Finding Hope in Education Through Tragedy by Patrick

Finding Hope in Education Through Tragedy by Patrick - February 2024 Scholarship Essay

“Jake?” … The silence that followed more than matched the laughter my brother was known for. “JAKE!” I screamed, with a desperation novel to my voice. The belt tightly clenching his arm and the needle on the ground made the first responder’s efforts futile; my brother was dead.

Growing up in a home riddled with addiction brought with it tremendous challenges daily, however this was different. An over prescription of oxycontin combined with a lack of attention to overarching mental health issues birthed the substance use disorder that ultimately took my best friend’s life in 2015, when I was 17. Growing up we spent countless hours laughing and playing at our favorite basketball court, but I often felt helpless during the times that I would wait for him to come home late at night. While I lost Jake too early, and I miss him every day, the difficulty that he had in receiving effective health care has inspired me, with the deepest intensity, to do everything I can to help those who receiving inadequate support in healthcare. With my brother being an accomplished academic, it is no surprise that so much of my pursuits have undertaken an educational path.

The period following his death showed me that although Jake’s experiences were unique, suffering like his was more widespread in my community than I imagined. In 2015 I created and continue to direct a non-profit organization that provides educational outreach to communities devastated by the opioid epidemic. Incredible experiences with my foundation have fostered a search within myself for how I, too, could directly help these individuals, a search that has led me to the hands-on, patient-oriented approach of nurses. I believed that pursuing this would allow growth in understanding the patient-centered perspective, ultimately improving the goals of my foundation. Thus, my brother drove me to pursue a bachelor’s degree in nursing.

As a nurse at NYU Langone, I work in the float pool— meaning I work many floors in the hospital. I sought this experience to develop a holistic understanding of the deficits in care patients receive, expanding on the experience I witnessed within my family and community. As my understanding of these flaws has developed, so has my understanding of where I need to be putting in the work to address them.

I am currently studying at NYU to receive my MBA while working full time. This degree will allow me to operate in the positions that I desire—those where decisions are made that have systemic impact on patient outcomes. I believe that by combing an increased business acumen through my MBA studies, along with my passion for this area, the foundation will allow me to increase healthcare access in my community. The loss of my brother will always affect and inspire me. I want the affect to become the reason why other teenagers do not experience something similar – education is the primary tool to help me along this journey.