By: Alicia Marcha I have a Monster’s Inc. t-shirt that says, “If Your Dreams Don’t Scare You  They Aren’t BIG Enough.” Every time I wear it I think, “Are my dreams big enough? Are they scary?” I truly believe that nursing is my calling because it is the one dream that is big and scary. Big because I will be helping others each and every day with sometimes life altering situations. How much I learn and retain throughout my nursing journey could save someone’s life one day. How big is that? Scary because I won’t be able to save everyone. The first time I ever thought about becoming a nurse was in my late teens. I was working at a hospital as a Dietary Technician. I remember knowing the faces of some of the regular patients and knowing when they had been there previously.  They knew that I remembered them and I could tell that they appreciated that they weren’t just another patient to me. When I would smile and speak, their face would light up because they saw a familiar and friendly face. The most impactful person from my hospital experiences was my niece, born at 24 weeks and spent months in the NICU. I went to the hospital almost every day. When she was about to be discharged months later, I took First Aid/CPR and a few other courses so I could help care for her when she came home. She wore a heart monitor constantly and I had to administer oxygen to her whenever I fed her. She was so beautiful and resilient. I cared for her without a second thought. I wish I could say that I immediately switched my major and went to nursing school but I didn’t. I was already in school to get a Bachelor of Business Administration degree and completed that while working for the Acres Home Center for Business and Economic Development. While there I helped create and run a Youth Entrepreneur Program and the construction of the Beulah Ann Shepard Building.  Then I became a stay at […]

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