Nursing Scholarship Awarded

Congratulations to Gabriella Ortiz, a recipient of the spring 2007 chooseNursing.com scholarship award

Prior to getting into a nursing program, Ortiz taught special education at the elementary and junior high school level for four years, but realized she was uncomfortable, citing, “it wasn’t a good fit for me.” She said she always knew she wanted to go into the healthcare field, but didn’t have the opportunity. One day she packed up and moved from southern California to the central valley and changed her career to nursing.

Her immediate goal is to get her nursing degree and practice for a year. “I’d even like to teach at least one nursing class per semester,” says Ortiz.

In three years she plans to enroll in the University of California at San Francisco and take courses toward becoming a Nurse Practitioner. Her specialty—acute care. She says she would also love to work with Doctors without Borders as a traveling nurse or work with other nurse organizations and travel to places around the world that need medical care.

Her advice to students is to never give up. “Even for the student in the most dire of circumstances, there’s always a way to achieve what you want,” she says.

Her volunteer work includes doing blood donations and diabetes screenings. Her scholarship money will be used to pay for books, living expenses, and the NCLEX exam.

Ortiz is currently attending the College of the Sequoias in Visalia, California and will receive her ADN degree in May 2008.

“I am so happy to have chosen this career...there are so many opportunities to explore,” she says.

Questions about how you can apply for a scholarship?
Contact us! »