Family Nurse Scholarship Essay

On February 16th, 2017, I was filled with happiness at being presented with the opportunity to fulfill my dream of studying at UCLA to become a Family Nurse Practitioner. At the same time, I worried about how I would manage to pay for graduate school. Being a first-generation college student and the first in my family to enter the healthcare field has taught me to be resourceful and resilient in the midst of adversity. My parents, two hard-working domestic workers, have worked endlessly to provide my brother and me the basic resources we need to succeed through education. They have taught us the values of hard work and determination. As I see my parents age before me, I know I will be solely financially responsible for my graduate school education. I worked part-time while completing my first degree in biology at the UCI and while completing

Seeing my mother go through the healthcare system and make a successful recovery motivated me to pursue a career in the healthcare field. As a result, during my time as an undergraduate student at UCI, I sought opportunities to immerse myself in the healthcare environment, and I became a volunteer diabetes case manager at the Irvine Outreach Clinic in Santa Ana. As a diabetes case manager, I assisted underserved Spanish-speaking patients with their diabetic care by educating them on topics of nutrition and glucometer use. This experience fomented my interest in nursing because I was able to see my patients improve over time and see the difference health education made in their quality of life. I also found my purpose in being an advocate and a guide to those who found themselves lost in the medical field due to a language