Dear Mr. Larsen:

I writing to say thank you for your scholarship assistance. I have just been notified that I am this semester’s recipient of the Scottish Rite Scholarship Foundation of Washington Graduate Fellowship in Nursing scholarship.

This scholarship will help me with my finances so I will not have to work additional hours to support my family. The scholarship enables me to further my education without going deeper in debt with student loans. I am thankful for this scholarship and the confidence you have in my goals and abilities.

I want to tell you why I became a nurse and how important nursing is to me. In 1989, my first child was born with multiple medical problems that kept him hospitalized until he was two years old. At that time, he came home on a ventilator and feeding tube for another three years. I learned about nursing before I ever learned about mothering. He has taught me compassion and patience for others. I learned nursing skills at an early age, and knew, once he grew up, that I wanted to be a nurse.

Now that I am a nurse, I love what I am doing, but became frustrated with the realities of hospital and bedside nursing. I want to see changes and work hard for them to happen in the hospital where I work. As a nurse, I see things that frustrate me that I am powerless to change. As a nurse practitioner, I will be able to provide the level of care I see lacking now. I plan on practicing family medicine and caring for patients across the lifespan in Spokane.

Once again, I just want to thank you for this scholarship. It has been a long road for my family and I and I am thankful for your support.

Kathryn Bader