My name is Barbara Paradis and I am a recipient of the Dennis R. Scanlan, Jr. Memorial Endowed Scholarship, presented by the Association of PeriOperative Registered Nurses, for the 2016-2017 school year. I wanted to extend my heartfelt gratitude to you and your organization for funding this scholarship. It will be a huge help for me as I complete my nursing education at New York University’s Rory Meyers College of Nursing (NYUCN).

In just a few short weeks I will be completing the accelerated second Bachelor’s degree in nursing program at NYUCN. I hold my first Bachelors of Science degree in Psychology, awarded to me Yale University in May of 2013. After I graduated from Yale, I moved to Chicago, IL, where I took a job doing consumer behavior research and data analytics at a large market research firm. Very soon after starting, I realized that I did not love what I was doing, and after doing some self-reflection, I decided that a career in nursing would be best suited to my love of science, interest in the health care industry, and my passion for helping others. To this end, I began taking night classes at a local community college to fulfill missing prerequisite class requirements, volunteering at my local hospital, and eventually I transitioned from the market research industry to a community healthcare non for profit.

My professional goal as a future nurse is to support patients that are suffering from cancer through their surgeries. My goal is influenced by my mom’s surgical experience when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Her surgical team, specifically her nurses, was critical in helping my mom recover from her curative surgery with a positive outlook. I cannot put into words how excited I am to embark on this new chapter, and the Dennis R. Scanlan, Jr. Memorial Endowed Scholarship will help mitigate the financial burden of completing my nursing degree.

Again, thank you so much for funding this scholarship. I really appreciate the support of your organization.

All the best,

Barbara Paradis