Love, A Future Nurse by Elena

Love, A Future Nurse by Elena - February 2024 Scholarship Essay

Despite the fact that I could not take another step a few hours after shadowing my first doctor (who was constantly walking from place to place), I knew I wanted to work in the healthcare field. Between waking up before school to study for upcoming tests and going over anatomy Quizlets in the car, I pushed myself through my high school years with one thing in mind: “This will all be worth it when I become a doctor.”
I was first labeled as a “gifted student” during my elementary school years in Los Angeles. Coming from parents who did not have the opportunity to further their education beyond high school (middle school for my dad), my mother and father would get over-the-moon ecstatic whenever they would talk to my brothers and me about college. We would be living their dreams for them.
Growing up in an area where opportunities for students were very scarce, I soon became adamant in taking advantage of every opportunity that came my way when I moved to Palmdale. For a low-income family, however, gas prices, uniform expenses, colliding schedules, and miscellaneous purchases were all obstacles that we had to overcome. Fortunately, by God’s grace, I was able to find what I was truly passionate about and pursue these activities. I dropped my after-school activities to join the Health Careers Academy, where I had the opportunity to shadow doctors twice a week. All the while I kept one thing in mind: “This will all be worth it when I become a doctor.”
Up until the start of my senior year, I had my heart set on becoming a physician. I knew I had the potential to graduate medical school and do well during my residency years, but my career goals changed after realizing the drastic differences between nurses and doctors, one of them being patient interaction. I had always dreamed of becoming a doctor that knew her patients on a personal level, but I wasn’t aware that doctors had little patient interaction with hospitalized people. I realized this as well when I went back to shadowing doctors. Majority of the doctors told me they enjoyed the research part of medicine, while the majority of the nurses told me they enjoyed the social part of medicine. This was my decision breaker. I knew I wanted to become a nurse from then on.
I believe the healthcare field needs more people willing to help their patients for the benefit of their patients’ health, not for the benefit of the hospital’s income or reputation. My older brother was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease in 2022. Both of his intestines were inflamed and his digestion was compromised. When he was admitted to the hospital, the doctors kept pressing for surgery, but we denied. After a couple of days, we realized that he was being kept on blood thinners, despite only excreting bloody stools for the past weeks. When we asked the doctor about it, he said it was protocol for all hospital patients to be on blood thinners, since being bed-ridden increased the chances of clots. I remember thinking about this even after he left the hospital a couple of weeks later. Does protocol always overrule common sense? When we asked a nurse about taking him off of blood thinners because of his situation, she agreed. My brother was eventually taken off of the blood thinners, but the doctor continued to push the subject of surgery. We transferred him to another hospital, for treatment of his inflamed intestines, but we later found out that the original hospital transferred him, tagging him as a “surgical patient”.
By God's grace, my brother is now doing better than he was before, but this event made me think about how corrupt some hospitals can be. Healthcare professionals are supposed to be helping their patients, instead of insisting their way is right without revising their plans of action. I want to become a nurse to help patients, not just with their health problems, but with any concerns that the family may have.
I hope to attend college with a major in nursing. I am very passionate about helping people and I love every aspect of the medical field. As a part-time intern at Family First Family Medical Practice, I have grown accustomed to interacting with patients and helping them in any way I can.
I am applying for the Varsity Tutors Scholarship because this opportunity allows me to continue my education without having financial burdens. God-willing, I plan to continue to pursue my passion for the medical field, expand my knowledge by taking advantage of every opportunity, and implement my dedication to my studies and future.