Personal Statement: Have You Gone Beyond Your Vision

This journey will not be a easy task, but I am determined with ambition and dedication to helping those who seek guidance. The smallest gestures can have the most significant influence on someone’s life whether it means helping a student with their homework, or gathering ideas for a group project. “The best way to not feel hopeless is to get up and do something. Don’t wait for good things to happen to you. If you go out and make some good things happen, you will fill the world with hope, you will fill yourself with hope,” as stated by our President. Acknowledging the difference in one’s behavior because you’ve provided them with something they once didn’t have, should make a difference to you. The fondness of knowing that I’ve helped at least

he AIDS hospice reeked from disease and neglect. On my first day there, after an hour of "training," I met Paul, a tall, emaciated, forty-year-old AIDS victim who was recovering from a stroke that had severely affected his speech. I took him to General Hospital for a long-overdue appointment. It had been weeks since he had been outside. After waiting for two and a half hours, he was called in and then needed to wait another two hours for his prescription. Hungry, I suggested we go and get some lunch. At first Paul resisted; he didn’t want to accept the lunch offer. Estranged from his family and seemingly ignored by his friends, he wasn’t used to anyone being kind to him — even though I was only talking about a Big Mac. When it arrived, Paul took his first bite. Suddenly, his face lit up with the biggest, most radiant smile. He was on top of the world because somebody bought him a hamburger. Amazing. So little bought so much. While elated that I had literally made Paul’s day, the neglect and emotional isolation from which he suffered disgusted me. This was a harsh side of medicine I had not seen before. Right then and there, I wondered, "Do I really want to go into medicine?"

“I couldn't joke about the person who'd saved me from facing absolute heartbreak at home, who fed my family boxes of sweets,who ran to me worried that I was hurt if I asked for him. A month ago, I had looked at the TV and seen a stiff, distant, boring person-someone I couldn't imagine anyone loving. While he wasn't anything close to the person I did love, he was worthy of having someone to love in his life.”

I still miss Ray; he was an elderly man who showed up on my parent’s doorway one day. We had no rooms available at the time. However, Ray was persistent, he told my mom that her coach was very comfortable. Ray stayed with my family until one day he got sick and my dad took him to the hospital. He died at the hospital and it broke my heart that he had no family with him. I am sure it was a difficult choice for Ray to ask a stranger for help. My mom had to make difficult choices as well in regards to deciding which bills to pay. I remember having our utilities get turned off or having to eat only bread for dinner. Knowing and seeing the difficult choices people of all ages, shape and color have to make has made me more culturally sensitive. As we make choices in life, it is good to know that there are places to go for help. I realized through this clinical experience that community health nurses can help individual facing difficulty choices by providing community referrals and initiating inter-professional collaboration. Some of the families might not know there is help available to them and community nurses can help assist them so they don’t have to make the

During this time, I felt alone. My parents were at the hospital a lot. I felt I could not trust anyone. I had no one to share my secrets with. I began to hide my feelings. I plastered a fake smile on my face and pretended everything was going to be okay. I knew it was not going to be okay. If Kaylee got her heart transplant, the family would have to get rid of our cat, Maggie. If Kaylee did not get a heart in time, she would die.

I vividly remember that chilly night in March as I walked out of Fifer, the building my father now calls home, for the first time. I had goosebumps, but they were not from the cold I felt hit my skin. Instead, they were from the sickness in my stomach. As I got in the car, I began to cry and had to stop myself from running back inside. My entire world had turned upside-down. How could I go home without my father? How could I leave him in a nursing home, a place where he was too young and mentally fit to be confined? I had to fight the feeling that he didn’t belong. I had to remind myself of why he chose to be there, and I hated it.

Taylor Has been through a lot her grandfather died and so did her uncle, he died at the age of 29. She never had the chance to say how much she loved them. She always thought “What if I had said something, anything, What if I had the chance to change his outcome but I didn’t, I did nothing I just let it happen.” Now she is afraid of losing her grandmother that would be the end of the 4th of July parties, the christmas get-togethers, the Easter parties, and swimming in her lake when it's burning hot in the summer. But what breaks her heart the most is that her father has cancer. Taylor’s father mean the world to her, He means everything.

