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Vital Signs

Four for the Money

Arianne Floralde Galino

University of San Francisco School of Nursing

$1,000 Scholarship

Arianne, who will graduate with her BSN degree in May, was the only applicant in the 6th Annual Minority Nurse Magazine Scholarship Program who received a perfect score from the judging committee. And it’s no wonder: She has a 3.97 grade point average, clearly articulated career goals and a track record of leadership positions and community service projects that’s so extensive it takes nearly two pages to list them all.

To cite just a few examples, Arianne has served as vice president of her school’s Nursing Students Association (NSA) and is actively involved in the university ministry, the Campus Activities Board and several honor societies. For two years she served on the NSA’s Health Fair Committee and in 2001 she was Speaker of the House at the National Young Leaders Conference in Washington, D.C. Her community service involvement runs the gamut from canned food drives, environmental cleanups and Salvation Army kettle ringing to volunteer work at several senior citizen centers.

“Arianne is an exceptionally strong student,” says Dr. Betty Carmack, USF nursing professor and advisor to the NSA. “I am impressed by the range and extent of her extracurricular activities and involvement. She is exceptional in her ability to maintain a 3.97 GPA while giving of herself in numerous ways to organizations and individuals.”

A second-generation Filipino American, Arianne plans to continue her education to become a gerontology nursing educator and researcher. “Nursing research is a fairly new and emerging concept in the Philippines,” she says. “I plan to work among Filipino nurses in instituting research studies on gerontology while promoting the application of research in nursing practice within the Philippine health care system.”

Oluyemi Olusola Abiodun

Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing

$1,000 Scholarship

“In everything I do, excellence is the standard I set for myself,” says Oluyemi, a third-year BSN student. “For years, I have worked hard to achieve academic success and to attain leadership qualities.” And indeed she has. Oluyemi completed all her prerequisite courses with a perfect 4.0 GPA and made the Dean’s List every semester. These accomplishments earned her membership in both the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society and the National Scholars Honor Society as well as a place on the National Dean’s List.

“Ms. Abiodun continuously proved herself to be an exceptional student who demonstrated great academic, leadership, professional and personal qualities,” says Dr. Alisa Chapman, assistant professor of psychology at The Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC), where Oluyemi earned an associate’s degree before bridging into the Hopkins nursing program last fall. “Her vast levels of insight and intelligence allowed her to stand out among all the other students in my classes.”

Oluyemi also shines when it comes to serving her community and her fellow students. At CCBC she was a delegate to the Student Government Association, a biology and math tutor and a member of the Christian Students Fellowship. She volunteers at various homeless shelters in downtown Baltimore and is an active worker and choir member at her church.

Still another remarkable quality about Oluyemi, who hopes to become a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist, is that she is truly “a citizen of the world.” She speaks Yoruba, French and Arabic. In 2002-2003 she taught kindergarten and English conversation classes at two different schools in Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia.

Christina W. Siewe

Langston University

$500 Scholarship

Christina, a junior in the nursing program at historically black Langston University in Langston, Okla., describes herself as “a nontraditional student. I am a mother returning to school after raising four boys--one a junior in college, twins who began college in August 2005, and the last starting kindergarten.”

After working for a number of years in the business world, which she found unfulfilling, Christina decided to follow her childhood dream and make a career change to nursing. She earned a CNA certificate and became CPR-certified, then enrolled in the graduate-level nondegree program at Oklahoma State University, where she completed her nursing prerequisite courses with a solid 3.4 GPA.

Despite having to juggle the demands of school and family, Christina still manages to devote a great deal of her time to community service. She has worked with Habitat for Humanity, building houses for homeless people. She has also volunteered with the American Red Cross and at a local hospital emergency room. As a member of the First Presbyterian Church in Stillwater, Okla., she visits home-bound parishioners in nursing homes and assisted living facilities, provides food and gifts to needy families at Christmas and is currently coordinator of the church’s Love Feast program, which provides meals for the hungry and homeless.

As for her career goals, Christina says she wants to become “not just a nurse who ‘does the rounds’ but one who is compassionate, sensitive, empathetic, patient and has the technical knowledge and skills to adequately nurture the sick. As a nurse, I will be committed to restoring health and to respecting death when it cannot be prevented.”

Kellee Roberts

New York University

$500 Scholarship

Kellee, who has a degree in journalism from Long Island University, is a second-degree student in the accelerated BA-to-BSN program at NYU, which she started last fall. But even before she decided to become a nurse, this talented young woman had already demonstrated an exceptional commitment to helping people in need.

Since 2001, when she became a member of the outreach team at her church, Kellee has been a volunteer, event planner and fundraiser for a community service program called the National Association for the Prevention of Starvation (NAPS). The program’s mission is to provide food and clothing to homeless and disadvantaged persons in New York’s inner city areas. Her involvement in NAPS also gave Kellee the opportunity to participate in several medical missions to countries in Africa and the Caribbean. This experience affected her profoundly and inspired her to become a nurse.

“Our team of volunteers (which included nurses and a doctor) [partnered] with clinics in those countries to help us bring relief,” she says. “We journeyed through the poorest neighborhoods, [where] people did not have clean drinking water, food or clothes. I saw many people who were in need of medical attention, but they were too poor and could not afford proper health care. We worked as hard as could and we were able to see improvement. Hundreds of people’s lives were changed.”

Today Kellee is a CNA who is determined to continue her education so that she can continue to help improve the lives of medically underserved populations. “If I had to choose the quality I admire most about Kellee, it would be her commitment to education,” says Sandra Dent, a professor at Long Island University. “In my opinion she will excel at whatever she chooses to pursue in life.”