of career was rooted in my mother's disability but I also have always wanted to be an individual that can help others and be the one they can put their troubles on even if just for a second. The doctors and nurses that helped treat my mother helped take some weight off my shoulders in those days and I will forever be grateful for that. Now that I have officially been accepted into a nursing program I am one step closer to my dreams. Receiving this scholarship will help me financially, and with that, I'll be allowed to direct my focus would on getting good grades and reaching my career goals.

I was born in Guatemala and due to the death of my father, my grandfather decided to bring my mother, sister and I to the States. It wasn't a smooth transition as I recall my mom having to work as a temp because offices didn't like her "accent" and were cruel to her for not being able to speak English fluently. As the years went by we would go from having to live in the car to hopping between family and friends' houses but my fighter of a mom never once stopped being Wonder Woman. Unfortunately due to an accident she had at work my mom became disabled in 2008. This was the year I was entering high school and also the year I decided my mom fought for her daughters for so long that it was time for me to give back and fight for her. This has been my biggest obstacle in life but also my greatest triumph, school took a back-row seat during this time since my mother couldn't work and I was working full-time along with my sister to help pay the bills. My extracurricular activities went from playing sports and being in clubs to taking the bus to get to work. My grades did take a dip but I continued to work and I ended up graduating. I attempted to go right into community college but the distance between home, work and school became too much for me on public transportation and one thing had to give; unfortunately, it had to be school as the bills wouldn't let me drop work. Ever since my mom got hurt being in the healthcare field has been my number one goal, all the help my mom and me received through those hard times helped me make my decision of first being a nurse and hopefully soon after that either get my MSN or go to Med school. Every day with my mom's disability is hard because RSD isn’t well known, and there are no cures or treatments so every day it's just me helping her not have a high level of pain and some sense of normalcy. Thankfully my mom has improved and this has allowed me to dial back having her be my full focus and go back to school. As a first-generation student, getting my education has been important to me because my other family members that have lived here all their lives and faced no struggles like talking down to my mother, sister and me. I want to prove not only to myself but to them that just because I am now almost 30 doesn't mean I cannot achieve degrees they have, I am capable it is just that life handed me a different set of playing cards than the ones they had. My choice of career was rooted in my mother's disability but I also have always wanted to be an individual that can help others and be the one they can put their troubles on even if just for a second. The doctors and nurses that helped treat my mother helped take some weight off my shoulders in those days and I will forever be grateful for that. Now that I have officially been accepted into a nursing program I am one step closer to my dreams. Receiving this scholarship will help me financially, and with that, I'll be allowed to direct my focus would on getting good grades and reaching my career goals.

My mom became disabled in 2008 when I was entering high school. Due to her nerve damage, I learned how to multitask and prioritize. As I was just entering High School I had a lot on my plate and since my single mother couldn't work, I was taking care of her and going to school and work has been my greatest obstacle in life. There were times when we didn't have a roof over our heads and we slept in the car but thankfully through hard work I graduated high school and made enough to help out my mother as much as I could. Due to my circumstances, I had to take a break from college because it became too much for me to handle, now I can go back to school and finally be on the path to my dream career. Ever since my mom got hurt being in the healthcare field has been my number one goal, all the help my mom and me received through those hard times helped me make my decision of first being a nurse and hopefully soon after that either get my MSN or go to Med school. Every day with my mom's disability is hard because not many know of her disability, RSD isn’t well known, and there are no cures or treatments so every day is just me helping her not have a high level of pain and a sense of normalcy. Thankfully my mom is doing much better than she was back in 2008, and this has allowed me to go back to school and follow my career path again. I want to be an individual that can help others and be the one they can put their troubles on even if just for a second. The doctors and nurses that helped treat my mother helped take some weight off my shoulders in those days and I will forever be grateful for that. Now that I have officially been accepted into a nursing program I am one step closer to my dreams. Receiving this scholarship will help me financially, and with that, I'll be allowed to direct my focus would on getting good grades and taking care of my mom. For some time before being accepted into nursing school, I worked at a hospital as a nurse technician and this helped me view the nurses in action I must say even during the pandemic my mind was not swayed to choose a different path, if anything it increased my drive to follow this path to becoming a nurse as it is my passion. Taking care of myself has also taken the backseat over the years, thankfully this year both my mother and I have made the decision to go vegan and take 10,000 daily steps. Making these changes has helped both my mother and I be healthier and have more energy for our daily activies. Personally I think these changes have helped my mother improve her health drastically, I myself have had a pancreatic cyst shrink half its size so I'm eager to see just how far this lifestyle change will take us.

My mom became disabled in 2008 when I was entering high school. Due to her nerve damage, I learned how to multitask and prioritize. As I was just entering High School I had a lot on my plate and since my single mother couldn't work, I was taking care of her and going to school and work has been my greatest obstacle in life. There were times when we didn't have a roof over our heads and we slept in the car but thankfully through hard work I graduated high school and made enough to help out my mother as much as I could. Due to my circumstances, I had to take a break from college because it became too much for me to handle, now I can go back to school and finally be on the path to my dream career. Ever since my mom got hurt being in the healthcare field has been my number one goal, all the help my mom and me received through those hard times helped me make my decision of first being a nurse and hopefully soon after that either get my MSN or go to Med school. Every day with my mom's disability is hard because not many know of her disability, RSD isn’t well known, and there are no cures or treatments so every day is just me helping her not have a high level of pain and a sense of normalcy. Thankfully my mom is doing much better than she was back in 2008, and this has allowed me to go back to school and follow my career path again. I want to be an individual that can help others and be the one they can put their troubles on even if just for a second. The doctors and nurses that helped treat my mother helped take some weight off my shoulders in those days and I will forever be grateful for that. Now that I have officially been accepted into a nursing program I am one step closer to my dreams. Receiving this scholarship will help me financially, and with that, I'll be allowed to direct my focus would on getting good grades and taking care of my mom. For some time before being accepted into nursing school, I worked at a hospital as a nurse technician and this helped me view the nurses in action I must say even during the pandemic my mind was not swayed to choose a different path, if anything it increased my drive to follow this path to becoming a nurse as it is my passion. Taking care of myself has also taken the backseat over the years, thankfully this year both my mother and I have made the decision to go vegan and take 10,000 daily steps. Making these changes has helped both my mother and I be healthier and have more energy for our daily activies. Personally I think these changes have helped my mother improve her health drastically, I myself have had a pancreatic cyst shrink half its size so I'm eager to see just how far this lifestyle change will take us.

My mom became disabled in 2008 when I was entering high school. Due to her nerve damage, I learned how to multitask and prioritize. As I was just entering High School I had a lot on my plate and since my single mother couldn't work, I was taking care of her and going to school and work has been my greatest obstacle in life. There were times when we didn't have a roof over our heads and we slept in the car but thankfully through hard work I graduated high school and made enough to help out my mother as much as I could. Due to my circumstances, I had to take a break from college because it became too much for me to handle, now I can go back to school and finally be on the path to my dream career. Ever since my mom got hurt being in the healthcare field has been my number one goal, all the help my mom and me received through those hard times helped me make my decision of first being a nurse and hopefully soon after that either get my MSN or go to Med school. Every day with my mom's disability is hard because not many know of her disability, RSD isn’t well known, and there are no cures or treatments so every day is just me helping her not have a high level of pain and a sense of normalcy. Thankfully my mom is doing much better than she was back in 2008, and this has allowed me to go back to school and follow my career path again. I want to be an individual that can help others and be the one they can put their troubles on even if just for a second. The doctors and nurses that helped treat my mother helped take some weight off my shoulders in those days and I will forever be grateful for that. Now that I have officially been accepted into a nursing program I am one step closer to my dreams. Receiving this scholarship will help me financially, and with that, I'll be allowed to direct my focus would on getting good grades and taking care of my mom. For some time before being accepted into nursing school, I worked at a hospital as a nurse technician and this helped me view the nurses in action I must say even during the pandemic my mind was not swayed to choose a different path, if anything it increased my drive to follow this path to becoming a nurse as it is my passion.

My mom became disabled in 2008 when I was entering high school. Due to her nerve damage, I learned how to multitask and prioritize. As I was just entering High School I had a lot on my plate and since my single mother couldn't work, I was taking care of her and going to school and work has been my greatest obstacle in life. There were times when we didn't have a roof over our heads and we slept in the car but thankfully through hard work I graduated high school and made enough to help out my mother as much as I could. Due to my circumstances, I had to take a break from college because it became too much for me to handle, now I can go back to school and finally be on the path to my dream career. Ever since my mom got hurt being in the healthcare field has been my number one goal, all the help my mom and me received through those hard times helped me make my decision of first being a nurse and hopefully soon after that either get my MSN or go to Med school. Every day with my mom's disability is hard because not many know of her disability, RSD isn’t well known, and there are no cures or treatments so every day is just me helping her not have a high level of pain and a sense of normalcy. Thankfully my mom is doing much better than she was back in 2008, and this has allowed me to go back to school and follow my career path again. I want to be an individual that can help others and be the one they can put their troubles on even if just for a second. The doctors and nurses that helped treat my mother helped take some weight off my shoulders in those days and I will forever be grateful for that. Now that I have officially been accepted into a nursing program I am one step closer to my dreams. Receiving this scholarship will help me financially, and with that, I'll be allowed to direct my focus would on getting good grades and taking care of my mom. For some time before being accepted into nursing school, I worked at a hospital as a nurse technician and this helped me view the nurses in action I must say even during the pandemic my mind was not swayed to choose a different path, if anything it increased my drive to follow this path to becoming a nurse as it is my passion.

My mom became disabled in 2008 when I was entering high school. Due to her nerve damage, I learned how to multitask and prioritize. As I was just entering High School I had a lot on my plate and since my single mother couldn't work, I was taking care of her and going to school and work has been my greatest obstacle in life. There were times when we didn't have a roof over our heads and we slept in the car but thankfully through hard work I graduated high school and made enough to help out my mother as much as I could. Due to my circumstances, I had to take a break from college because it became too much for me to handle, now I can go back to school and finally be on the path to my dream career. Ever since my mom got hurt being in the healthcare field has been my number one goal, all the help my mom and me received through those hard times helped me make my decision of first being a nurse and hopefully soon after that either get my MSN or go to Med school. Every day with my mom's disability is hard because not many know of her disability, RSD isn’t well known, and there are no cures or treatments so every day is just me helping her not have a high level of pain and a sense of normalcy. Thankfully my mom is doing much better than she was back in 2008, and this has allowed me to go back to school and follow my career path again. I want to be an individual that can help others and be the one they can put their troubles on even if just for a second. The doctors and nurses that helped treat my mother helped take some weight off my shoulders in those days and I will forever be grateful for that. Now that I have officially been accepted into a nursing program I am one step closer to my dreams. Receiving this scholarship will help me financially, and with that, I'll be allowed to direct my focus would on getting good grades and taking care of my mom. For some time before being accepted into nursing school, I worked at a hospital as a nurse technician and this helped me view the nurses in action I must say even during the pandemic my mind was not swayed to choose a different path, if anything it increased my drive to follow this path to becoming a nurse as it is my passion.

