From Challenge to Opportunity by Rebekah

From Challenge to Opportunity by Rebekah - February 2024 Scholarship Essay

I was ten years old when my parents gathered my brother and sister and me into a room in our home to talk. Confused and curious, I was oblivious to what was happening. We were preparing to go on a family camping trip in a couple of days, so surely this was the topic of discussion, I told myself. However, the bleak look in my parents’ eyes betrayed the weight of the news we were about to receive. My mother had breast cancer. In a state of shock, the truth behind my father’s words did not sink in until later. When it finally did, I was devastated, along with the rest of my family, and our lives changed completely that fall afternoon in 2016.

The ensuing years were primarily dedicated to assisting my mother in her recovery from this dreadful disease. My carefree childhood abruptly changed as I had to sacrifice many of the activities I previously enjoyed. Instead of continuing theater class with friends, I learned how to juice fruits and vegetables and tend to my mother after her surgery. I longed to participate in social activities, but instead, I cooked meals, did extra chores, and helped my little sister with her schoolwork. Despite surgery and numerous treatments, my mother had a recurrence of breast cancer in 2020. This led to two more surgeries, radiation, and chemotherapy in hopes of ridding her body of this disease. But instead of being a victim of my mother’s diagnosis, I found great fulfillment in supporting her recovery over the last seven years from surgeries, chemotherapy, radiation, and other treatments. I became comfortable with bandage dressing changes after surgery, wound care during radiation, and recently accompanying my mother to medical appointments where I helped by taking notes. As difficult as it has been, I have learned so much about cancer treatment and what patients go through.

It was through these circumstances that I discovered what I want to do for the rest of my life. Every time I helped my mother with her treatment, instead of being exhausted, I found that I yearned to help her more. That is when I knew I wanted to be a nurse. Since then, I have taken every opportunity to talk to nurses and learn more about what they do. It is exciting to hear about their different roles and how much they love their job. I have been accepted to a university and hope to start school in the fall to pursue my nursing degree. The biggest hurdle I face is financial, since my family’s medical expenses have exhausted my parents’ resources. This scholarship means a lot to me because I will be working to pay my way through school. Receiving this scholarship would enable me to pursue the training and education I need to achieve my dream of becoming a nurse so I can improve the lives of others.