Ever since I have known what nurses are, I have wanted to be one. I like the hospital environment, but most importantly, I love caring for others, especially children. I enjoy being able to ease someone's discomfort with the simplest task and I love knowing I am in a position to improve someone's life.

I went into nursing for a multitude of reasons, but mainly because this career provides flexibility and endless opportunities for advancement. Nursing is a career requiring a perfect balance of scientific knowledge, autonomous thinking, compassion and human interaction. It was this unique balance that drew me to the profession and ultimately the reason why I love it.

I have always been interested in health care and initially though that I would pursue medical school after graduating from college. However, for a high school career project, I had the opportunity to shadow a nurse and immediately fell in love with the profession. I love the fact that nurses get to be care providers, teachers, advocates and role models all rolled into one. Nurses are uniquely positioned to care for patients as well as be voices for the public.

I chose nursing because, like most nurses, I care a great deal about others and I wanted a career that would provide me with the opportunity to help. In addition, I knew nursing would be an extremely gratifying profession that would give me a sense of purpose and pride. Nursing provides the ultimate opportunity to connect with, learn from and share with others.

The day that I knew I was going to be a nurse was the day I fell off my bike in third grade and had to get stitches. I carried around a first aid kit for days and changed the bandage on my leg. I have volunteered in nursing homes and hospitals for most of my life and have found those experiences to be personally fulfilling. There is something so rewarding about helping others feel better and it is that feeling that lured me to nursing.

I want to make a difference in the lives of other people and feel that nursing will give me that opportunity. Pursing Honors has helped me extend myself academically, giving me the opportunity to work closely with a faculty member and to appreciate the process of research.

I chose to go into nursing because it was a discipline that combined my love of teaching, caring for children, and interest in science and disease processes. The profession presents unlimited opportunities and career directions. I want to be part of a group of professionals that places people, their health and their well being above all else.

I chose nursing as a career because I wanted to work with children and their families by giving them care and support during times of stress and vulnerability. I look forward to using the communication, patient education and technical skills I have learned in nursing school to provide holistic, curative and preventative care in both hospital and community settings. A nursing career will provide me with opportunities to play many different roles in my patients' lives.

As a little girl, I knew that I wanted to work in a hospital. Everything about it interested me--the science, the medicine, the people. My dad is a CRNA and I never met anyone who loved their job so much. When I was sixteen, I asked to shadow him at work. As I watched him interact with his patients, I saw what an impact he had on each and every one of them. From that moment on I realized that nursing is more than biology and scrubs; it's a relationship. As a nurse, not only will I be helping someone physically, but I will get to relate with them on a personal level. That relationship is why I chose to go into nursing.

I chose a career in nursing because I wanted to make a difference in the lives of others in a holistic manner while being intellectually and professionally challenged. Pursing Honors has been challenging, but I have learned how to organize and conduct research, which will assist me in my long-term goal of pursuing advanced nursing education.

Healthcare has always fascinated me and I knew that I wanted to have the power to heal whether with touch, words or medicine. I chose to go into nursing because of the level of intimacy with patients that it offered. Pursing Honors has allowed me to see how the research process works first hand. This experience has confirmed for me my desire to do nursing research.