Overcoming dyslexia was one of the hardest things I have ever gone through. While I was still in kindergarten, my mom decided that since she was a stay-at-home mom she wanted to homeschool me and my siblings for at least the early and formative years of our education. During this time, reading and spelling were a huge challenge for me. I was behind my grade level in both, and even my younger sister was catching on faster than I was. We started looking into the reasons for my troubles since I was bright in every other subject. We eventually found out that I have dyslexia. After this discovery, we found a dyslexia tutor and Barton, an English curriculum intended to teach me reading and writing in a way I would understand. My 3rd-grade enemy was Barton: I worked on reading and spelling for two hours every afternoon with my mom and felt like no progress had been made. I would sit there crying. Nothing I was being taught made sense. I just thought I was dumb. Eventually, though, things started to stick. I was able to memorize spelling and the rules words abided by. I had to work intensively on English for four years and meet with a tutor twice a week. Because of this, I became pretty proficient in reading and writing, but still struggled with spelling. After my own experience, I felt the need to speak on behalf of the other kids struggling with learning disabilities like I had. I ended up going to the capitol twice, with my tutor and spoke to senators on behalf of legislation to help teachers in Nebraska catch signs of dyslexia. All the hard work I put in over the years has now paid off. I started attending a private school in 8th grade. Since then, reading and writing along with speaking and memorization, have come more easily to me. My teachers are astonished that I’m dyslexic and tell me they never would have guessed if I had not told them. I am now a 4.0 student and want to pursue higher education to get a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. I have lived in a rural community my whole life and would love the opportunity to come back here and serve. As of right now, I have over a year of college credit completed. All of it was through online and dual credit classes I took while in high school and over the summers. This accomplishment would not be possible without my mom catching the signs of my dyslexia, and all the hard work I put in sitting at a dining room table for hours upon hours.

My life has been shaped by women. My family is prominently female. My mom has four sisters, and my dad has two sisters. In my immediate family, I am the oldest of eight children; six of us are girls. As a rural woman, I know what it is like to travel far on empty highways to school and work. Some would say there is no use living rurally because there is nothing out here. That may be true for convenience, places to go, and things to do. However, I would argue there is a much more tight-knit and caring community in a small town than in a city. A small town is like a family; everyone knows each other very well. I have grown up in a rural community my whole life, and the women around me have become family. They have had a profound impact on me, and have been like second mothers to me. My dad is a rural doctor, and from a young age, I would toddle behind him when he took me to the hospital to do rounds on Saturdays. The PAs and nurses took me under their wing while I was there. As a little girl, I watched them check in patients, run tests, and draw up syringes. These were the same women who cared for me during the several traumatic times I had to be in the ER, OR, and postop room, and they taught me many different things. I have learned much about myself through these experiences. I love my small town. Preserving the unique healthcare small towns can provide would be an honor. I have always been around rural healthcare. Some of my first steps were through the halls of a hospital. As I stated earlier, my dad is a rural Family Practice Doctor, and my mom is an RN. I have always loved the atmosphere, the rush, and the fact that everyone knew each other. I have realized the privilege it is to be a caring person in someone’s time of need. Early in high school, I committed to pursuing the healthcare field. Since then, I have been taking every possible step toward that goal. I earned my CNA at sixteen and began working in a nursing home and a rural family clinic. Over the last three years, I have accrued over thirty college credits toward my nursing school courses. I have always been surrounded by women, have been in a rural community my whole life, and have grown up around healthcare. I have been inspired and trained by female healthcare providers. They have been there for some of the most traumatic moments of my life, whether it was a wrist sprain or ACL surgery. When I had to get stitches on my face after a terrible dog bite, I had a comforting nurse who held my hand the whole time. She later ended up training me for my job at the clinic. At my first physical, I did not want to see my dad or the other male providers. I wanted to see Amy, Katie, or Jordan. They made me feel comfortable because I felt that they understood me. Being around so many female healthcare professionals has inspired me to become that person for others. I want to be involved in rural healthcare. I want to live in a small town. I want to provide excellent and compassionate care to rural patients while inspiring young women and girls to pursue their gifts and dreams in life. To me, that would be a dream fulfilled.