What motivates you to pursue your academic goals and how do you stay focused? by Marilyn

What motivates you to pursue your academic goals and how do you stay focused? by Marilyn - April 2024 Scholarship Essay

The field of study I’ve chosen to take is nursing. More specifically an ER/Trauma nurse. I chose this career because growing up I lived with my grandmother. I always aspired to be in the medical field of some sort, I just never found my right passion. My mom would always tell me to follow my heart and not worry about what others thought of me. She was also schizophrenic and suffered from cancer. The first type of cancer she had was a form of skin cancer. She was constantly in and out of hospitals because of it, and the impact the nurses had on her is what made her pull through for so many years. She would come visit my grandma and I and tell us stories of the nice nurses that made her day a little more bearable. The first time she beat cancer, she came home thrilled and excited to tell everyone that the troubles were finally over. We were all able to go to her last doctor’s appointment and the nurses there were very genuine and made the hospital feel 10 times safer than it already was. Eventually the cancer came back, but in a form of breast cancer. My mom was devastated but she was still able to hold out hope that she could pull through. Unfortunately the cancer got the best of her and she couldn’t pull through the second time, and she passed away in 2020.
Seeing the nurses' impact on my mothers stability really solidified my passion for becoming a healthcare professional. As I looked further into becoming a nurse, it aligned with my interest more than I ever thought it would’ve. I would spend hours and hours going down rabbit holes of videos of nursing tips and advice. Coming into high school I had the intent of doing the Medical Assisting program that my school offered. Knowing that she's somewhere watching me is what makes me want to continue to strive for better for myself. I'm currently halfway through it, and I'm loving it so far. This is just a stepping stone onto bigger and better things for my future in the medical field. Her constant words of encouragment gives me the strength to keep going even when I feel like giving up. The thought of being an ER nurse fills my every desire of being the woman I strive to be when I'm older. Being one of the first people a scared patient sees and being able to give them the best care possible seems like a dream come true. It's something I've never been more sure of in my life. I hope to someday have the same impact my mothers nurses had on her, for my future patients and their families. My grandma works a regular 9-5 and works paycheck to paycheck. I currently don’t have a job, but I plan on using my Medical Assistant certification to pay my way through college so my grandma can retire. If I received this scholarship, It could help put me in a more stable predicament for achieving my goals of getting a BSN and becoming the best nurse I possibly can for my patients and their families.