My mom became disabled in 2008 when I was entering high school. Due to her nerve damage, I learned how to multitask and prioritize. As I was just entering High School I had a lot on my plate and since my single mother couldn't work, I was taking care of her and going to school and work has been my greatest obstacle in life. There were times when we didn't have a roof over our heads and we slept in the car but thankfully through hard work I graduated high school and made enough to help out my mother as much as I could. Due to my circumstances, I had to take a break from college because it became too much for me to handle, now I can go back to school and finally be on the path to my dream career. Ever since my mom got hurt being in the healthcare field has been my number one goal, all the help my mom and me received through those hard times helped me make my decision of first being a nurse and hopefully soon after that either get my MSN or go to Med school. Every day with my mom's disability is hard because not many know of her disability, RSD isn’t well known, and there are no cures or treatments so every day is just me helping her not have a high level of pain and a sense of normalcy. Thankfully my mom is doing much better than she was back in 2008, and this has allowed me to go back to school and follow my career path again. I want to be an individual that can help others and be the one they can put their troubles on even if just for a second. The doctors and nurses that helped treat my mother helped take some weight off my shoulders in those days and I will forever be grateful for that. Now that I have officially been accepted into a nursing program I am one step closer to my dreams. Receiving this scholarship will help me financially, and with that, I'll be allowed to direct my focus would on getting good grades and taking care of my mom. For some time before being accepted into nursing school, I worked at a hospital as a nurse technician and this helped me view the nurses in action I must say even during the pandemic my mind was not swayed to choose a different path, if anything it increased my drive to follow this path to becoming a Neaonatal Physician as it is my passion.

My mom became disabled in 2008 when I was entering high school. Due to her nerve damage, I learned how to multitask and prioritize. As I was just entering High School I had a lot on my plate and since my single mother couldn't work, I was taking care of her and going to school and work has been my greatest obstacle in life. There were times when we didn't have a roof over our heads and we slept in the car but thankfully through hard work I graduated high school and made enough to help out my mother as much as I could. Due to my circumstances, I had to take a break from college because it became too much for me to handle, now I can go back to school and finally be on the path to my dream career. Ever since my mom got hurt being in the healthcare field has been my number one goal, all the help my mom and me received through those hard times helped me make my decision of first being a nurse and hopefully soon after that either get my MSN or go to Med school. Every day with my mom's disability is hard because not many know of her disability, RSD isn’t well known, and there are no cures or treatments so every day is just me helping her not have a high level of pain and a sense of normalcy. Thankfully my mom is doing much better than she was back in 2008, and this has allowed me to go back to school and follow my career path again. I want to be an individual that can help others and be the one they can put their troubles on even if just for a second. The doctors and nurses that helped treat my mother helped take some weight off my shoulders in those days and I will forever be grateful for that. Now that I have officially been accepted into a nursing program I am one step closer to my dreams. Receiving this scholarship will help me financially, and with that, I'll be allowed to direct my focus would on getting good grades and taking care of my mom. For some time before being accepted into nursing school, I worked at a hospital as a nurse technician and this helped me view the nurses in action I must say even during the pandemic my mind was not swayed to choose a different path, if anything it increased my drive to follow this path to becoming a nurse as it is my passion.

My mom became disabled in 2008 when I was entering high school. Due to her nerve damage, I learned how to multitask and prioritize. As I was just entering High School I had a lot on my plate and since my single mother couldn't work, I was taking care of her and going to school and work has been my greatest obstacle in life. There were times when we didn't have a roof over our heads and we slept in the car but thankfully through hard work I graduated high school and made enough to help out my mother as much as I could. Due to my circumstances, I had to take a break from college because it became too much for me to handle, now I can go back to school and finally be on the path to my dream career. Ever since my mom got hurt being in the healthcare field has been my number one goal, all the help my mom and me received through those hard times helped me make my decision of first being a nurse and hopefully soon after that either get my MSN or go to Med school. Every day with my mom's disability is hard because not many know of her disability, RSD isn’t well known, and there are no cures or treatments so every day is just me helping her not have a high level of pain and a sense of normalcy. Thankfully my mom is doing much better than she was back in 2008, and this has allowed me to go back to school and follow my career path again. I want to be an individual that can help others and be the one they can put their troubles on even if just for a second. The doctors and nurses that helped treat my mother helped take some weight off my shoulders in those days and I will forever be grateful for that. Now that I have officially been accepted into a nursing program I am one step closer to my dreams. Receiving this scholarship will help me financially, and with that, I'll be allowed to direct my focus would on getting good grades and taking care of my mom. For some time before being accepted into nursing school, I worked at a hospital as a nurse technician and this helped me view the nurses in action I must say even during the pandemic my mind was not swayed to choose a different path, if anything it increased my drive to follow this path to becoming a nurse as it is my passion.

My mom became disabled in 2008 when I was entering high school. Due to her nerve damage, I learned how to multitask and prioritize. As I was just entering High School I had a lot on my plate and since my single mother couldn't work, I was taking care of her and going to school and work has been my greatest obstacle in life. There were times when we didn't have a roof over our heads and we slept in the car but thankfully through hard work I graduated high school and made enough to help out my mother as much as I could. Due to my circumstances, I had to take a break from college because it became too much for me to handle, now I can go back to school and finally be on the path to my dream career. Ever since my mom got hurt being in the healthcare field has been my number one goal, all the help my mom and me received through those hard times helped me make my decision of first being a nurse and hopefully soon after that either get my MSN or go to Med school. Every day with my mom's disability is hard because not many know of her disability, RSD isn’t well known, and there are no cures or treatments so every day is just me helping her not have a high level of pain and a sense of normalcy. Thankfully my mom is doing much better than she was back in 2008, and this has allowed me to go back to school and follow my career path again. I want to be an individual that can help others and be the one they can put their troubles on even if just for a second. The doctors and nurses that helped treat my mother helped take some weight off my shoulders in those days and I will forever be grateful for that. Now that I have officially been accepted into a nursing program I am one step closer to my dreams. Receiving this scholarship will help me financially, and with that, I'll be allowed to direct my focus would on getting good grades and taking care of my mom. For some time before being accepted into nursing school, I worked at a hospital as a nurse technician and this helped me view the nurses in action I must say even during the pandemic my mind was not swayed to choose a different path, if anything it increased my drive to follow this path to becoming a nurse as it is my passion.

My mom became disabled in 2008 when I was entering high school. Due to her nerve damage, I learned how to multitask and prioritize. As I was just entering High School I had a lot on my plate and since my single mother couldn't work, I was taking care of her and going to school and work has been my greatest obstacle in life. There were times when we didn't have a roof over our heads and we slept in the car but thankfully through hard work I graduated high school and made enough to help out my mother as much as I could. Due to my circumstances, I had to take a break from college because it became too much for me to handle, now I can go back to school and finally be on the path to my dream career. Ever since my mom got hurt being in the healthcare field has been my number one goal, all the help my mom and me received through those hard times helped me make my decision of first being a nurse and hopefully soon after that either get my MSN or go to Med school. Every day with my mom's disability is hard because not many know of her disability, RSD isn’t well known, and there are no cures or treatments so every day is just me helping her not have a high level of pain and a sense of normalcy. Thankfully my mom is doing much better than she was back in 2008, and this has allowed me to go back to school and follow my career path again. I want to be an individual that can help others and be the one they can put their troubles on even if just for a second. The doctors and nurses that helped treat my mother helped take some weight off my shoulders in those days and I will forever be grateful for that. Now that I have officially been accepted into a nursing program I am one step closer to my dreams. Receiving this scholarship will help me financially, and with that, I'll be allowed to direct my focus would on getting good grades and taking care of my mom. For some time before being accepted into nursing school, I worked at a hospital as a nurse technician and this helped me view the nurses in action I must say even during the pandemic my mind was not swayed to choose a different path, if anything it increased my drive to follow this path to becoming a nurse as it is my passion.

My mom became disabled in 2008 when I was entering high school. Due to her nerve damage, I learned how to multitask and prioritize. As I was just entering High School I had a lot on my plate and since my single mother couldn't work, I was taking care of her and going to school and work has been my greatest obstacle in life. There were times when we didn't have a roof over our heads and we slept in the car but thankfully through hard work I graduated high school and made enough to help out my mother as much as I could. Due to my circumstances, I had to take a break from college because it became too much for me to handle, now I can go back to school and finally be on the path to my dream career. Ever since my mom got hurt being in the healthcare field has been my number one goal, all the help my mom and me received through those hard times helped me make my decision of first being a nurse and hopefully soon after that either get my MSN or go to Med school. Every day with my mom's disability is hard because not many know of her disability, RSD isn’t well known, and there are no cures or treatments so every day is just me helping her not have a high level of pain and a sense of normalcy. Thankfully my mom is doing much better than she was back in 2008, and this has allowed me to go back to school and follow my career path again. I want to be an individual that can help others and be the one they can put their troubles on even if just for a second. The doctors and nurses that helped treat my mother helped take some weight off my shoulders in those days and I will forever be grateful for that. Now that I have officially been accepted into a nursing program I am one step closer to my dreams. Receiving this scholarship will help me financially, and with that, I'll be allowed to direct my focus would on getting good grades and taking care of my mom. For some time before being accepted into nursing school, I worked at a hospital as a nurse technician and this helped me view the nurses in action I must say even during the pandemic my mind was not swayed to choose a different path, if anything it increased my drive to follow this path to becoming a nurse as it is my passion.

Mental health is something I feel has always been taboo, both growing up in my family household, as well as in society. I grew up not understanding how to talk about how I felt and if I felt pain or stress, I was expected to be strong enough to overcome those feelings on my own or just shove them down. This difficult subject has since led to how I interact with my work, relationships and career pathways now. My mother became disabled when I was 15 and that not only took a toll on my mental health but my mother's as well. Being confined to the house for years had her depressed and it wasn't until one of her nurses spoke to me about how she was acting while no one else was home, it was then that I realized and began to understand the importance of taking taboo subjects off the table and communicating with the ones you love. After watching her use the proper resources to take care of herself did I begin to use those resources to maintain a level of stability and healthy behavior around stress. I think that more people have suicidal thoughts, or ones like it than they're willing to admit. I have known people from my community who also act on these thoughts. When we have compassion and empathy towards those dealing with mental health issues, we can take one step closer to making them feel heard and safe. As a nurse, I plan on keeping an eye out not only for the patient's recovery but watch their mental health to ensure their safety in the long run and get them the help they need. Some people don't have a support system, and this is why I want to serve people as a nurse in my future career. It is so important to have a health care system that approaches a person as a whole. I hope to take my compassion for people into this new career path to make everyone feel safe when interacting with me. I also hope to further my career as a family nurse practitioner and I believe understanding mental health would be a great asset not only for me but my future patients. As someone who struggles with depression, I understand that it can be hard some days but there are also ways to work around the bad days and turn them into good ones. The stress and anxiety of going to school, reaching my full potential and getting as far as I can as the first one in my family to go to college and hopefully graduate, can get very hard. The stress becomes worse was I also start thinking of whether I will be able to afford my career goals since I take care of my disabled mother and go to school full-time. But then I decided to focus all the negative energy on trying to solve the problem and I start applying for scholarships so I can make my dreams a reality.

