What oppor­tu­ni­ties or expe­ri­ences have you been able to take part in that you might not have been able to with­out the scholarship?

With­out this schol­ar­ship, I would not have had the oppor­tu­ni­ty to apply and be admit­ted into one of the top nurs­ing schools in the coun­try. In fact, I prob­a­bly wouldn’t have pur­sued sec­ondary edu­ca­tion at all. I would likely still be at home and would have start­ed work­ing right out of high school.

I also would not have met the peo­ple who have been so impor­tant to shap­ing the who I have become. Thanks to this schol­ar­ship, I have been able to have so many valu­able expe­ri­ences and have made so many mem­o­ries.

What is the most inter­est­ing thing you have done to gain expe­ri­ence in your career field?

I am cur­rent­ly explor­ing the world of being a first respon­der. I am work­ing to gain enough expe­ri­ence in crit­i­cal and trau­ma care that I can apply to flight nurs­ing. I think it will be exhil­a­rat­ing to go on res­cue mis­sions and apply my knowl­edge in such a high-pres­sure set­ting.

What advice would you give to some­one who is con­sid­er­ing apply­ing for the Bright Scholarship/​Lois Dale Schol­ar­ship?

I would advise any­one who is con­sid­er­ing apply­ing for the schol­ar­ship would be to get involved and work on learn­ing lead­er­ship skills. This will allow you to give back to your com­mu­ni­ty, which was one of Lois and Dale’s most impor­tant goals. It is a priv­i­lege and an hon­or to be in a posi­tion where you can give back to oth­ers.

It’s also impor­tant to build con­nec­tions with your instruc­tors and net­work with oth­ers. Not only will these rela­tion­ships lead to great let­ters of rec­om­men­da­tion, but they will also help open doors to dif­fer­ent oppor­tu­ni­ties that allow you to build your skills and help oth­ers.

Where do you see your­self in five years? 10 years?

In five years, I see myself liv­ing some­where in the south or on the west coast. I’ll most like­ly be work­ing in a hos­pi­tal or as a trav­el nurse, explor­ing the coun­try. In 10 years, I hope to have enough expe­ri­ence to be a flight nurse. By then, I hope to be liv­ing on the west coast, mak­ing res­cue mis­sions and work­ing to save peo­ple in dan­ger­ous sit­u­a­tions.

Where is your favorite place to study?

My favorite place to study is in the nurs­ing build­ing. There are many big, open win­dows and indi­vid­ual spaces to be alone. Since I’m a nurs­ing stu­dent, I have access to the build­ing late at night and on week­ends.