My Mom: My Academic Role Model by Gage

My Mom: My Academic Role Model by Gage - March 2021 Scholarship Essay

My academic role model is my mother, Natasha Jodoin, because I witnessed her studying diligently for the career which she wanted desperately: nurse practitioner. When I was born, she was already a registered nurse in a prenatal department, and she worked the weekend shift at the Iowa Methodist Hospital, so that she could be with me most of the week. After I was enrolled in elementary school, she decided that she wanted to work in women’s health care, so she proceeded to start a college program to be a women’s health nurse practitioner. Having graduated with this degree, she worked for several years in a federally-funded community health center with primarily low-income patients. After a few years of this type of work, she decided she wanted to work with many ages and different genders, so she studied to become a family practice nurse practitioner. Taking this program of study from St. Louis University, she studied at home and took tests online. She loved reading about the different diseases and treatments, and she worked on this major while I was an elementary student. She studied diligently and reviewed for tests using every possible way she knew. For example, she used her home-made flashcards, other reference books, her text, medical journals, and talked to her fellow nurses about what she was studying. Finally, the day arrived on which she took her final exam for nurse practitioner. She learned a few days later that she had passed the test; she was elated and ready to start her new career! Now she works at a medical clinic in the Des Moines area; she is very knowledgeable about what she does and loves working with a wide variety of patients. Watching her study as she did and later copying her study strategies led me to appreciate her more as a role model!
My mother is my academic role model, because she planned her future and forged intently ahead in her studies to become a nurse practitioner in women’s health and family practice. She kept her goal utmost in her mind and carefully planned steps to reach her goal. Studying a lot, she was a great role model for my sister and me, because she worked earnestly to earn the degree she wanted. In addition, she taught my sister and I ways of learning new material, like the chunking method, memory tricks, asking ourselves questions before reading a text, outlining, and taking notes. These same methods have served me well as I progressed through high school and earned my place on the honor rolls.
I had a tremendously difficult time in school because of ADD and Dyslexia, but my mother encouraged me and tried to help me deal with both. She tried different methods to help me remember to record assignments and I have utilized them with success throughout high school. Handling Dyslexia was very difficult for me, as I mixed up my numbers and letters, and I experienced problems in my writing. She worked patiently with me each night to help me with writing numbers the correct way as I copied math problems onto paper. She helped me in such a caring way and never lost her temper--qualities I admire greatly.
Employed while she attended college and completing most of her own college work after my sister and I went to bed each night, she stayed on task and still provided quality time for her family. By her own actions, she has taught us that education clearly matters! I learned from her that performing well in school and postsecondary education is crucial to success, and I plan to follow in her footsteps and take my own education seriously. Moreover, I want to be an equally good academic role model to my own children someday.