I am a 31-year-old nursing student and mother to one beautiful soon-to-be 5-year-old. Nursing is something that I always wanted to do but never thought I was capable of until life gave me the motivation I needed to push through and realize that I can do hard things. Before nursing school, I worked most of my adult life as a hairstylist. Even when I didn’t think I was capable of being a nurse at the time, I wanted to do something with my life that made people feel better about themselves, even if only for a day. While I loved those moments where I felt like I was making a difference, they were few and far between. I loved those moments but quickly was left feeling unfulfilled and like I wasn’t making a difference in the world. I stopped working when my daughter was born in order to be there for all of the firsts and spend more than the standard 12 weeks of maternity leave with her. While I was in the hospital giving birth, my admiration for nurses only grew. These amazing people were there for me in a way that no one else could be, in my most vulnerable and scary moments they guided me through and reassured me. After a traumatic labor and birth experience I left the hospital considering a career change once I was ready to reenter the workforce. I could imagine no higher calling than to be there for someone else in the moments that they needed someone the most. A few months after I had my daughter, the pandemic began. My ‘aha’ moment happened while my husband and I were talking about the situation we were facing as a society. He obviously knew about my desire to become a nurse as it was something that we had discussed several times over the years and more so after the birth of our daughter. He said to me “Aren’t you glad you’re not a nurse right now?” to which I replied, “No, I wish I could be helping right now.” After that conversation, while sitting in my house during the lockdown and seeing how badly nurses were needed, I enrolled at my local community college in the prerequisite classes needed to start my career in nursing. I am now a few months away from finishing the third of the four years required for my bachelor's in nursing.

There have been many people in my life who have been great influences on me and who have guided me into growing into the person I have become. I am grateful for every single person who has played a role in my life both for the good and bad as every experience has culminated in who and where I am in life. If I am being honest though I would have to say that the person who has most profoundly impacted my life by helping me realized my full potential is my daughter. While she is only 3 and hasn’t done anything through her actions to help me realize my potential, her existence on this planet has given me levels of motivation and drive that I never would have thought possible until she came into my life. When my daughter was born, I had a job that some might even say was a career but it was not a very high earning one and shortly after she was born the pandemic began, the industry I was working in was one of the most affected and shut down for several months. After experiencing motherhood and a global pandemic, I decided to return to school for nursing and am currently going into my third year of a BSN program at Penn State Fayette. Nursing was something that I always wanted to do but never thought I was capable of. My daughter helped me realize my full potential by giving me the motivation I needed to go back and pursue something hard. When I graduate, I will be a first-generation college graduate. My daughter impacts me to realize my potential in that she gives me the motivation to break generational cycles of poverty. She is my biggest influence in realizing my potential in so many ways. I want her to see that I, and in turn she, are capable of hard things when you are determined enough. I want to see that even if you do not take the traditional path, you can still achieve success. I want her to see and know that even if the odds are stacked against you, you can accomplish whatever you want if you are willing to do the work. Ultimately, she helps me to realize my full potential in that I want to give her the life she deserves. I want her to have every opportunity and experience I could not have. I want to be able to save for and pay for her college, be able to afford to get her into a good school district and take her to Disneyworld. She influences me in that I want better for her.

I am someone who values interpersonal connection and nursing provides an opportunity to help people at their most vulnerable. Nursing is also a challenging and fulfilling career that I look forward to having the opportunity to participate in. Many of the most influential people I have had the honor of having in my life have been nurses and it is something I always wanted to do in the back of mind but my own self-doubt and insecurity held me back. After having been on the receiving end of great nursing care and living through a global pandemic, I decided that it was time for me make the change into nursing in order to be a greater asset to both my family and my community. I have experienced what it’s like to have the support of great nurses while at my most vulnerable and scared. When I gave birth to my daughter, I had a very long and hard labor where things got very scary for a while. I don’t know how I would have gotten through that situation and had the power to push through without the team of nurses that I had. In my worst moments, I had a team of amazing women around me to support me both emotionally and medically. I was inspired by those amazing women who were with me through one of the hardest things I ever experienced to finally start taking the steps I needed to get into nursing school. My daughter is three now and I am now in the second semester of my sophomore year of my BSN. I am consistently a dean’s list student and also work as a nursing care assistant at the local hospital. I enjoy the challenge and the fulfillment it brings me each and every shift to know that I am doing something to better society and my local community. I also love knowing that I’m making my daughter proud, every day when I come home from work in my scrubs my daughter tells me that she is so excited that I was helping people. I know that I will be a good nurse and that I’m being the role model for my daughter that she deserves. I know that medical care is important but I also know that sometimes what a person really needs in that situation is someone in their corner to offer them kindness, a gentle touch, or to just be with them and listen. Nursing is about so much more than the just medical care they provide; nurses are the cornerstone of the interprofessional team and advocates for their patients. I take great pride in knowing that one day soon I will be able to provide that for other people in their moments of need.

