"When my mom and I were in the program together, she was in fine health, from what we knew. Then the year before we finished, we found out she had stage IV pancreatic cancer. It was a shock, and she wasn’t given long to live, so she wrote out a goal that she wanted to be alive to see us graduate together. She fought so hard to make it until the next May, and unfortunately, she did not. After diagnosis, she lived a year and 2 months, and passed away in February 2020, just 3 months before our graduation. Before she passed, she said to me, 'You’re going to finish.' It was so hard – I didn’t want to go to class anymore, and emotionally I was down, but surrounded by people who didn’t allow me to stay down. My classmates and professors carried me to that finish line and made sure I had my emotional and financial needs met so that I could be where I am today."

"We did her service on spring break to make it work with my school schedule. My professors were so understanding and helpful, so with the support of those around me, I did what I had to do to make it work. I had made a promise to my mom, and nothing could interfere with completing my degree on time. Right after my mom’s funeral in New York, the whole world shut down due to the pandemic. It was tough to get the clinical hours we needed to graduate, and that 4-year timeline was tested, but NCCU made it happen. During that time, I was caring for very sick and dying patients, which was so tough after dealing with my mom’s death so recently. It kind of felt like I was just thrown in the trenches of war."

"It wasn’t until I went into my community health clinical rotation at Lincoln Community Health Center where I found my passion. It ignited my fire, and I wanted to give back to underserved populations who deserve access to care. You don’t know what others go through until you experience it for yourself. I’m a travel nurse now, and I work with those populations to make sure I can give back and make a difference for people to have access to care at a low or no cost. That’s what I want to do – help people who usually can’t get it, and as a nurse, I can make an emotional connection and help them understand and simplify medical terminology to make sure they understand what’s happening to their life, I can be an integral part of their healthcare. My mom would be so proud, and my heart is so full."

"Before my mom passed, she was on track to finish – so the Dean, our professors and NCCU made sure that she was still awarded her degree at graduation, just like we had planned. I put on my graduation cap, 'I am my mother’s wildest dream,' and now, I’m fulfilling the goals and passions that she had, and I’m walking in her footsteps and legacy. She was able to accomplish a lot in her nursing career, and she was on fire, so she passed that torch to me to continue to be a great nurse, to make opportunities for others and to help others. I’m doing the things I know she wanted to accomplish and couldn’t because of the circumstances, and now I can do that for her. Literally, I am her wildest dreams, so I can’t let her down, and I will always keep pushing."