Mental health is something I feel has always been taboo, both growing up in my family household, as well as in society. I grew up not understanding how to talk about how I felt and if I felt pain or stress, I was expected to be strong enough to overcome those feelings on my own or just shove them down. This difficult subject has since led to how I interact with my work, relationships and career pathways now. My mother became disabled when I was 15 and that not only took a toll on my mental health but my mother's as well. Being confined to the house for years had her depressed and it wasn't until one of her nurses spoke to me about how she was acting while no one else was home, it was then that I realized and began to understand the importance of taking taboo subjects off the table and communicating with the ones you love. After watching her use the proper resources to take care of herself did I begin to use those resources to maintain a level of stability and healthy behavior around stress. I think that more people have suicidal thoughts, or ones like it than they're willing to admit. I have known people from my community who also act on these thoughts. When we have compassion and empathy towards those dealing with mental health issues, we can take one step closer to making them feel heard and safe. As a nurse, I plan on keeping an eye out not only for the patient's recovery but watch their mental health to ensure their safety in the long run and get them the help they need. Some people don't have a support system, and this is why I want to serve people as a nurse in my future career. It is so important to have a health care system that approaches a person as a whole. I hope to take my compassion for people into this new career path to make everyone feel safe when interacting with me. I also hope to further my career as a family nurse practitioner and I believe understanding mental health would be a great asset not only for me but my future patients. As someone who struggles with depression, I understand that it can be hard some days but there are also ways to work around the bad days and turn them into good ones. The stress and anxiety of going to school, reaching my full potential and getting as far as I can as the first one in my family to go to college and hopefully graduate, can get very hard. The stress becomes worse was I also start thinking of whether I will be able to afford my career goals since I take care of my disabled mother and go to school full-time. But then I decided to focus all the negative energy on trying to solve the problem and I start applying for scholarships so I can make my dreams a reality.

Mental health is something I feel has always been taboo, both growing up in my family household, as well as in society. I grew up not understanding how to talk about how I felt and if I felt pain or stress, I was expected to be strong enough to overcome those feelings on my own or just shove them down. This difficult subject has since led to how I interact with my work, relationships and career pathways now. My mother became disabled when I was 15 and that not only took a toll on my mental health but my mother's as well. Being confined to the house for years had her depressed and it wasn't until one of her nurses spoke to me about how she was acting while no one else was home, it was then that I realized and began to understand the importance of taking taboo subjects off the table and communicating with the ones you love. After watching her use the proper resources to take care of herself did I begin to use those resources to maintain a level of stability and healthy behavior around stress. I think that more people have suicidal thoughts, or ones like it than they're willing to admit. I have known people from my community who also act on these thoughts. When we have compassion and empathy towards those dealing with mental health issues, we can take one step closer to making them feel heard and safe. As a nurse, I plan on keeping an eye out not only for the patient's recovery but watch their mental health to ensure their safety in the long run and get them the help they need. Some people don't have a support system, and this is why I want to serve people as a nurse in my future career. It is so important to have a health care system that approaches a person as a whole. I hope to take my compassion for people into this new career path to make everyone feel safe when interacting with me. I also hope to further my career as a family nurse practitioner and I believe understanding mental health would be a great asset not only for me but my future patients. As someone who struggles with depression, I understand that it can be hard some days but there are also ways to work around the bad days and turn them into good ones. The stress and anxiety of going to school, reaching my full potential and getting as far as I can as the first one in my family to go to college and hopefully graduate, can get very hard. The stress becomes worse was I also start thinking of whether I will be able to afford my career goals since I take care of my disabled mother and go to school full-time. But then I decided to focus all the negative energy on trying to solve the problem and I start applying for scholarships so I can make my dreams a reality.

Mental health is something I feel has always been taboo, both growing up in my family household, as well as in society. I grew up not understanding how to talk about how I felt and if I felt pain or stress, I was expected to be strong enough to overcome those feelings on my own or just shove them down. This difficult subject has since led to how I interact with my work, relationships and career pathways now. My mother became disabled when I was 15 and that not only took a toll on my mental health but my mother's as well. Being confined to the house for years had her depressed and it wasn't until one of her nurses spoke to me about how she was acting while no one else was home, it was then that I realized and began to understand the importance of taking taboo subjects off the table and communicating with the ones you love. After watching her use the proper resources to take care of herself did I begin to use those resources to maintain a level of stability and healthy behavior around stress. I think that more people have suicidal thoughts, or ones like it than they're willing to admit. I have known people from my community who also act on these thoughts. When we have compassion and empathy towards those dealing with mental health issues, we can take one step closer to making them feel heard and safe. As a nurse, I plan on keeping an eye out not only for the patient's recovery but watch their mental health to ensure their safety in the long run and get them the help they need. Some people don't have a support system, and this is why I want to serve people as a nurse in my future career. It is so important to have a health care system that approaches a person as a whole. I hope to take my compassion for people into this new career path to make everyone feel safe when interacting with me. I also hope to further my career as a family nurse practitioner and I believe understanding mental health would be a great asset not only for me but my future patients. As someone who struggles with depression, I understand that it can be hard some days but there are also ways to work around the bad days and turn them into good ones. The stress and anxiety of going to school, reaching my full potential and getting as far as I can as the first one in my family to go to college and hopefully graduate, can get very hard. The stress becomes worse was I also start thinking of whether I will be able to afford my career goals since I take care of my disabled mother and go to school full-time. But then I decided to focus all the negative energy on trying to solve the problem and I start applying for scholarships so I can make my dreams a reality.

My mom became disabled in 2008 when I was entering high school. Due to her nerve damage, I learned how to multitask and prioritize. As I was just entering High School I had a lot on my plate and since my single mother couldn't work, I was taking care of her and going to school and work has been my greatest obstacle in life. There were times when we didn't have a roof over our heads and we slept in the car but thankfully through hard work I graduated high school and made enough to help out my mother as much as I could. Due to my circumstances, I had to take a break from college because it became too much for me to handle, now I can go back to school and finally be on the path to my dream career. Ever since my mom got hurt being in the healthcare field has been my number one goal, all the help my mom and me received through those hard times helped me make my decision of first being a nurse and hopefully soon after that either get my MSN or go to Med school. Every day with my mom's disability is hard because not many know of her disability, RSD isn’t well known, and there are no cures or treatments so every day is just me helping her not have a high level of pain and a sense of normalcy. Thankfully my mom is doing much better than she was back in 2008, and this has allowed me to go back to school and follow my career path again. I want to be an individual that can help others and be the one they can put their troubles on even if just for a second. The doctors and nurses that helped treat my mother helped take some weight off my shoulders in those days and I will forever be grateful for that. Now that I have officially been accepted into a nursing program I am one step closer to my dreams. Receiving this scholarship will help me financially, and with that, I'll be allowed to direct my focus would on getting good grades and taking care of my mom. For some time before being accepted into nursing school, I worked at a hospital as a nurse technician and this helped me view the nurses in action I must say even during the pandemic my mind was not swayed to choose a different path, if anything it increased my drive to follow this path to becoming a nurse as it is my passion.

My mom became disabled in 2008 when I was entering high school. Due to her nerve damage, I learned how to multitask and prioritize. As I was just entering High School I had a lot on my plate and since my single mother couldn't work, I was taking care of her and going to school and work has been my greatest obstacle in life. There were times when we didn't have a roof over our heads and we slept in the car but thankfully through hard work I graduated high school and made enough to help out my mother as much as I could. Due to my circumstances, I had to take a break from college because it became too much for me to handle, now I can go back to school and finally be on the path to my dream career. Ever since my mom got hurt being in the healthcare field has been my number one goal, all the help my mom and me received through those hard times helped me make my decision of first being a nurse and hopefully soon after that either get my MSN or go to Med school. Every day with my mom's disability is hard because not many know of her disability, RSD isn’t well known, and there are no cures or treatments so every day is just me helping her not have a high level of pain and a sense of normalcy. Thankfully my mom is doing much better than she was back in 2008, and this has allowed me to go back to school and follow my career path again. I want to be an individual that can help others and be the one they can put their troubles on even if just for a second. The doctors and nurses that helped treat my mother helped take some weight off my shoulders in those days and I will forever be grateful for that. Now that I have officially been accepted into a nursing program I am one step closer to my dreams. Receiving this scholarship will help me financially, and with that, I'll be allowed to direct my focus would on getting good grades and taking care of my mom. For some time before being accepted into nursing school, I worked at a hospital as a nurse technician and this helped me view the nurses in action I must say even during the pandemic my mind was not swayed to choose a different path, if anything it increased my drive to follow this path to becoming a nurse as it is my passion. The medical field is all about team work and from my years playing lacrosse I was taught that in order to score passing to your teammates is vital.

Generational wealth to me is giving my children and their children a better life than the one I had. I have started learning as much as I can by watching videos and reading books on finance so I can build a family trust to ensure even if I am not here that my family will be taken care of. I grew up with a single mother of two, my father passed when I was 9 months old. When we came to this country I was 5 and we moved around from family members' homes, we would outstay our welcome and try to find where to sleep at night. My mom became disabled in 2008 when I was entering high school. Due to her nerve damage, I learned how to multitask and prioritize. As I was just entering High School I had a lot on my plate and since my single mother couldn't work, I was taking care of her and going to school and work has been my greatest obstacle in life. There were times when we didn't have a roof over our heads and we slept in the car but thankfully through hard work I graduated high school and made enough to help out my mother as much as I could. Due to my circumstances, I had to take a break from college because it became too much for me to handle, now I can go back to school and finally be on the path to my dream career. Ever since my mom got hurt being in the healthcare field has been my number one goal, all the help my mom and me received through those hard times helped me make my decision of first being a nurse and hopefully soon after that either get my MSN or go to Med school. Every day with my mom's disability is hard because not many know of her disability, RSD isn’t well known, and there are no cures or treatments so every day is just me helping her not have a high level of pain and a sense of normalcy. Thankfully my mom is doing much better than she was back in 2008, and this has allowed me to go back to school and follow my career path again. I want to be an individual that can help others and be the one they can put their troubles on even if just for a second. The doctors and nurses that helped treat my mother helped take some weight off my shoulders in those days and I will forever be grateful for that. Now that I have officially been accepted into a nursing program I am one step closer to my dreams. Receiving this scholarship will help me financially, and with that, I'll be allowed to direct my focus would on getting good grades and taking care of my mom. For some time before being accepted into nursing school, I worked at a hospital as a nurse technician and this helped me view the nurses in action I must say even during the pandemic my mind was not swayed to choose a different path, if anything it increased my drive to follow this path to becoming a nurse as it is my passion. My hopes is to make struggles diminish for my family.