I am a second-year nursing student, a mother to a 3-year-old little girl, and very recently lost my grandmother. I know losing a grandparent is normal and I know that some will say it's not the same as losing a parent but to me it is. I grew up with abusive and negligent parents, my grandparents were all I ever had. I’ve always struggled financially with college but now I’m struggling emotionally as well and finding a hard time finding motivation at the worst possible time. Knowing that my daughter will never know love from someone in my family makes me only want to fight harder to make sure she gets the life she deserves. I want her to be able to look at what I’ve achieved on my own, for her, and be proud to have me as her mother. I want her to know that she’ll never be in the position that I am because of what I’m doing to make sure she has a good life. I want to and will successfully finish my BSN program but any scholarship, no matter the size, will aid me tremendously in making it happen as well as taking quite a bit of my mental load away.

I am someone who values interpersonal connection and nursing provides an opportunity to help people at their most vulnerable. Nursing is also a challenging and fulfilling career that I look forward to having the opportunity to participate in. Many of the most influential people I have had the honor of having in my life have been nurses and it is something I always wanted to do in the back of my mind but my self-doubt and insecurity held me back. After having been on the receiving end of great nursing care and living through a global pandemic, I decided that it was time for me to make the change to nursing to be a greater asset to both my family and my community. I have experienced what it’s like to have the support of great nurses while at my most vulnerable and scared. When I gave birth to my daughter, I had a very long and hard labor where things got very scary for a while. I don’t know how I would have gotten through that situation and had the power to push through without the team of nurses that I had. In my worst moments, I had a team of amazing women around me to support me both emotionally and medically. I was inspired by those amazing women who were with me through one of the hardest things I ever experienced to finally start taking the steps I needed to get into nursing school. My daughter is three now and I’m about to start the second semester of my sophomore year of my BSN. I am consistently a dean’s list student and also work as a nursing care assistant at the local hospital. I enjoy the challenge and the fulfillment it brings me every shift to know that I am doing something to better society and my local community. I also love knowing that I’m making my daughter proud, every day when I come home from work in my scrubs my daughter tells me that she is so excited that I was helping people. I know that I will be a good nurse and that I’m being the role model for my daughter that she deserves. I know that medical care is important but I also know that sometimes what a person needs in that situation is someone in their corner to offer them kindness, a gentle touch, or to just be with them and listen. Nursing is about so much more than the just medical care they provide; nurses are the cornerstone of the interprofessional team and advocates for their patients. I take great pride in knowing that one day soon I will be able to provide that for other people in their moments of need.

I don’t think one single person or event inspired me to pursue nursing. I will say some of the most important women in my life have been nurses and nursing is something that I always wanted to do but never thought I was capable of until life gave me the motivation I needed to push through and realize that I can do hard things. I decided to change course and pursue nursing after experiencing both a global pandemic and motherhood. My labor with my daughter was long and hard, and the nurses in labor and delivery supported me in my most vulnerable and scary moments in a way that no one else could, I left the hospital already considering making the change to be able to be that person in the lives of others. A few months after I had my daughter, the pandemic began. While sitting in my house during the lockdown and seeing how badly nurses were needed, I enrolled at my local community college in the prerequisite classes needed to start my career in nursing. I am now in the second year of my BSN with a 4.0 GPA.

Nursing is something that I always wanted to do but never thought I was capable of until life gave me the motivation I needed to push through and realize that I can do hard things. I decided to change course and pursue nursing after experiencing both a global pandemic and motherhood. My labor with my daughter was long and hard, and the nurses in labor and delivery supported me in my most vulnerable and scary moments in a way that no one else could, I left the hospital already considering making the change to be able to be that person in the lives of others. A few months after I had my daughter, the pandemic began. While sitting in my house during the lockdown and seeing how badly nurses were needed, I enrolled at my local community college in the prerequisite classes needed to start my career in nursing. I am now in the second year of my BSN with a 4.0 GPA. Receiving this scholarship would help me tremendously in reaching my goal of obtaining my BSN. As a mother and an adult student, I have more responsibilities than the average student both financially and physically. As a mother, my time must be split in order to stay present in my daughter's life. In order for me to be able to take on the class load that a BSN requires I have had to put my daughter in childcare while also working significantly fewer hours which has certainly taken its toll financially. I have rearranged my entire life and am basically starting over at this point in my life to make sure that I can reach my goal of becoming a nurse and providing a better life for my daughter. Despite my efforts, I still had to put most of my supplies and books as well as part of my tuition on credit cards this year as I did not receive enough funding which is not at all a sustainable way to go about paying for my education in the long run. Receiving enough financial support to not have to use any high-interest avenues such as credit cards or private loans would not only help for obvious financial reasons but would also take such a large mental load off my conscience that would allow me to breathe just a little bit easier. Any and every scholarship that I receive no matter how small helps greatly toward my goal of becoming a nurse and creating a better life for my daughter and a better community through nursing.