Personal Statement

  One page personal statement describing, “Why Nursing? Why Curry? Why Now?” Please see attached paper that needs to be edited Why Now? I worked in financial services as a fund accountant for State Street Corporation for more than five years. In this role, I excelled working in a high stress environment, detail-oriented tasks, and helping people. Despite the fact that I excelled at work, I could not see myself doing this for the rest of my life. After a lot of reflection, I realized what I wanted to do was make a difference in people’s lives and work in an industry full of opportunity. This realization led me to look outside of financial services to the healthcare industry. As a financial services professional with an undergraduate degree in accounting, I did not have a lot of coursework experience in health sciences. However, I did have experience learning complex processes and topics under strict deadlines and a keen focus on understanding details. These experiences and skills have helped me succeed in my pre-requisite coursework and my graduate school work as an occupational therapy student. As an occupational therapy student, I have gained a strong appreciation for the profession. However, as a student of occupational therapy, I realized that I wanted to be part of a more mature profession. As someone new to the healthcare industry I need a profession that is able to provide me with the structure and guidance I need to become a healthcare professional capable of meeting all my patient’s needs. I want to be there for the patients at a most critical time in their lives but I also want to be part of profession that is more grounded in evidence and science. I realized my skills and experiences from financial services can be beneficial in serving others. My ability to remain calm in stressful situations, develop solutions to complex problems, and the ability to always find a way to accomplish difficult tasks will help my future patients. Why Nursing? When I think of healthcare I am reminded of my time in college when my mom was diagnosed with cancer and eventually passed away. I remember how the healthcare team made up of doctors, nurses, and support staff helped my mom live as long and as comfortable as possible. I mostly remember the times I would accompany my mom during chemotherapy sessions. Not only did her oncology nurse treat the disease, he treated her as an individual with compassion, humor, and support. This experience left a positive lasting impression of nursing on me. Nursing is patient-centered, holistic, and will allow me to touch people lives. I want to be a nurse because I would like to be there for the patient and their families. I want to care for the person as a whole, not just the disease or injury that is ailing them. Nursing allows me to interact with a variety of professionals, patients, and their families. I am confident that I want to pursue a career in nursing because it offers many opportunities to specialize in different settings, it will challenge me to go outside my comfort zone and allow me to pave my own path for my future. Why Curry? Being a nurse is an immense responsibility because a person’s life is in your hands. I believe Curry College’s Accelerated Entry Level Nursing (ACCEL) program will prepare me well to take on that responsibility. The ACCEL program appeals to me as a student because of its small cohort size, first rate clinical placements, its NCLEX pass rate, and the curriculum that is accelerated and fulltime. A small cohort size of thirty students will allow me to build strong connections with my classmates and faculty. The clinical placements will give me the hands-on experience I need to be competitive in the field of nursing. Curry colleges pass rate for the NCLEX gives me confidence that I will be prepared to pass this licensing exam and become a registered nurse. As a career changer, I can achieve a quality education and reach my goal of becoming a nurse through the accelerated curriculum of the program. I am highly motivated to become a nurse and believe curry colleges ACCEL program is the right fit for me. In summary, I held a successful and secure job with a financial services firm and realized that this was not the career path for me. Seeking to make a change, I spent a considerable amount of time and effort in researching and ultimately discovering the right career. The profession of Nursing offers me the immediate ability to make a difference in people’s lives and provides me with a professional platform where I can define my own path.