My mom became disabled in 2008 when I was entering high school. Due to her nerve damage, I learned how to multitask and prioritize. As I was just entering High School I had a lot on my plate and since my single mother couldn't work, I was taking care of her and going to school and work has been my greatest obstacle in life. There were times when we didn't have a roof over our heads and we slept in the car but thankfully through hard work I graduated high school and made enough to help out my mother as much as I could. Due to my circumstances, I had to take a break from college because it became too much for me to handle, now I can go back to school and finally be on the path to my dream career. Ever since my mom got hurt being in the healthcare field has been my number one goal, all the help my mom and me received through those hard times helped me make my decision of first being a nurse and hopefully soon after that either get my MSN or go to Med school. Every day with my mom's disability is hard because not many know of her disability, RSD isn’t well known, and there are no cures or treatments so every day is just me helping her not have a high level of pain and a sense of normalcy. Thankfully my mom is doing much better than she was back in 2008, and this has allowed me to go back to school and follow my career path again. I want to be an individual that can help others and be the one they can put their troubles on even if just for a second. The doctors and nurses that helped treat my mother helped take some weight off my shoulders in those days and I will forever be grateful for that. Now that I have officially been accepted into a nursing program I am one step closer to my dreams. Receiving this scholarship will help me financially, and with that, I'll be allowed to direct my focus would on getting good grades and taking care of my mom. For some time before being accepted into nursing school, I worked at a hospital as a nurse technician and this helped me view the nurses in action I must say even during the pandemic my mind was not swayed to choose a different path, if anything it increased my drive to follow this path to becoming a nurse as it is my passion. Through the tough times I fell into a deep depression and was on the edge, thankfully my PCP guided me to therapy and I have been working on my mental health. In my family mental health is like a bad word or dirty, it’s a Latinx tradition to shove everything down but now I realize it’s actually one of the most important things.

My mom became disabled in 2008 when I was entering high school. Due to her nerve damage, I learned how to multitask and prioritize. As I was just entering High School I had a lot on my plate and since my single mother couldn't work, I was taking care of her and going to school and work has been my greatest obstacle in life. There were times when we didn't have a roof over our heads and we slept in the car but thankfully through hard work I graduated high school and made enough to help out my mother as much as I could. Due to my circumstances, I had to take a break from college because it became too much for me to handle, now I can go back to school and finally be on the path to my dream career. Ever since my mom got hurt being in the healthcare field has been my number one goal, all the help my mom and me received through those hard times helped me make my decision of first being a nurse and hopefully soon after that either get my MSN or go to Med school. Every day with my mom's disability is hard because not many know of her disability, RSD isn’t well known, and there are no cures or treatments so every day is just me helping her not have a high level of pain and a sense of normalcy. Thankfully my mom is doing much better than she was back in 2008, and this has allowed me to go back to school and follow my career path again. I want to be an individual that can help others and be the one they can put their troubles on even if just for a second. The doctors and nurses that helped treat my mother helped take some weight off my shoulders in those days and I will forever be grateful for that. Now that I have officially been accepted into a nursing program I am one step closer to my dreams. Receiving this scholarship will help me financially, and with that, I'll be allowed to direct my focus would on getting good grades and taking care of my mom. For some time before being accepted into nursing school, I worked at a hospital as a nurse technician and this helped me view the nurses in action I must say even during the pandemic my mind was not swayed to choose a different path, if anything it increased my drive to follow this path to becoming a nurse as it is my passion. Through the tough times I fell into a deep depression and was on the edge, thankfully my PCP guided me to therapy and I have been working on my mental health. In my family mental health is like a bad word or dirty, it’s a Latinx tradition to shove everything down but now I realize it’s actually one of the most important things.

Mental health is something I feel has always been taboo, both growing up in my family household, as well as in society. I grew up not understanding how to talk about how I felt and if I felt pain or stress, I was expected to be strong enough to overcome those feelings on my own or just shove them down. This difficult subject has since led to how I interact with my work, relationships and career pathways now. My mother became disabled when I was 15 and that not only took a toll on my mental health but my mother's as well. Being confined to the house for years had her depressed and it wasn't until one of her nurses spoke to me about how she was acting while no one else was home, it was then that I realized and began to understand the importance of taking taboo subjects off the table and communicating with the ones you love. After watching her use the proper resources to take care of herself did I begin to use those resources to maintain a level of stability and healthy behavior around stress. I think that more people have suicidal thoughts, or ones like it than they're willing to admit. I have known people from my community who also act on these thoughts. When we have compassion and empathy towards those dealing with mental health issues, we can take one step closer to making them feel heard and safe. As a nurse, I plan on keeping an eye out not only for the patient's recovery but watch their mental health to ensure their safety in the long run and get them the help they need. Some people don't have a support system, and this is why I want to serve people as a nurse in my future career. It is so important to have a health care system that approaches a person as a whole. I hope to take my compassion for people into this new career path to make everyone feel safe when interacting with me. I also hope to further my career as a family nurse practitioner and I believe understanding mental health would be a great asset not only for me but my future patients. As someone who struggles with depression, I understand that it can be hard some days but there are also ways to work around the bad days and turn them into good ones. The stress and anxiety of going to school, reaching my full potential and getting as far as I can as the first one in my family to go to college and hopefully graduate, can get very hard. The stress becomes worse was I also start thinking of whether I will be able to afford my career goals since I take care of my disabled mother and go to school full-time. But then I decided to focus all the negative energy on trying to solve the problem and I start applying for scholarships so I can make my dreams a reality.

Mental health is something I feel has always been taboo, both growing up in my family household, as well as in society. I grew up not understanding how to talk about how I felt and if I felt pain or stress, I was expected to be strong enough to overcome those feelings on my own or just shove them down. This difficult subject has since led to how I interact with my work, relationships and career pathways now. My mother became disabled when I was 15 and that not only took a toll on my mental health but my mother's as well. Being confined to the house for years had her depressed and it wasn't until one of her nurses spoke to me about how she was acting while no one else was home, it was then that I realized and began to understand the importance of taking taboo subjects off the table and communicating with the ones you love. After watching her use the proper resources to take care of herself did I begin to use those resources to maintain a level of stability and healthy behavior around stress. I think that more people have suicidal thoughts, or ones like it than they're willing to admit. I have known people from my community who also act on these thoughts. When we have compassion and empathy towards those dealing with mental health issues, we can take one step closer to making them feel heard and safe. As a nurse, I plan on keeping an eye out not only for the patient's recovery but watch their mental health to ensure their safety in the long run and get them the help they need. Some people don't have a support system, and this is why I want to serve people as a nurse in my future career. It is so important to have a health care system that approaches a person as a whole. I hope to take my compassion for people into this new career path to make everyone feel safe when interacting with me. I also hope to further my career as a family nurse practitioner and I believe understanding mental health would be a great asset not only for me but my future patients. As someone who struggles with depression, I understand that it can be hard some days but there are also ways to work around the bad days and turn them into good ones. The stress and anxiety of going to school, reaching my full potential and getting as far as I can as the first one in my family to go to college and hopefully graduate, can get very hard. The stress becomes worse was I also start thinking of whether I will be able to afford my career goals since I take care of my disabled mother and go to school full-time. But then I decided to focus all the negative energy on trying to solve the problem and I start applying for scholarships so I can make my dreams a reality.

My mom became disabled in 2008 when I was entering high school. Due to her nerve damage, I learned how to multitask and prioritize. As I was just entering High School I had a lot on my plate and since my single mother couldn't work, I was taking care of her and going to school and work has been my greatest obstacle in life. There were times when we didn't have a roof over our heads and we slept in the car but thankfully through hard work I graduated high school and made enough to help out my mother as much as I could. Due to my circumstances, I had to take a break from college because it became too much for me to handle, now I can go back to school and finally be on the path to my dream career. Ever since my mom got hurt being in the healthcare field has been my number one goal, all the help my mom and me received through those hard times helped me make my decision of first being a nurse and hopefully soon after that either get my MSN or go to Med school. Every day with my mom's disability is hard because not many know of her disability, RSD isn’t well known, and there are no cures or treatments so every day is just me helping her not have a high level of pain and a sense of normalcy. Thankfully my mom is doing much better than she was back in 2008, and this has allowed me to go back to school and follow my career path again. I want to be an individual that can help others and be the one they can put their troubles on even if just for a second. The doctors and nurses that helped treat my mother helped take some weight off my shoulders in those days and I will forever be grateful for that. Now that I have officially been accepted into a nursing program I am one step closer to my dreams. Receiving this scholarship will help me financially, and with that, I'll be allowed to direct my focus would on getting good grades and taking care of my mom. For some time before being accepted into nursing school, I worked at a hospital as a nurse technician and this helped me view the nurses in action I must say even during the pandemic my mind was not swayed to choose a different path, if anything it increased my drive to follow this path to becoming a nurse as it is my passion. Through the tough times I fell into a deep depression and was on the edge, thankfully my PCP guided me to therapy and I have been working on my mental health. In my family mental health is like a bad word or dirty, it’s a Latinx tradition to shove everything down but now I realize it’s actually one of the most important things.

My mom became disabled in 2008 when I was entering high school. Due to her nerve damage, I learned how to multitask and prioritize. As I was just entering High School I had a lot on my plate and since my single mother couldn't work, I was taking care of her and going to school and work has been my greatest obstacle in life. There were times when we didn't have a roof over our heads and we slept in the car but thankfully through hard work I graduated high school and made enough to help out my mother as much as I could. Due to my circumstances, I had to take a break from college because it became too much for me to handle, now I can go back to school and finally be on the path to my dream career. Ever since my mom got hurt being in the healthcare field has been my number one goal, all the help my mom and me received through those hard times helped me make my decision of first being a nurse and hopefully soon after that either get my MSN or go to Med school. Every day with my mom's disability is hard because not many know of her disability, RSD isn’t well known, and there are no cures or treatments so every day is just me helping her not have a high level of pain and a sense of normalcy. Thankfully my mom is doing much better than she was back in 2008, and this has allowed me to go back to school and follow my career path again. I want to be an individual that can help others and be the one they can put their troubles on even if just for a second. The doctors and nurses that helped treat my mother helped take some weight off my shoulders in those days and I will forever be grateful for that. Now that I have officially been accepted into a nursing program I am one step closer to my dreams. Receiving this scholarship will help me financially, and with that, I'll be allowed to direct my focus would on getting good grades and taking care of my mom. For some time before being accepted into nursing school, I worked at a hospital as a nurse technician and this helped me view the nurses in action I must say even during the pandemic my mind was not swayed to choose a different path, if anything it increased my drive to follow this path to becoming a nurse as it is my passion.

