I’ve always known I wanted to be in the healthcare profession in some capacity. I grew up around my mother, a nurse in hospice, and my father, an EMT for part of my childhood. I always found their stories so interesting, and I knew I wanted to be like them one day. I will never forget the point in my childhood when I was finally old enough to grasp what happened to my baby brother. I had always known I lost a sibling, but I could never understand why. My brother died of a heart defect at birth. I was too young to understand, but to this day I grieve the loss of my brother. Ever since that moment, I knew I wanted to be a pediatric cardiothoracic surgeon. I worked incredibly hard in school and watched countless YouTube videos on open heart surgeries, brain surgeries, and countless other videos. I never strayed from that until I reached high school. Once I reached high school I became open about what happened in my medical history. When I was eleven years old, I was diagnosed with a grade 2 diffuse astrocytoma; brain cancer. My parents and I, after great thought and prayers, decided to proceed with a full resection of the tumor. I was blessed with five years cancer-free until the tumor returned during my senior year of high school. I then had to undergo many different kinds of chemotherapy treatments and I found my calling in life, nursing. After how safe my nurse made me feel every day that I was in the chemotherapy chair, I knew I wanted to allow other kids to feel that for the rest of my life. Gordon was my first choice not only because my mother graduated nursing school here, but I wanted to be a part of an exceptional program. I had already done about half of my core through Gordon's dual enrollment, so I was planning on applying to the nursing program in the fall of 2024, which is now becoming true. I am hoping to then graduate amongst my class as an RN with my bachelor's degree in two years. After graduating, I plan to find a job at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta as a pediatric oncology nurse. I have dreamed of helping people for as long as I can remember. The My Hometown Heroes scholarship would mean I could fulfill this dream with less debt, more opportunities, and fewer financial stressors.