Scholarship Being Diagnosed With Any

Scholarship

Being diagnosed with any disease can cause a tremendous upheaval, forcing self-assessment and adaptation to new ways of life. A disease that also comes tagged with social stigma, like schizophrenia, further complicates the process of healing, recovery, and personal growth. Having been diagnosed with schizophrenia, I view mental illness now as a source of responsibility that enables me to feel not sorry for myself but highly motivated to help others and to transform adversity into creative energy and successful enterprise. Through my experiences with the mental health community as a patient, I have cultivated a strong desire to participate as a practitioner to help others reach a sense of peace, balance, and well-being.

Opportunities are often closed off to someone in my position and with my condition for several social, political, personal and economic reasons. Therefore, I relish and appreciate this opportunity to represent my university as an aspiring professional nurse. Just as I hope to do throughout my career, this scholarship serves a significant function in raising awareness about the truth of cognitive disorders, dispelling the myth that mental illness precludes educational and professional attainment. Through my education and professional training I hope to do the same: to raise awareness and transform minds as well as directly help individuals. Through my career as a nurse, I will continually endeavor to make changes in the lives of individuals and within health care organizations that will positively affect the lives of all patients with whom I come into contact.

As a recipient of the scholarship I will represent your organization and the university with aplomb, dedicated to my chosen field and motivated to overcome and even to capitalize on my adversity. While I am drawn to the field of psychiatric nursing in particular, I am interested in investigating several other areas of specialization while in the nursing program to both expand by breadth of knowledge and to hone my specific skills in particular areas of interest from geriatrics to acute care. A naturally devoted individual, my commitment to my academic course of study and to the health care profession will become further evident in graduate school, where I will meet with esteemed professors, mentors, and specialists who can help me perfect my skills and find a niche within the nursing community. While in graduate school, I intend to take advantage of internship or residency opportunities and to participate in volunteer work and community service activities.