I want to help give people back their normal lives.

MARIA

“Being a nurse, I can help save people's lives”

Different kinds of heroes inspire us all, watching nurses on a TV trauma show inspired Maria. She was 10 years old watching television with her mom when she first realized she wanted to become a nurse. "Being a nurse, I can help save people's lives," explains Maria. Maria's mom wanted to be a nurse when she was younger, so she completely supported Maria's choice to become a nurse.

Maria jumped at the opportunity to become part of Andrew Hill's Nursing Academy where she takes classes that are geared toward nursing. "It's a brand new program and I love that all of us work together and we get a chance to go on field trips to hospitals and the coroner's office."

The Emergency Room is where Maria is headed. "I like the short-term care part of the emergency room. I think I might get too emotionally attached to patients if I worked on a regular unit." Maria knows that being bilingual will help her as a nurse because it's a benefit for the patient to speak in the language they are more comfortable with and it helps with the patient's case. She knows she will have to take English to enhance her vocabulary and biology is not far away but these are mere stepping stones to her real passion. She is so inspired and excited about being a nurse. "If you are really interested in helping people, be a nurse, because you can make a difference in people's lives."