My mom became disabled in 2008 when I was entering high school. Due to her nerve damage, I learned how to multitask and prioritize. As I was just entering High School I had a lot on my plate and since my single mother couldn't work, I was taking care of her and going to school and work has been my greatest obstacle in life. There were times when we didn't have a roof over our heads and we slept in the car but thankfully through hard work I graduated high school and made enough to help out my mother as much as I could. Due to my circumstances, I had to take a break from college because it became too much for me to handle, now I can go back to school and finally be on the path to my dream career. Ever since my mom got hurt being in the healthcare field has been my number one goal, all the help my mom and me received through those hard times helped me make my decision of first being a nurse and hopefully soon after that either get my MSN or go to Med school. Every day with my mom's disability is hard because not many know of her disability, RSD isn’t well known, and there are no cures or treatments so every day is just me helping her not have a high level of pain and a sense of normalcy. Thankfully my mom is doing much better than she was back in 2008, and this has allowed me to go back to school and follow my career path again. I want to be an individual that can help others and be the one they can put their troubles on even if just for a second. The doctors and nurses that helped treat my mother helped take some weight off my shoulders in those days and I will forever be grateful for that. Now that I have officially been accepted into a nursing program I am one step closer to my dreams. Receiving this scholarship will help me financially, and with that, I'll be allowed to direct my focus would on getting good grades and taking care of my mom. For some time before being accepted into nursing school, I worked at a hospital as a nurse technician and this helped me view the nurses in action I must say even during the pandemic my mind was not swayed to choose a different path, if anything it increased my drive to follow this path to becoming a nurse as it is my passion.

A Fertility Specialist with her own office and doing everything she can do help those with PCOS understand what is happening in their body.

My mom became disabled in 2008 when I was entering high school. Due to her nerve damage, I learned how to multitask and prioritize. As I was just entering High School I had a lot on my plate and since my single mother couldn't work, I was taking care of her and going to school and work has been my greatest obstacle in life. There were times when we didn't have a roof over our heads and we slept in the car but thankfully through hard work I graduated high school and made enough to help out my mother as much as I could. Due to my circumstances, I had to take a break from college because it became too much for me to handle, now I can go back to school and finally be on the path to my dream career. Ever since my mom got hurt being in the healthcare field has been my number one goal, all the help my mom and me received through those hard times helped me make my decision of first being a nurse and hopefully soon after that either get my MSN or go to Med school. Every day with my mom's disability is hard because not many know of her disability, RSD isn’t well known, and there are no cures or treatments so every day is just me helping her not have a high level of pain and a sense of normalcy. Thankfully my mom is doing much better than she was back in 2008, and this has allowed me to go back to school and follow my career path again. I want to be an individual that can help others and be the one they can put their troubles on even if just for a second. The doctors and nurses that helped treat my mother helped take some weight off my shoulders in those days and I will forever be grateful for that. Now that I have officially been accepted into a nursing program I am one step closer to my dreams. Receiving this scholarship will help me financially, and with that, I'll be allowed to direct my focus would on getting good grades and taking care of my mom. For some time before being accepted into nursing school, I worked at a hospital as a nurse technician and this helped me view the nurses in action I must say even during the pandemic my mind was not swayed to choose a different path, if anything it increased my drive to follow this path to becoming a nurse as it is my passion.

My mom became disabled in 2008 when I was entering high school. Due to her nerve damage, I learned how to multitask and prioritize. As I was just entering High School I had a lot on my plate and since my single mother couldn't work, I was taking care of her and going to school and work has been my greatest obstacle in life. There were times when we didn't have a roof over our heads and we slept in the car but thankfully through hard work I graduated high school and made enough to help out my mother as much as I could. Due to my circumstances, I had to take a break from college because it became too much for me to handle, now I can go back to school and finally be on the path to my dream career. Ever since my mom got hurt being in the healthcare field has been my number one goal, all the help my mom and me received through those hard times helped me make my decision of first being a nurse and hopefully soon after that either get my MSN or go to Med school. Every day with my mom's disability is hard because not many know of her disability, RSD isn’t well known, and there are no cures or treatments so every day is just me helping her not have a high level of pain and a sense of normalcy. Thankfully my mom is doing much better than she was back in 2008, and this has allowed me to go back to school and follow my career path again. I want to be an individual that can help others and be the one they can put their troubles on even if just for a second. The doctors and nurses that helped treat my mother helped take some weight off my shoulders in those days and I will forever be grateful for that. Now that I have officially been accepted into a nursing program I am one step closer to my dreams. Receiving this scholarship will help me financially, and with that, I'll be allowed to direct my focus would on getting good grades and taking care of my mom. For some time before being accepted into nursing school, I worked at a hospital as a nurse technician and this helped me view the nurses in action I must say even during the pandemic my mind was not swayed to choose a different path, if anything it increased my drive to follow this path to becoming a nurse as it is my passion.

My mom became disabled in 2008 when I was entering high school. Due to her nerve damage, I learned how to multitask and prioritize. As I was just entering High School I had a lot on my plate and since my single mother couldn't work, I was taking care of her and going to school and work has been my greatest obstacle in life. There were times when we didn't have a roof over our heads and we slept in the car but thankfully through hard work I graduated high school and made enough to help out my mother as much as I could. Due to my circumstances, I had to take a break from college because it became too much for me to handle, now I can go back to school and finally be on the path to my dream career. Ever since my mom got hurt being in the healthcare field has been my number one goal, all the help my mom and me received through those hard times helped me make my decision of first being a nurse and hopefully soon after that either get my MSN or go to Med school. Every day with my mom's disability is hard because not many know of her disability, RSD isn’t well known, and there are no cures or treatments so every day is just me helping her not have a high level of pain and a sense of normalcy. Thankfully my mom is doing much better than she was back in 2008, and this has allowed me to go back to school and follow my career path again. I want to be an individual that can help others and be the one they can put their troubles on even if just for a second. The doctors and nurses that helped treat my mother helped take some weight off my shoulders in those days and I will forever be grateful for that. Now that I have officially been accepted into a nursing program I am one step closer to my dreams. Receiving this scholarship will help me financially, and with that, I'll be allowed to direct my focus would on getting good grades and taking care of my mom. For some time before being accepted into nursing school, I worked at a hospital as a nurse technician and this helped me view the nurses in action I must say even during the pandemic my mind was not swayed to choose a different path, if anything it increased my drive to follow this path to becoming a nurse as it is my passion.

My mom became disabled in 2008 when I was entering high school. Due to her nerve damage, I learned how to multitask and prioritize. As I was just entering High School I had a lot on my plate and since my single mother couldn't work, I was taking care of her and going to school and work has been my greatest obstacle in life. There were times when we didn't have a roof over our heads and we slept in the car but thankfully through hard work I graduated high school and made enough to help out my mother as much as I could. Due to my circumstances, I had to take a break from college because it became too much for me to handle, now I can go back to school and finally be on the path to my dream career. Ever since my mom got hurt being in the healthcare field has been my number one goal, all the help my mom and me received through those hard times helped me make my decision of first being a nurse and hopefully soon after that either get my MSN or go to Med school. Every day with my mom's disability is hard because not many know of her disability, RSD isn’t well known, and there are no cures or treatments so every day is just me helping her not have a high level of pain and a sense of normalcy. Thankfully my mom is doing much better than she was back in 2008, and this has allowed me to go back to school and follow my career path again. I want to be an individual that can help others and be the one they can put their troubles on even if just for a second. The doctors and nurses that helped treat my mother helped take some weight off my shoulders in those days and I will forever be grateful for that. Now that I have officially been accepted into a nursing program I am one step closer to my dreams. Receiving this scholarship will help me financially, and with that, I'll be allowed to direct my focus would on getting good grades and taking care of my mom. For some time before being accepted into nursing school, I worked at a hospital as a nurse technician and this helped me view the nurses in action I must say even during the pandemic my mind was not swayed to choose a different path, if anything it increased my drive to follow this path to becoming a nurse as it is my passion.

My mom became disabled in 2008 when I was entering high school. Due to her nerve damage, I learned how to multitask and prioritize. As I was just entering High School I had a lot on my plate and since my single mother couldn't work, I was taking care of her and going to school and work has been my greatest obstacle in life. There were times when we didn't have a roof over our heads and we slept in the car but thankfully through hard work I graduated high school and made enough to help out my mother as much as I could. Due to my circumstances, I had to take a break from college because it became too much for me to handle, now I can go back to school and finally be on the path to my dream career. Ever since my mom got hurt being in the healthcare field has been my number one goal, all the help my mom and me received through those hard times helped me make my decision of first being a nurse and hopefully soon after that either get my MSN or go to Med school. Every day with my mom's disability is hard because not many know of her disability, RSD isn’t well known, and there are no cures or treatments so every day is just me helping her not have a high level of pain and a sense of normalcy. Thankfully my mom is doing much better than she was back in 2008, and this has allowed me to go back to school and follow my career path again. I want to be an individual that can help others and be the one they can put their troubles on even if just for a second. The doctors and nurses that helped treat my mother helped take some weight off my shoulders in those days and I will forever be grateful for that. Now that I have officially been accepted into a nursing program I am one step closer to my dreams. Receiving this scholarship will help me financially, and with that, I'll be allowed to direct my focus would on getting good grades and taking care of my mom. For some time before being accepted into nursing school, I worked at a hospital as a nurse technician and this helped me view the nurses in action I must say even during the pandemic my mind was not swayed to choose a different path, if anything it increased my drive to follow this path to becoming a nurse as it is my passion. I know my choice may change once I start clinical but my main focus for now is neonatal nursing.

My mom became disabled in 2008 when I was entering high school. Due to her nerve damage, I learned how to multitask and prioritize. As I was just entering High School I had a lot on my plate and since my single mother couldn't work, I was taking care of her and going to school and work has been my greatest obstacle in life. There were times when we didn't have a roof over our heads and we slept in the car but thankfully through hard work I graduated high school and made enough to help out my mother as much as I could. Due to my circumstances, I had to take a break from college because it became too much for me to handle, now I can go back to school and finally be on the path to my dream career. Ever since my mom got hurt being in the healthcare field has been my number one goal, all the help my mom and me received through those hard times helped me make my decision of first being a nurse and hopefully soon after that either get my MSN or go to Med school. Every day with my mom's disability is hard because not many know of her disability, RSD isn’t well known, and there are no cures or treatments so every day is just me helping her not have a high level of pain and a sense of normalcy. Thankfully my mom is doing much better than she was back in 2008, and this has allowed me to go back to school and follow my career path again. I want to be an individual that can help others and be the one they can put their troubles on even if just for a second. The doctors and nurses that helped treat my mother helped take some weight off my shoulders in those days and I will forever be grateful for that. Now that I have officially been accepted into a nursing program I am one step closer to my dreams. Receiving this scholarship will help me financially, and with that, I'll be allowed to direct my focus would on getting good grades and taking care of my mom. For some time before being accepted into nursing school, I worked at a hospital as a nurse technician and this helped me view the nurses in action I must say even during the pandemic my mind was not swayed to choose a different path, if anything it increased my drive to follow this path to becoming a nurse as it is my passion.