A grown and experienced young man, who lives in an assisted living facility in Charlotte, North Carolina has lived quite a long life. Ninety years old to be exact. He obtained a “been there done that, what’s new” type of attitude that often tickled or made people question his judgment. Nonetheless, this man—let’s call him Lyric, has his own protocol when it comes to the way he decides to spend the rest of his life. From a distance you may not understand his character but whose to say he’s sweeter on the inside? I happen to be a certified nursing assistant (CNA) who finally crossed paths with Lyric one warm evening. I was also a current student at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. After I finished eating all of the salty stress

One of the substance abuse interventions I recently led, resulted in a very public miraculous healing. I was contacted by the McCracken family early in 2015 to lead a last chance intervention for their son Jeff. Jeff McCracken was barely alive when we got him to treatment. Once he arrived at the facility we had in place, they immediately sent Jeff to the hospital. His medical condition was dire, he was given two months to live and sent to Hospice. In Hospice, Jeff’s parents requested our team to pray over him. Within days of that event, Jeff had an incredible turn around and was released from Hospice and entered a program. I sponsored Jeff throughout the recovery process. God has utterly transformed his life. Dubbed a modern day “Lazarus,”

Dylan is presented as a 3-year-old boy whose father, Chet, has recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer. Dylan’s mother, Shelly, has concerns over her son’s regressive behaviors and states that neither Chet nor Shelly had expressed to Dylan the severity of his father’s illness. Our author’s initial meeting with Dylan demonstrates the importance of trust and a sense of belonging in a relationship. Throughout his work with Dylan, Cozolino recognized the importance of also connecting with Chet in helping him prepare and say good-bye to his family and friends. Our author closes with reflecting on the importance of the relationships around us all.

Sitting in a classroom during the first course for my Administrative Credential, I still clearly recall the moment when I first heard that quote. I had been a classroom teacher for over ten years and yet I had not necessarily thought of or articulated teaching and learning through this lens. This quote and the ensuing discussion I engaged in with my colleagues that evening, resonated with me so strongly that it forever changed and guided my vision of education.

In 2011 and 2013, I had two summer internships with Cornerstone Montgomery: the first working in the Life Skills Program, and the second working in their 24-hour crisis residential facility. While working in the Life Skills Program, I fostered my interest in working with those who suffer from severe and persistent mental illness. I taught my clients’ skills needed for rehabilitation including eating healthy on a budget, basic computer skills, and medication management. When I returned to Cornerstone Montgomery in 2013, they asked me to intern in

Upon entering, Leah, a fellow classmate, gave me a tour of the facilities. She showed me the offices, dining area, laundry, and shower area. As she showed me around, I was introduced to different people she had befriended since she started volunteering. At first I was very nervous to meet homeless people, but with each new person I met I started becoming increasingly curious about their backgrounds and how they ended up here at the shelter. First I met Bob and Destiny. Later Bob sat down and gave me his story. He has been coming to the shelter for twenty-five years, not all of those years being his best. He still suffers from an alcohol problem, but volunteers his time at the shelter. Bob was one of the sweetest people I met during my time

Words like “brutal,” “brave,” and “looming loss” generate the depressing feeling and generosity the friend was when he was thinking of the daughter when his own son has chemo. The phrase “Your son so ill, the brutal chemo, his looming loss owning you now” gives personification by giving chemo human qualities in saying it “owns you” and how the idea of the nearing of death of his son is consuming him. The phrases don’t just emphasize the tone, but also show the emotional aspect of chemo and how such a small gift can make a big difference. The emotional aspect is also influenced with a creative use of syntax. By using multiple commas and hyphens to split up the phrases, the author creates natural pauses to create a more emotional feel for the

I am writing this statement as a declaration of my personal vision. It will serve as a guide to help ensure that my actions are corresponding to what I envision. This personal vision statement is designed to help facilitate my purpose, unforeseen obstacles, and how to manage theses obstacles. A great deal of thought has gone into constructing this vision statement and I hope that within time these endeavors fill me with a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment.