“I attribute my success to this - I never gave or took an excuse.” - Florence Nightingale   I do not want to be nurse because it’s easy, or the fantastic hours or the low stress. I do not want to become a nurse to get better pay or because everyone is cut out to do it. I do not want to be a nurse because it’s cool or because sick people are always pleasant and easy to deal with. I do not want another job that is unrewarding or unfulfilling, that the next computer program can do. I know that becoming a nurse will not be an easy journey. The things in life that are worth making sacrifices for will never come easily. I have experienced many challenges in my life. There is one constant in life: people may forget you, your name, your face; but people will never forget how you made them feel. I try to live my life by this one simple rule. I believe that it takes a village to raise a child and my village was filled with strong amazing women. The most significant of which is my mother. My mother is a tenacious single parent as has been a nurse for over 40 years. This magnificent woman has taught me the enduring lesson of how to be a better person by showing me how to be of service to others.    Lessons proliferate my life on a daily basis today. My mother was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s 3 years ago. She is only 63. My aunt the other endearing woman to me has already had a triple bypass at the age of 60. I had an aunt die slowly over the course of ten years, her body slowly being masticated by cancer. The stories of these woman in my life go on and on, but the one thing that never changes is my ability to be a positive in their lives. These stories have led me to begin this new journey in my life.  The fortitude of a person is not measured by how much you can give them before they break, but how they handle it before they do. I want to be the person who can assist others in the ability to handle what is thrown at them: