Sharon Nield Memorial Award

 I became a nurse for many reasons. From age eight, I took on a nurturing role by caring for my two younger brothers, so that my single mother could work to support our family. Throughout my life I have always felt compassionate to care for others, and I spent a lot of time with my grandparents and helped them with groceries and errands. I also became a nurse because I wanted a secure job, while improving the lives of others.

I have always been drawn to people who have a disability, and I always attempt to improve people’s health both physically and emotionally. As a child, I spent at least one week a year in the hospital because of my asthma, and I felt like hospitals were special places where I met a few compassionate and nurturing nurses. One night when I was 12 years-old, I woke up with a severe asthma attack that eventually lead to cardiac arrest for almost 5 minutes. When I woke up, I was sure that the hospital was powered by benevolent people who saved my life. I feel great passion to pursue nursing to nurture and save lives, because I know that health care staff saved my life, and I feel like I owe it to a healthcare profession. In 2013, I gained enough funding through a GoFundMe account, to leave North America for the first time in my life to travel to Faridabad, India, where I volunteer nursed for 2 weeks at various slums, pediatric, surgical, and ophthalmic settings. I am sure that nursing is my destiny and I will continue on this educational path as far as I can go, and help as many people as I can.