Essay 3: Please discuss your commitment to pursue a career in nursing.
Growing up, I always tried to do what I could for others. I wanted to help, and
nothing was more satisfying than knowing I had done something for some one else.
Above all, I loved taking care of people.
My mom was taken to the hospital two days after my eighteenth birthday. I will
never forget that day. I walked into the room, saw all of wires, and broke down. I was
sitting in the hallway in tears when a nurse sat down next to me and told me that it would
be okay. Other than for school, I never left her side. I asked questions in order to know
what was going on, and I learned a lot. I left for school November 1st, telling her that I
loved her and I would be back at five o’clock. She said she loved me too and that I would
know where to find her. That’s the last thing she ever said to me. I was pulled out of class
early that day, and twenty minutes after I got to the hospital, she was gone. My mom, my
best friend, and my life all fell apart in twenty minutes.
Life doesn’t stop because one person wants it to. I started to think about school
again. How could I watch other people go through what I went through? Two things gave
me my answer. First, the way my mom felt while I was there helping take care of her will
always keep pushing me. She was happy and felt better because I was there. Secondly, I
want to be the nurse that sat on the floor with me the first night I was at the hospital. I
want to be the person who makes others feel better because I’m there, and who raises
patients’ spirits because I’m the person I am.
My dream has always been to have two letters behind my name – an R and an N.
However, it is not about the letters. It is about knowing that I have the education and
training to take care of people and to make a difference. I want to know that people are
positively affected by what I do, and that I am helping to make the world a better place to
live.