Experience by Nevaeh

Experience by Nevaeh - January 2026 Scholarship Essay

Have you ever thought you were going to do one thing but when you tried it, you realized it's not for you? I got the privilege of helping, taking care of, and brightening people's day. In my junior year of high school, I took a nursing services class with the hopes of obtaining my CNA license. I perfected skills like proper handwashing, bed making, and taking blood pressure and more. Through this experience, I learned how to provide better care and overall be a more caring person.
I've always known that I wanted to work in the medical field when I grew up. When I started high school and found out that there was a CNA class I could take as an upperclassman, I was sure that I was going to take it. I made sure I took all the prerequisite classes like health science, medical therapeutics, and anatomy and physiology.
Walking into clinicals, I didn't really have any expectations of what I would see, feel, and engage with. There was one specific resident who stood out to me. A lot of the other residents and nurses found her “obnoxious” and “annoying,” but I felt like I understood her. She would sing and hum very loudly sometimes which is why the people around her didn’t appreciate her presence.I saw it as her expressing herself in one of the few ways she knows how. I took the time to feed her, get her up in her chair, and change her briefs. “Granny loves you” she would say when anyone entered or exited her room. Another resident I got the pleasure of working with was usually very laid back and let us do what we needed to do. One day, I was brushing his teeth and tongue and realized that this hadn’t been done in a long time. His tongue was covered in old food and build up. Realizing that not all the residents received the care they needed saddened me.I built strong bonds and meaningful relationships with plenty of the residents. I am very grateful for my time there.
While becoming a CNA opened my eyes to the significance of caregiving, it also helped me realize that this may not be a forever job for me. Witnessing suffering and loss day after day was very heavy. Maybe direct patient care isn't for me. I talked to my mom about other options in the healthcare field and discovered sonography. The idea of using technology to help in the diagnosis and treatment of people excited me. I feel like I finally found something that I will enjoy so much that it won’t feel like work, which is my goal. I know that being a caregiver and being a sonographer are completely different roles, but I gained many skills from being a CNA including, patient care, the importance of communication, and empathy. I am willing to accept new challenges and embrace new techniques.
Going into the CNA class, I had very low expectations for myself and didn’t feel like I was smart enough to be in the class. When it was finally time for state testing, I was extremely nervous. For state testing, we were required to take both a written test and a skills test. I felt more confident about the written test than the skills. The skills I had to perform were putting on an isolation gown & gloves/empty a urinary drainage bag, measure and record output, remove the gown and gloves, take and record a resident blood pressure, and pivot transfer a weight bearing, non-ambulatory resident from their bed to a wheelchair using a gait belt. Out of all the skills I learned throughout the class and at the nursing home, taking blood pressure was the one I was least confident in. After completing the skill, I was really in my head about it.I didn't think I would score high enough to get my license. After a few long days, I checked my email looking for the results of my two tests. The written test came back first. I passed. Next, I checked the skills test. I passed. I couldn’t believe it: I had really passed.
It was at that moment that I realized that I am capable of difficult things and I can do whatever I want. From the article “Believe in Yourself (And Why Nothing Will Work If You Don’t…),” it says “If you don't believe that it's possible to make new things work, then it's hard to make any progress.” This demonstrates how I will be living my life from now on now that I realized that I can accomplish anything.