I could not be happier with nursing as a career or more enthused at the prospect of beginning graduate school next year and advancing professionally. I also feel fortunate to live in such exciting times for Nurse Practitioners. They gradually move towards greater parity with medical doctors and are increasingly seen as full-fledged professionals. Nevertheless, XXXX University is not just my first choice because I live and work in XXXX. I love my city and that your program is in the final cohort to allow its graduates to achieve Nurse Practitioner status after only 2.5 years of study.
The only thing that worries me about graduate school is its cost. I want to devote myself full time to my studies rather than working my way through school full time; thus, I feel strongly that after 2.5 years of full-time study, I want to go back to full-time nursing to pay for my education, perhaps returning to doctoral studies at some point in the future after already earning my certification as an NP.
Completing XXXX University's Advanced Practice Nursing Immersion (APNI) Program and attaining the most careful preparation possible for becoming a Certified Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) will propel my career forward so that I might have the opportunity to give my all to nursing, thereby making my professional contribution to society. Earning the MSN at XXXU will be the crowning achievement of my life, and I find myself increasingly eager and inspired as I have been fulfilling the pre-requisite courses. I have also been retaking a Psychology class that I bungled to improve my GPA. I ask for admission, given that I did achieve a 3.3 GPA in my general science courses while I was working full time. I just sat for the GRE on the 24th of November.
I have worked in juvenile facilities and as a music therapist intern with kids on the spectrum and brain-injured patients. I know what it is like to serve as an EMT in downtown XXXX, performing despite some of the most challenging streets and scenarios in this part of the country. I have worked in the number-one children's hospital, the largest in the region, for the last two years, with this last year in a terribly busy ICU.
At the core of my being is genuine compassion for humankind. I have always felt that serving others is integral to my life's purpose. A nature lover, I hope to practice in a rural setting, with a collective of providers who collaborate to provide holistic treatment for body, mind, and soul, on a sliding scale. I will also be volunteering on the side because I have a sense of mission and a calling to help those most in need. Ideally, I would have my practice at some point, adopting a small rural community.
I have the immense benefit of years in the workforce, interacting with many people from all occupations. At Children's Hospital alone, I have witnessed incredible situations and some most extraordinary outcomes, and I have learned enough to leave my heart bleeding for the underserved on many occasions. I am blessed with humility and an understanding of my limits, yet, I have a higher calling to serve as a nurse. Entirely dedicated to lifelong learning, I plan to distinguish myself for decades in age-related psychiatric challenges in older adults and the genesis of neuropsychiatric disorders in early childhood, particularly those on the Autism spectrum. I have volunteered with the XXXX County Public Health Department since 2012 after volunteering with the UXX Hospital from 2012 to 2013. I have also volunteered for R.O.O.T.S., which provides shelter for 18-22-year-old homeless young adults.
I am an adventurer and have hiked up and down the West Coast of Mexico for years, with trips to Belize, Guatemala, and El Salvador each for a few weeks, studying a book called “Spanish for the Hospitality Industry,” learning, practicing. As a musician, I often sing in Portuguese. I will soon be off to Salvador de Bahia in Brazil as a volunteer with an NGO in Seattle named Bahia Street, dedicated to helping at-risk girls in Salvador, Brazil. I have also trekked from one side of Canada to the other, and I am currently looking into a trip to Kenya to visit a friend who teaches there.
These experiences, especially south of the border, have helped to prepare me for a lifetime of service as a nurse who spends as much time as possible on medical missions, especially to the Developing World.
Thank you for considering my application.