My mom became disabled in 2008 when I was entering high school. Due to her nerve damage, I learned how to multitask and prioritize. As I was just entering High School I had a lot on my plate and since my single mother couldn't work, I was taking care of her and going to school and work has been my greatest obstacle in life. There were times when we didn't have a roof over our heads and we slept in the car but thankfully through hard work I graduated high school and made enough to help out my mother as much as I could. Due to my circumstances, I had to take a break from college because it became too much for me to handle, now I can go back to school and finally be on the path to my dream career. Ever since my mom got hurt being in the healthcare field has been my number one goal, all the help my mom and me received through those hard times helped me make my decision of first being a nurse and hopefully soon after that either get my MSN or go to Med school. Every day with my mom's disability is hard because not many know of her disability, RSD isn’t well known, and there are no cures or treatments so every day is just me helping her not have a high level of pain and a sense of normalcy. Thankfully my mom is doing much better than she was back in 2008, and this has allowed me to go back to school and follow my career path again. I want to be an individual that can help others and be the one they can put their troubles on even if just for a second. The doctors and nurses that helped treat my mother helped take some weight off my shoulders in those days and I will forever be grateful for that. Now that I have officially been accepted into a nursing program I am one step closer to my dreams. Receiving this scholarship will help me financially, and with that, I'll be allowed to direct my focus would on getting good grades and taking care of my mom. For some time before being accepted into nursing school, I worked at a hospital as a nurse technician and this helped me view the nurses in action I must say even during the pandemic my mind was not swayed to choose a different path, if anything it increased my drive to follow this path to becoming a nurse as it is my passion.

My mom became disabled in 2008 when I was entering high school. Due to her nerve damage, I learned how to multitask and prioritize. As I was just entering High School I had a lot on my plate and since my single mother couldn't work, I was taking care of her and going to school and work has been my greatest obstacle in life. There were times when we didn't have a roof over our heads and we slept in the car but thankfully through hard work I graduated high school and made enough to help out my mother as much as I could. Due to my circumstances, I had to take a break from college because it became too much for me to handle, now I can go back to school and finally be on the path to my dream career. Ever since my mom got hurt being in the healthcare field has been my number one goal, all the help my mom and me received through those hard times helped me make my decision of first being a nurse and hopefully soon after that either get my MSN or go to Med school. Every day with my mom's disability is hard because not many know of her disability, RSD isn’t well known, and there are no cures or treatments so every day is just me helping her not have a high level of pain and a sense of normalcy. Thankfully my mom is doing much better than she was back in 2008, and this has allowed me to go back to school and follow my career path again. I want to be an individual that can help others and be the one they can put their troubles on even if just for a second. The doctors and nurses that helped treat my mother helped take some weight off my shoulders in those days and I will forever be grateful for that. Now that I have officially been accepted into a nursing program I am one step closer to my dreams. Receiving this scholarship will help me financially, and with that, I'll be allowed to direct my focus would on getting good grades and taking care of my mom. For some time before being accepted into nursing school, I worked at a hospital as a nurse technician and this helped me view the nurses in action I must say even during the pandemic my mind was not swayed to choose a different path, if anything it increased my drive to follow this path to becoming a nurse as it is my passion.

My mom became disabled in 2008 when I was entering high school. Due to her nerve damage, I learned how to multitask and prioritize. As I was just entering High School I had a lot on my plate and since my single mother couldn't work, I was taking care of her and going to school and work has been my greatest obstacle in life. There were times when we didn't have a roof over our heads and we slept in the car but thankfully through hard work I graduated high school and made enough to help out my mother as much as I could. Due to my circumstances, I had to take a break from college because it became too much for me to handle, now I can go back to school and finally be on the path to my dream career. Ever since my mom got hurt being in the healthcare field has been my number one goal, all the help my mom and me received through those hard times helped me make my decision of first being a nurse and hopefully soon after that either get my MSN or go to Med school. Every day with my mom's disability is hard because not many know of her disability, RSD isn’t well known, and there are no cures or treatments so every day is just me helping her not have a high level of pain and a sense of normalcy. Thankfully my mom is doing much better than she was back in 2008, and this has allowed me to go back to school and follow my career path again. I want to be an individual that can help others and be the one they can put their troubles on even if just for a second. The doctors and nurses that helped treat my mother helped take some weight off my shoulders in those days and I will forever be grateful for that. Now that I have officially been accepted into a nursing program I am one step closer to my dreams. Receiving this scholarship will help me financially, and with that, I'll be allowed to direct my focus would on getting good grades and taking care of my mom. For some time before being accepted into nursing school, I worked at a hospital as a nurse technician and this helped me view the nurses in action I must say even during the pandemic my mind was not swayed to choose a different path, if anything it increased my drive to follow this path to becoming a nurse as it is my passion.

My mom became disabled in 2008 when I was entering high school. Due to her nerve damage, I learned how to multitask and prioritize. As I was just entering High School I had a lot on my plate and since my single mother couldn't work, I was taking care of her and going to school and work has been my greatest obstacle in life. There were times when we didn't have a roof over our heads and we slept in the car but thankfully through hard work I graduated high school and made enough to help out my mother as much as I could. Due to my circumstances, I had to take a break from college because it became too much for me to handle, now I can go back to school and finally be on the path to my dream career. Ever since my mom got hurt being in the healthcare field has been my number one goal, all the help my mom and me received through those hard times helped me make my decision of first being a nurse and hopefully soon after that either get my MSN or go to Med school. Every day with my mom's disability is hard because not many know of her disability, RSD isn’t well known, and there are no cures or treatments so every day is just me helping her not have a high level of pain and a sense of normalcy. Thankfully my mom is doing much better than she was back in 2008, and this has allowed me to go back to school and follow my career path again. I want to be an individual that can help others and be the one they can put their troubles on even if just for a second. The doctors and nurses that helped treat my mother helped take some weight off my shoulders in those days and I will forever be grateful for that. Now that I have officially been accepted into a nursing program I am one step closer to my dreams. Receiving this scholarship will help me financially, and with that, I'll be allowed to direct my focus would on getting good grades and taking care of my mom. For some time before being accepted into nursing school, I worked at a hospital as a nurse technician and this helped me view the nurses in action I must say even during the pandemic my mind was not swayed to choose a different path, if anything it increased my drive to follow this path to becoming a nurse as it is my passion.

My mom became disabled in 2008 when I was entering high school. Due to her nerve damage, I learned how to multitask and prioritize. As I was just entering High School I had a lot on my plate and since my single mother couldn't work, I was taking care of her and going to school and work has been my greatest obstacle in life. There were times when we didn't have a roof over our heads and we slept in the car but thankfully through hard work I graduated high school and made enough to help out my mother as much as I could. Due to my circumstances, I had to take a break from college because it became too much for me to handle, now I can go back to school and finally be on the path to my dream career. Ever since my mom got hurt being in the healthcare field has been my number one goal, all the help my mom and me received through those hard times helped me make my decision of first being a nurse and hopefully soon after that either get my MSN or go to Med school. Every day with my mom's disability is hard because not many know of her disability, RSD isn’t well known, and there are no cures or treatments so every day is just me helping her not have a high level of pain and a sense of normalcy. Thankfully my mom is doing much better than she was back in 2008, and this has allowed me to go back to school and follow my career path again. I want to be an individual that can help others and be the one they can put their troubles on even if just for a second. The doctors and nurses that helped treat my mother helped take some weight off my shoulders in those days and I will forever be grateful for that. Now that I have officially been accepted into a nursing program I am one step closer to my dreams. Receiving this scholarship will help me financially, and with that, I'll be allowed to direct my focus would on getting good grades and taking care of my mom. For some time before being accepted into nursing school, I worked at a hospital as a nurse technician and this helped me view the nurses in action I must say even during the pandemic my mind was not swayed to choose a different path, if anything it increased my drive to follow this path to becoming a nurse as it is my passion.

My mom became disabled in 2008 when I was entering high school. Due to her nerve damage, I learned how to multitask and prioritize. As I was just entering High School I had a lot on my plate and since my single mother couldn't work, I was taking care of her and going to school and work has been my greatest obstacle in life. There were times when we didn't have a roof over our heads and we slept in the car but thankfully through hard work I graduated high school and made enough to help out my mother as much as I could. Due to my circumstances, I had to take a break from college because it became too much for me to handle, now I can go back to school and finally be on the path to my dream career. Ever since my mom got hurt being in the healthcare field has been my number one goal, all the help my mom and me received through those hard times helped me make my decision of first being a nurse and hopefully soon after that either get my MSN or go to Med school. Every day with my mom's disability is hard because not many know of her disability, RSD isn’t well known, and there are no cures or treatments so every day is just me helping her not have a high level of pain and a sense of normalcy. Thankfully my mom is doing much better than she was back in 2008, and this has allowed me to go back to school and follow my career path again. I want to be an individual that can help others and be the one they can put their troubles on even if just for a second. The doctors and nurses that helped treat my mother helped take some weight off my shoulders in those days and I will forever be grateful for that. Now that I have officially been accepted into a nursing program I am one step closer to my dreams. Receiving this scholarship will help me financially, and with that, I'll be allowed to direct my focus would on getting good grades and taking care of my mom. For some time before being accepted into nursing school, I worked at a hospital as a nurse technician and this helped me view the nurses in action I must say even during the pandemic my mind was not swayed to choose a different path, if anything it increased my drive to follow this path to becoming a nurse as it is my passion.

My mom became disabled in 2008 when I was entering high school. Due to her nerve damage, I learned how to multitask and prioritize. As I was just entering High School I had a lot on my plate and since my single mother couldn't work, I was taking care of her and going to school and work has been my greatest obstacle in life. There were times when we didn't have a roof over our heads and we slept in the car but thankfully through hard work I graduated high school and made enough to help out my mother as much as I could. Due to my circumstances, I had to take a break from college because it became too much for me to handle, now I can go back to school and finally be on the path to my dream career. Ever since my mom got hurt being in the healthcare field has been my number one goal, all the help my mom and me received through those hard times helped me make my decision of first being a nurse and hopefully soon after that either get my MSN or go to Med school. Every day with my mom's disability is hard because not many know of her disability, RSD isn’t well known, and there are no cures or treatments so every day is just me helping her not have a high level of pain and a sense of normalcy. Thankfully my mom is doing much better than she was back in 2008, and this has allowed me to go back to school and follow my career path again. I want to be an individual that can help others and be the one they can put their troubles on even if just for a second. The doctors and nurses that helped treat my mother helped take some weight off my shoulders in those days and I will forever be grateful for that. Now that I have officially been accepted into a nursing program I am one step closer to my dreams. Receiving this scholarship will help me financially, and with that, I'll be allowed to direct my focus would on getting good grades and taking care of my mom. This will also allow me to pay off some of the student loan debt I am in and ultimately allow me to my goal of getting my MD and PhD. For some time before being accepted into nursing school, I worked at a hospital as a nurse technician and this helped me view the nurses in action I must say even during the pandemic my mind was not swayed to choose a different path, if anything it increased my drive to follow this path to becoming a nurse as it is my passion.

My mom became disabled in 2008 when I was entering high school. Due to her nerve damage, I learned how to multitask and prioritize. As I was just entering High School I had a lot on my plate and since my single mother couldn't work, I was taking care of her and going to school and work has been my greatest obstacle in life. There were times when we didn't have a roof over our heads and we slept in the car but thankfully through hard work I graduated high school and made enough to help out my mother as much as I could. Due to my circumstances, I had to take a break from college because it became too much for me to handle, now I can go back to school and finally be on the path to my dream career. Ever since my mom got hurt being in the healthcare field has been my number one goal, all the help my mom and me received through those hard times helped me make my decision of first being a nurse and hopefully soon after that either get my MSN or go to Med school. Every day with my mom's disability is hard because not many know of her disability, RSD isn’t well known, and there are no cures or treatments so every day is just me helping her not have a high level of pain and a sense of normalcy. Thankfully my mom is doing much better than she was back in 2008, and this has allowed me to go back to school and follow my career path again. I want to be an individual that can help others and be the one they can put their troubles on even if just for a second. The doctors and nurses that helped treat my mother helped take some weight off my shoulders in those days and I will forever be grateful for that. Now that I have officially been accepted into a nursing program I am one step closer to my dreams. Receiving this scholarship will help me financially, and with that, I'll be allowed to direct my focus would on getting good grades and taking care of my mom. For some time before being accepted into nursing school, I worked at a hospital as a nurse technician and this helped me view the nurses in action I must say even during the pandemic my mind was not swayed to choose a different path, if anything it increased my drive to follow this path to becoming a nurse as it is my passion. As a Spanish speaking Latina my time in the hospital during night shifts taught me the necessity of more Spanish speaking nurses. During my shifts I had to translate for my whole unit since I was the only Spanish speaking individual there.

My mom became disabled in 2008 when I was entering high school. Due to her nerve damage, I learned how to multitask and prioritize. As I was just entering High School I had a lot on my plate and since my single mother couldn't work, I was taking care of her and going to school and work has been my greatest obstacle in life. But my mother became a widow when I was 9 months old so I have witnessed her persevere and still do everything she could to help others in need. There were times when we didn't have a roof over our heads and we slept in the car but thankfully through hard work I graduated high school and made enough to help out my mother as much as I could. Due to my circumstances, I had to take a break from college because it became too much for me to handle, now I can go back to school and finally be on the path to my dream career. Ever since my mom got hurt being in the healthcare field has been my number one goal, all the help my mom and me received through those hard times helped me make my decision of first being a nurse and hopefully soon after that either get my MSN or go to Med school. Every day with my mom's disability is hard because not many know of her disability, RSD isn’t well known, and there are no cures or treatments so every day is just me helping her not have a high level of pain and a sense of normalcy. Thankfully my mom is doing much better than she was back in 2008, and this has allowed me to go back to school and follow my career path again. I want to be an individual that can help others and be the one they can put their troubles on even if just for a second. The doctors and nurses that helped treat my mother helped take some weight off my shoulders in those days and I will forever be grateful for that. Now that I have officially been accepted into a nursing program I am one step closer to my dreams. Receiving this scholarship will help me financially, and with that, I'll be allowed to direct my focus would on getting good grades and taking care of my mom. For some time before being accepted into nursing school, I worked at a hospital as a nurse technician and this helped me view the nurses in action I must say even during the pandemic my mind was not swayed to choose a different path, if anything it increased my drive to follow this path to becoming a nurse as it is my passion.

My mom became disabled in 2008 when I was entering high school. Due to her nerve damage, I learned how to multitask and prioritize. As I was just entering High School I had a lot on my plate and since my single mother couldn't work, I was taking care of her and going to school and work has been my greatest obstacle in life. There were times when we didn't have a roof over our heads and we slept in the car but thankfully through hard work I graduated high school and made enough to help out my mother as much as I could. Due to my circumstances, I had to take a break from college because it became too much for me to handle, now I can go back to school and finally be on the path to my dream career. Ever since my mom got hurt being in the healthcare field has been my number one goal, all the help my mom and me received through those hard times helped me make my decision of first being a nurse and hopefully soon after that either get my MSN or go to Med school. Every day with my mom's disability is hard because not many know of her disability, RSD isn’t well known, and there are no cures or treatments so every day is just me helping her not have a high level of pain and a sense of normalcy. Thankfully my mom is doing much better than she was back in 2008, and this has allowed me to go back to school and follow my career path again. I want to be an individual that can help others and be the one they can put their troubles on even if just for a second. The doctors and nurses that helped treat my mother helped take some weight off my shoulders in those days and I will forever be grateful for that. Now that I have officially been accepted into a nursing program I am one step closer to my dreams. Receiving this scholarship will help me financially, and with that, I'll be allowed to direct my focus would on getting good grades and taking care of my mom. For some time before being accepted into nursing school, I worked at a hospital as a nurse technician and this helped me view the nurses in action I must say even during the pandemic my mind was not swayed to choose a different path, if anything it increased my drive to follow this path to becoming a nurse as it is my passion.

My mom became disabled in 2008 when I was entering high school. Due to her nerve damage, I learned how to multitask and prioritize. As I was just entering High School I had a lot on my plate and since my single mother couldn't work, I was taking care of her and going to school and work has been my greatest obstacle in life. There were times when we didn't have a roof over our heads and we slept in the car but thankfully through hard work I graduated high school and made enough to help out my mother as much as I could. Due to my circumstances, I had to take a break from college because it became too much for me to handle, now I can go back to school and finally be on the path to my dream career. Ever since my mom got hurt being in the healthcare field has been my number one goal, all the help my mom and me received through those hard times helped me make my decision of first being a nurse and hopefully soon after that either get my MSN or go to Med school. Every day with my mom's disability is hard because not many know of her disability, RSD isn’t well known, and there are no cures or treatments so every day is just me helping her not have a high level of pain and a sense of normalcy. Thankfully my mom is doing much better than she was back in 2008, and this has allowed me to go back to school and follow my career path again. I want to be an individual that can help others and be the one they can put their troubles on even if just for a second. The doctors and nurses that helped treat my mother helped take some weight off my shoulders in those days and I will forever be grateful for that. Now that I have officially been accepted into a nursing program I am one step closer to my dreams. Receiving this scholarship will help me financially, and with that, I'll be allowed to direct my focus would on getting good grades and taking care of my mom. For some time before being accepted into nursing school, I worked at White Plains Hospital as a nurse technician and this helped me view the nurses in action I must say even during the pandemic my mind was not swayed to choose a different path, if anything it increased my drive to follow this path to becoming a nurse as it is my passion.

My mom became disabled in 2008 when I was entering high school. Due to her nerve damage, I learned how to multitask and prioritize. As I was just entering High School I had a lot on my plate and since my single mother couldn't work, I was taking care of her and going to school and work has been my greatest obstacle in life. There were times when we didn't have a roof over our heads and we slept in the car but thankfully through hard work I graduated high school and made enough to help out my mother as much as I could. Due to my circumstances, I had to take a break from college because it became too much for me to handle, now I can go back to school and finally be on the path to my dream career. Ever since my mom got hurt being in the healthcare field has been my number one goal, all the help my mom and me received through those hard times helped me make my decision of first being a nurse and hopefully soon after that either get my MSN or go to Med school. Every day with my mom's disability is hard because not many know of her disability, RSD isn’t well known, and there are no cures or treatments so every day is just me helping her not have a high level of pain and a sense of normalcy. Thankfully my mom is doing much better than she was back in 2008, and this has allowed me to go back to school and follow my career path again. I want to be an individual that can help others and be the one they can put their troubles on even if just for a second. The doctors and nurses that helped treat my mother helped take some weight off my shoulders in those days and I will forever be grateful for that. Now that I have officially been accepted into a nursing program I am one step closer to my dreams. Receiving this scholarship will help me financially, and with that, I'll be allowed to direct my focus would on getting good grades and taking care of my mom. For some time before being accepted into nursing school, I worked at a hospital as a nurse technician and this helped me view the nurses in action I must say even during the pandemic my mind was not swayed to choose a different path, if anything it increased my drive to follow this path to becoming a nurse as it is my passion.

My mom became disabled in 2008 when I was entering high school. Due to her nerve damage, I learned how to multitask and prioritize. As I was just entering High School I had a lot on my plate and since my single mother couldn't work, I was taking care of her and going to school and work has been my greatest obstacle in life. There were times when we didn't have a roof over our heads and we slept in the car but thankfully through hard work I graduated high school and made enough to help out my mother as much as I could. Due to my circumstances, I had to take a break from college because it became too much for me to handle, now I can go back to school and finally be on the path to my dream career. Ever since my mom got hurt being in the healthcare field has been my number one goal, all the help my mom and me received through those hard times helped me make my decision of first being a nurse and hopefully soon after that either get my MSN or go to Med school. Every day with my mom's disability is hard because not many know of her disability, RSD isn’t well known, and there are no cures or treatments so every day is just me helping her not have a high level of pain and a sense of normalcy. Thankfully my mom is doing much better than she was back in 2008, and this has allowed me to go back to school and follow my career path again. I want to be an individual that can help others and be the one they can put their troubles on even if just for a second. The doctors and nurses that helped treat my mother helped take some weight off my shoulders in those days and I will forever be grateful for that. Now that I have officially been accepted into a nursing program I am one step closer to my dreams. Receiving this scholarship will help me financially, and with that, I'll be allowed to direct my focus would on getting good grades and taking care of my mom. For some time before being accepted into nursing school, I worked at a hospital as a nurse technician and this helped me view the nurses in action I must say even during the pandemic my mind was not swayed to choose a different path, if anything it increased my drive to follow this path to becoming a nurse as it is my passion.

