Marisa, a nursing student at Georgia State, is the winner of our first nursing scholarship contest. We wanted to send out a big congratulations from NJO and also reprint her entry again in full for all of you who missed it. We’d also like to congratulate Sarah and Student X, our second- and third-place winners!

Why I Chose Nursing, by Marisa

I chose to go into nursing for my daughter. When she was born, I was just a teen-ager myself. I had spent several years living on the edge, breaking rules whenever I could and existing by my wits. The moment the nurses put that fragile little breathing life into my arms the universe skidded to a stop, twisted into a helix shaped heartbeat and then restarted. I was a mother. All of a sudden all the things I had been so angry and righteously indignant about melted away into irrelevance. I cleaned up my act, started working, and directed my efforts at living an honest, meaningful life so that I could take care of and provide a good example for my daughter. I have found that the sweetest feeling is when I do something that makes my daughter proud of me. I am currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in nursing. The day I graduate, and walk across the stage to receive my diploma, I will acknowledge my gratitude to my daughter, without whom, none of it would have been possible.

I am currently attending the nursing program at Georgia State University. Many of my classmates express interest in working in various hospital units. The higher the acuity, the more glamorous the specialty seems. I am the only one in my semester so far who has voiced a desire to go into community nursing. We all want to help people – to aid the sick and dying. I, however, want to direct my care to those populations that are typically shunned or forgotten. I want to provide care for the homeless, low-income, AIDS patients and prisoners. I was once living upon the fringes of society, spurned and dismissed, and I want to show that same culture that people do care and are willing to reach out a helping hand in times of need.

A scholarship would allow me to reach my goal without compromising my standards. I hold myself to stringent criteria, and that sometimes makes life difficult. I work as much as I can, but when I started the GSU nursing program I had to seriously reconstruct my priorities. School is my most important commitment. Academic success depends on diligence and focus. I have had to sacrifice my standard of living to maintain my high GPA and membership in the Honors program. Financial help from your organization (and therefore the greater universe) would support my efforts to excel in nursing school.

Be sure to check out all the other scholarship entries as well. There were so many good ones, we hated to have to choose just three.