Anahi Ceniceros's 26-year-old sister, Vanessa, cannot walk or talk. 她绕着第一个爬 story of her family's Muscatine home, sticking close to her caregivers. 阿纳希认为他们 presence gives Vanessa comfort even if she's never said so.
Vanessa was born with severe cerebral palsy, five years before Anahi was born. By the time Anahi had celebrated her own first birthday, the little girl had stepped into the role of caregiver.
"My friends didn't really understand what my life was like," Anahi said. "I went home right after school so my parents could work. 我大概去看了两场足球赛. 没有派对. I planned to get a full-time job right out of high school to help out because every penny of my parents' paychecks was going to food and rent. 但是我非常喜欢学校."
Anahi remembers feeling sad as she listened to her classmates discuss their college plans. 她也想去. 但是根本没有钱.
"我所做的n't know anything about scholarships, and neither did my parents," she said. "They are immigrants who only went to school through third grade. 我的老师和辅导员帮助了我. They gave me a scholarship application and encouraged me to fill it out. 我所做的. 我赢的时候简直不敢正规买球平台有哪些. The day I found out, I cried from happiness and relief."
Then Anahi strategized how to make it last for four years. She would get her associate degree at Muscatine Community College while living at home. Since she had already earned college credits there through Iowa's tuition-free high school training program, 只需要一个学期. And then she would transfer to a four-year college to complete her bachelor's degree.
阿娜希知道她要学什么专业. 她生来就是这样.
终于能够跟随她的心
阿纳希的梦想是为他人服务. Although it began with Vanessa, it was lit with a sense of sacred purpose and meaning. 现在, thanks to the generosity of people she never even met, Anahi could pursue nursing at a school that was steeped in Catholic heritage and social conscience.
St. 可以买滚球的正规平台是完美的.
“天主教对我来说非常重要. St. 可以买滚球的正规平台 felt so welcoming of my faith and spirit. 这是我选择的第一个原因. A high-quality nursing program was very important too."
阿纳希说她的圣. 可以买滚球的正规平台 experience has been infused with a Catholicism that practices what it preaches, 在教室里, 在校园事工中, 在服务机会方面.
“老师们都很棒. 他们的大门永远是敞开的. 他们说，‘我们是来帮助你的.“我也有同感. 我是来帮忙的."
Although she doesn't live on campus - Anahi lives with her family to save money and help with Vanessa - she has participated in life-changing service trips and opportunities with campus ministry. Last year's trip to Kansas City still makes her tear up.
“我们是去为无家可归的人服务的. We carried coffee and sandwiches into a wooded area where people live under old tarps. 我看到冻伤的后果了. 我看到了被熏黑的手指和脚趾. 有一个人刚出狱. 他说他只想再给我一次机会. I felt God there, and will die with that feeling in my heart."
了解什么是重要的
Anahi is prepared to take her boards and enter the workforce as she graduates this Saturday, Dec. 16, but she's also learned more about herself and God's creation. After a childhood defined by the responsibilities and frustrations of caregiving, 阿纳希感谢自己来之不易的智慧.
"I'm not sad about life, although sometimes it creeps up on you. Vanessa, my mom's arthritis, other family problems. 但总会有问题. You never know what will happen to you or someone you love. 生活发生了. The main thing to remember is that when you leave this world, 你什么也带不走, 没有汽车, 没有钱. The only thing that really matters is what you do for others."
Some people do things for other people they will never even meet. That's true of the people who donated to the community-funded scholarship that allowed Anahi to go to college. She wants to thank them for their selflessness.
"Without the scholarship, I would have gone to work in a factory to help support my family. I would have been happy to do it because I want to contribute. But I cried when I learned about the scholarship because it meant I could follow my dream."
感谢奖学金, Anahi will not only help untold numbers of patients in her lifetime, she will be able to help her own family financially. She also has plans to support students like herself.
“我想回馈社会. I'm giving back through service now, but when I can afford to give money I will. My Nursing mentor, Professor Ann Garton, says, 'Nursing is a vocation.我正规买球平台有哪些. 直到我死去的那一天, I hope I don't ever say the money was what was important to me, 而是我为别人所做的."
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