Winners and Leaders

Tonya L. Brown

Georgia Baptist College of Nursing of Mercer University

$1,000 Scholarship

“She is an outstanding student who has excelled academically and professionally. She demonstrates patience, enthusiasm, a true love of nursing and a commitment to enhancing the nursing profession.” This is just a small sampling of the praise Tonya’s exceptional accomplishments have earned from her professors.

A single mother of five children who describes herself as “a non-traditional student returning to college,” Tonya has maintained a strong 3.5 grade point average at GBCN. She has also held many leadership positions on campus, including student ambassador, junior class representative to the Honor Council, and Student Grievance Committee alternate. She is an active participant in the Culturally Diverse Student Nurse Organization and the Georgia Baptist Association of Nursing Students.

Even more impressive, however, is the leadership ability Tonya has shown on a national level. As a member of the National Student Nurses’ Association, she was elected national director of NSNA’s historic Breakthrough to Nursing program, which was established during the 1960s civil rights era to recruit more students from underrepresented minority populations into the nursing profession. In this capacity, she also serves on NSNA’s national board of directors.

“I believe that part of being a contributing member of society means working actively to give back to organizations that support our communities,” says Tonya, who will graduate with her BSN degree in May. She volunteers as a food service worker with Atlanta’s Hosea Feed the Hungry & Homeless organization and is a registered blood and blood products donor with the American Red Cross. In the future, she also plans to “give back to the profession” by becoming a nurse educator.

Paul Jonathan Tomás

University of New Mexico College of Nursing
$1,000 Scholarship

Jonathan, a senior-year BSN student who will graduate in June, can best be described as “multitalented.” He is an experienced Emergency Medical Technician who is transitioning to a career in nursing, a volunteer big brother with Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Central New Mexico, a nurse extern at a sub-acute care unit at the University of New Mexico Hospital and president of his school’s Student Nurses Association.

Some other words that explain why Jonathan captured a Minority Nurse Magazine Scholarship are “hard-working” and “smart.” He has a cumulative GPA of 3.77, which has earned him Dean’s List standing. Then there’s “focused.” He says, “I have already made plans to enter the master’s of community health nursing program at UNM in the summer term immediately following my graduation.”

According to UNM Assistant Professor Dr. Peter Guarnero, one of Jonathan’s clinical instructors, “His main strength is his ability to take initiative in advocating for his patients. During his psychiatric clinical rotation, he became a valued member of the psychiatric interdisciplinary team. He displays the qualities that make a nurse successful. He is dependable, motivated and is in tune with the needs of his patients.”

Jonathan is equally passionate about serving his fellow students as a leader, mentor and motivator. During the first semester of his tenure as SNA president, he increased enrollment and participation in the association by over 100% and completed a necessary overhaul of its accounting and fundraising practices. He has also started initiatives at UNM to help students improve their studying skills and become involved in community service.

Jennifer Miyoko Redekopp

Mount St. Mary’s College

$500 Scholarship

“Living in the community where I work is a high value for me. Consolidating my life to focus on one location creates an integrated connection with the community,” says Jen Redekopp, a BA-to-BSN student in the accelerated BSN degree program at Mount St. Mary’s College. Her extensive record of service to her socio-economically diverse South Los Angeles community is one of the key factors that led to her inclusion in the MN Scholarship Program winners’ circle.

After graduating magna cum laude from Pomona College in 1997 with a BA in Japanese, Jen volunteered for five years with an urban ministry serving inner city South Central LA. In addition to leading a team that tutored and mentored local youth, she directed a summer internship program for college students and supervised several interns who were involved in neighborhood social services projects.

Now Jen has set her sights on serving her community as a nurse, and she hopes to help other young people of color to follow in her footsteps. Her long-term goal is to become a nursing instructor. “I intend to equip people from underserved backgrounds to practice in their local communities,” she asserts.

“Jennifer is new to the clinical area but already exhibits initiative and is a self-starter,” says faculty member Charlene Gagliardi, MSN, RN. “She demonstrates leadership skills and autonomy in decision-making. She communicates clearly and exhibits tact and sensitivity when dealing with patients, families and co-workers.”

Juliana Casillas

University of California, San Francisco School of Nursing

$500 Scholarship

Juliana, a BA-to-MSN student in UCSF’s accelerated Masters Entry Program in Nursing, first became interested in the issues of Latino health disparities, culturally competent health care and increasing health care access for the underserved while earning an undergraduate degree in sociology at the University of California, Berkeley. “The desire to approach patient care holistically is why I chose to become a nurse,” she says.

UCSF Clinical Professor Scott Ziehm, assistant dean and director of the MEPN program, describes Juliana as an academically gifted student who has consistently met the challenges of being successful in this highly demanding program. “She is remarkably bright, reliable and committed to creating positive social change,” he comments. “She has been a dedicated learner and her academic and clinical performance have been outstanding. She will be a remarkable advanced practice nurse.”

Juliana, who is in the MEPN’s family nurse practitioner program, has been involved in many projects designed to improve the quality of life for residents of underserved Latino/Chicano communities. She worked at a not-for-profit community clinic as an outreach worker and case manager for Spanish-speaking patients. At both UC Berkeley and UCSF she has played a leadership role in volunteer projects that focused on recruiting Latino/Chicano students into higher education. When she graduates this summer, she plans to “return to a community health center to provide quality health care to vulnerable populations.”