My mom became disabled in 2008 when I was entering high school. Due to her nerve damage, I learned how to multitask and prioritize. As I was just entering High School I had a lot on my plate and since my single mother couldn't work, I was taking care of her and going to school and work has been my greatest obstacle in life. There were times when we didn't have a roof over our heads and we slept in the car but thankfully through hard work I graduated high school and made enough to help out my mother as much as I could. Due to my circumstances, I had to take a break from college because it became too much for me to handle, now I can go back to school and finally be on the path to my dream career. Ever since my mom got hurt being in the healthcare field has been my number one goal, all the help my mom and me received through those hard times helped me make my decision of first being a nurse and hopefully soon after that either get my MSN or go to Med school. Every day with my mom's disability is hard because not many know of her disability, RSD isn’t well known, and there are no cures or treatments so every day is just me helping her not have a high level of pain and a sense of normalcy. Thankfully my mom is doing much better than she was back in 2008, and this has allowed me to go back to school and follow my career path again. I want to be an individual that can help others and be the one they can put their troubles on even if just for a second. The doctors and nurses that helped treat my mother helped take some weight off my shoulders in those days and I will forever be grateful for that. Now that I have officially been accepted into a nursing program I am one step closer to my dreams. Receiving this scholarship will help me financially, and with that, I'll be allowed to direct my focus would on getting good grades and taking care of my mom. For some time before being accepted into nursing school, I worked at a hospital as a nurse technician and this helped me view the nurses in action I must say even during the pandemic my mind was not swayed to choose a different path, if anything it increased my drive to follow this path to becoming a nurse as it is my passion.

My mom became disabled in 2008 when I was entering high school. Due to her nerve damage, I learned how to multitask and prioritize. As I was just entering High School I had a lot on my plate and since my single mother couldn't work, I was taking care of her and going to school and work has been my greatest obstacle in life. There were times when we didn't have a roof over our heads and we slept in the car but thankfully through hard work I graduated high school and made enough to help out my mother as much as I could. Due to my circumstances, I had to take a break from college because it became too much for me to handle, now I can go back to school and finally be on the path to my dream career. Ever since my mom got hurt being in the healthcare field has been my number one goal, all the help my mom and me received through those hard times helped me make my decision of first being a nurse and hopefully soon after that either get my MSN or go to Med school. Every day with my mom's disability is hard because not many know of her disability, RSD isn’t well known, and there are no cures or treatments so every day is just me helping her not have a high level of pain and a sense of normalcy. Thankfully my mom is doing much better than she was back in 2008, and this has allowed me to go back to school and follow my career path again. I want to be an individual that can help others and be the one they can put their troubles on even if just for a second. The doctors and nurses that helped treat my mother helped take some weight off my shoulders in those days and I will forever be grateful for that. Now that I have officially been accepted into a nursing program I am one step closer to my dreams. Receiving this scholarship will help me financially, and with that, I'll be allowed to direct my focus would on getting good grades and taking care of my mom. For some time before being accepted into nursing school, I worked at a hospital as a nurse technician and this helped me view the nurses in action I must say even during the pandemic my mind was not swayed to choose a different path, if anything it increased my drive to follow this path to becoming a nurse as it is my passion.

My mom became disabled in 2008 when I was entering high school. Due to her nerve damage, I learned how to multitask and prioritize. As I was just entering High School I had a lot on my plate and since my single mother couldn't work, I was taking care of her and going to school and work has been my greatest obstacle in life. There were times when we didn't have a roof over our heads and we slept in the car but thankfully through hard work I graduated high school and made enough to help out my mother as much as I could. Due to my circumstances, I had to take a break from college because it became too much for me to handle, now I can go back to school and finally be on the path to my dream career. Ever since my mom got hurt being in the healthcare field has been my number one goal, all the help my mom and me received through those hard times helped me make my decision of first being a nurse and hopefully soon after that either get my MSN or go to Med school. Every day with my mom's disability is hard because not many know of her disability, RSD isn’t well known, and there are no cures or treatments so every day is just me helping her not have a high level of pain and a sense of normalcy. Thankfully my mom is doing much better than she was back in 2008, and this has allowed me to go back to school and follow my career path again. I want to be an individual that can help others and be the one they can put their troubles on even if just for a second. The doctors and nurses that helped treat my mother helped take some weight off my shoulders in those days and I will forever be grateful for that. Now that I have officially been accepted into a nursing program I am one step closer to my dreams. Receiving this scholarship will help me financially, and with that, I'll be allowed to direct my focus would on getting good grades and taking care of my mom. For some time before being accepted into nursing school, I worked at a hospital as a nurse technician and this helped me view the nurses in action I must say even during the pandemic my mind was not swayed to choose a different path, if anything it increased my drive to follow this path to becoming a nurse as it is my passion.

My mom became disabled in 2008 when I was entering high school. Due to her nerve damage, I learned how to multitask and prioritize. As I was just entering High School I had a lot on my plate and since my single mother couldn't work, I was taking care of her and going to school and work has been my greatest obstacle in life. There were times when we didn't have a roof over our heads and we slept in the car but thankfully through hard work I graduated high school and made enough to help out my mother as much as I could. Due to my circumstances, I had to take a break from college because it became too much for me to handle, now I can go back to school and finally be on the path to my dream career. Ever since my mom got hurt being in the healthcare field has been my number one goal, all the help my mom and me received through those hard times helped me make my decision of first being a nurse and hopefully soon after that either get my MSN or go to Med school. Every day with my mom's disability is hard because not many know of her disability, RSD isn’t well known, and there are no cures or treatments so every day is just me helping her not have a high level of pain and a sense of normalcy. Thankfully my mom is doing much better than she was back in 2008, and this has allowed me to go back to school and follow my career path again. I want to be an individual that can help others and be the one they can put their troubles on even if just for a second. The doctors and nurses that helped treat my mother helped take some weight off my shoulders in those days and I will forever be grateful for that. Now that I have officially been accepted into a nursing program I am one step closer to my dreams. Receiving this scholarship will help me financially, and with that, I'll be allowed to direct my focus would on getting good grades and taking care of my mom. For some time before being accepted into nursing school, I worked at a hospital as a nurse technician and this helped me view the nurses in action I must say even during the pandemic my mind was not swayed to choose a different path, if anything it increased my drive to follow this path to becoming a nurse as it is my passion.

My mom became disabled in 2008 when I was entering high school. Due to her nerve damage, I learned how to multitask and prioritize. As I was just entering High School I had a lot on my plate and since my single mother couldn't work, I was taking care of her and going to school and work has been my greatest obstacle in life. There were times when we didn't have a roof over our heads and we slept in the car but thankfully through hard work I graduated high school and made enough to help out my mother as much as I could. Due to my circumstances, I had to take a break from college because it became too much for me to handle, now I can go back to school and finally be on the path to my dream career. Ever since my mom got hurt being in the healthcare field has been my number one goal, all the help my mom and me received through those hard times helped me make my decision of first being a nurse and hopefully soon after that either get my MSN or go to Med school. Every day with my mom's disability is hard because not many know of her disability, RSD isn’t well known, and there are no cures or treatments so every day is just me helping her not have a high level of pain and a sense of normalcy. Thankfully my mom is doing much better than she was back in 2008, and this has allowed me to go back to school and follow my career path again. I want to be an individual that can help others and be the one they can put their troubles on even if just for a second. The doctors and nurses that helped treat my mother helped take some weight off my shoulders in those days and I will forever be grateful for that. Now that I have officially been accepted into a nursing program I am one step closer to my dreams. Receiving this scholarship will help me financially, and with that, I'll be allowed to direct my focus would on getting good grades and taking care of my mom. For some time before being accepted into nursing school, I worked at a hospital as a nurse technician and this helped me view the nurses in action I must say even during the pandemic my mind was not swayed to choose a different path, if anything it increased my drive to follow this path to becoming a nurse as it is my passion.

I am a strong believer of Karma and putting out into the world what you want to receive. Helping others also makes me feel happy. I try to do any task that will put a smile on another face. There was once a time in which an elderly lady was trying to cross the street at an intersection and I noticed although cars stopped at the stop sign she wouldn’t move. Once my car reached the stop sign I let her know she could cross but the car on the other side continued. Since there were no cars behind me I got out of my car and helped the woman cross. I made sure cars around us stopped so she could safely cross and she told me she was afraid to cross because she walks slowly and didn’t think cars would stop. She thanked me and we both went about our day, it did leave me thinking about how unsafe the elderly feel doing basic tasks so anytime I see an elderly individual needing help I immediately help.

My personal goal for a couple of years now has been to finish college and get my degree, my professional goal is still not fully determined. My first step in my professional goals is to become a Nurse, after that, I have not determined if I want to get my master’s in nursing or go to Medical School and become an Obstetrician. When I was in my first year of high school my mother got hurt at work and became permanently disabled, her nerve damage was hard to navigate, and we were in and out of hospitals and doctor offices. My mother’s disability is what helped me realize what I wanted my career path to be, the nurses and doctors were not only helpful to my mom, but they ensured my sister, and I were okay as well. These healthcare workers helped lift the weight off our shoulders which was exactly what we needed. Unfortunately, since my mother was permanently disabled this meant my sister and I needed to help with bills and that resulted in me needing to leave college my first year because I couldn’t work, take care of my mother, and get good grades. During this process I learned that not everything needs to be done according to the status quo, I always saw myself as less than because all my friends were graduating college meanwhile, I barely got through one year of college. I now realize that it just wasn’t my time to be in college because I was always a straight-A student getting honor roll awards but that first year, I wasn’t able to concentrate and I saw a drastic drop in my grades, now I am back to my good student status. Since I am still the primary caretaker of my mother, I am taking all remote classes which I also realized is the best learning method for me. I have learned a lot while taking care of my mother and look forward to one day being a piece of solace for someone else. This scholarship would be a blessing because since I am a full-time student and full-time caretaker it is hard for me to make money to cover education expenses. I was in a private school but the cost became too much for me and thankfully only did one semester before realizing community college is the best route. Unfortunately, I now have student loan debt due to this one semester of close to $6,000.

My mom became disabled in 2008, having to take care of her and go to school and work has been my greatest obstacle in life. There were times that we didn't have a roof over our heads and we slept in the car but thankfully through hard work I graduated high school and made enough to help out my mother as much as a i could. Due to my circumstances I had to take a break from college because it became to much for me to handle, now I have the ability to go back to school and finally be on the path to my dream career. Ever since my mom got hurt being in the healthcare field has been my number one goal, all the help my mom and me recieved through these hard times helped make my decision of first being a nurse and hopefully after that either get my MSN or go to Med school. Everyday with my moms disabiity is hard because not many know of her disability, RSD isn’t well known, there are no cures or treatments so everyday is just me helping her not have a high level of pain and some sort of normal lifestyle. Thankfully my mom is doing much better than she was back in 2008 but there is still a long way to go. receiving this scholarship will help me finacially so that my focus would mainly be on getting good grades and taking care of my mom.