This is a multi-part series celebrating Arizona College of Nursing students, their stories, and their embodiment of the AZCN values.
In 2023, Arizona College of Nursing established the AZCN Values Scholarship Fund as a way to celebrate our values with our colleagues, our students, and the communities in which we serve. Each time an AZCN colleague recognizes another colleague for demonstrating our values, $5 is added to the scholarship fund. These add up to $5,000 scholarships awarded to students the following year who have demonstrated our values within their communities.
Join us in celebrating 2024 AZCN Values Scholarship recipient Amy Kim as she shares some of her journey to nursing:
Introducing Amy Kim: A Nursing Student Living AZCN Values
Meet AZCN Values Scholarship Recipient, Amy Kim, a Nursing Student at the AZCN Dallas Campus. Amy has been volunteering since she was 18 years old, helping orphans and special needs children in Russia, Kyrgyzstan and Korea. She has also traveled to Romania volunteering to help Ukrainian refugees. Amy is part of the Campus Student Nurse Association (SNA) and a peer tutor.
Amy Kim’s Essay: Excellence in Nursing Through Helping Others
From the age of four years old, my dream was to go to Russia and help the orphans.
At the age of 18, I moved to Russia and began working as a full-time volunteer with orphans and special needs children, volunteering at children’s hospitals, and working with at-risk mothers, a job which included translating for American medical specialists, nurses, and therapists who came to work with the children, teach the mothers about child care, and instruct local doctors about specialist operations for children with conditions like hydrocephalus. I worked with therapists who would give me tasks to perform with children who had cerebral palsy, practicing picking up a ball from one side and moving it to the other, or helping one of the girls practice walking without crutches by taking one step forward, one step back, one step to one side and then the other to Brazilian pop songs so that it felt like we were dancing together, not doing physical therapy.
For 13 years, I worked with children in Russia, Kyrgyzstan, and Korea, until COVID brought me home to Texas. I pursued a career in esthetics, as I thought nursing was out of my reach now that I was ‘so old’ and in my 30s, but shortly after I met my husband and we married, I confided to him that maybe I would pursue nursing sometime in the future after we had had children, and they grew up. My husband was the one who turned my world upside down and said, “There’s no time like the present, go for it now, I will quit school and work full time to support you in this.”
The war in Ukraine put my search for a nursing program on hold for several months, as I went to Romania as a volunteer to help the Ukrainian refugees, but upon coming back to Texas three months later, my research for a nursing program led me to Arizona College. I will be honest, the main selling point for me at first was the accelerated learning and the fact that the general education classes were all in the evenings, which would allow me to work for the first year, but as I began to meet people and also interact with faculty and professors I came to really appreciate the school for the atmosphere and the way the campus values student input and leadership. I was able to join PALs while still in general education, and that was such an honor for me that I was allowed to join and participate in the student-to-student mentoring program. Now that I just started core, I also have joined the SNA and hope to become more involved in volunteering in the community as an Arizona College student.
The dream for me has two points now. I want to become a CRNA first, purely for financial reasons, mainly to care for my family, and then to fund my main passion, which is volunteering and helping people. After CRNA, I want to pursue becoming an NP or a doctor, which I would then use to give medical attention free of charge to those in my community, especially for women, children, and veterans, and overseas at the orphanages and children’s hospitals where I used to volunteer and translate. I want to form medical teams to do mobile medical stations in areas in our community where there are lots of immigrants, elderly, or socio-economically challenged people who need care but can’t afford basic check-ups, and I want to take medical teams to countries where medical care is minimal or non-existent.
In summary, my journey from a childhood dream of helping orphans to now pursuing a career in nursing has been shaped by a deep commitment to serving and helping others. Engaging with PALs, joining SNA, and observing the school’s unwavering dedication to fostering student success has deepened my appreciation for Arizona College’s supportive community and commitment to nurturing future healthcare leaders. This scholarship would not only assist me in realizing these dreams but also enable me to contribute actively to the community here and abroad, aligning perfectly with Arizona College’s commitment to excellence, service, volunteerism, and leadership.
Q&A with Amy
Q: How did you find Arizona College of Nursing?
A: I’m currently at the Dallas campus and Arizona College was the first college that I looked into. I researched a couple other ones, but I liked AZCN. The staff, they’re very quick to get in touch with me. And not only that, they had everything laid out perfectly. So I was like, okay, I can see the timeline of events, how this is all going to work. Everything is very clear. Some of the other colleges I talked to, it wasn’t as clear to me. I didn’t quite understand where they’re coming from. They didn’t seem as interested. But within a month of talking with representatives from AZCN, I had taken the HESI and I was enrolled.
Q: Tell me about your experience at the AZCN Dallas Campus.
A: I’ve been loving my journey so far. I love the campus that I’m at. I love our faculty. We have some really great teachers. I’m still in touch with a lot of my Gen Ed professors as well. You know, now that I’m in core, I’m making some good memories, some good connections there as well.
They’ve given me lots of opportunities to be part of PAL, the peer academic leaders. I get to tutor other people in English and things of that sort. And they just made me the chair of tutoring. I’m just trying to give back as much as I can into the AZCN community. But my goal is, you know, once I graduate to be able to give in to the community at large, both within the Dallas region.
Q: How has the AZCN community been supportive?
A: I think what has been the standout for me with AZCN is that most of the faculty is very personable from Gen Ed on. They are willing to make time for you if you say, “hey, I want to sit down and talk with you.” They’re always willing to share their knowledge, share what they know. And then even, you know, leadership faculty. I like to go down the doors and say hi to the different professors and say hi to the president. I think the inclusivity makes me feel at home.
And I think especially my cohort is really awesome because we are very diverse. We’re from all different states, countries, backgrounds. But we’ve all kind of just melded together and formed study groups and formed chat groups. And we were all there supporting each other. I think that’s been a really amazing experience.
This is my first college experience. I’ve done little things here and there, but this is basically my first time going after a full-time degree. I always kind of thought, oh, I can do this when I’m older. Now that I’m here, I’ve realized you really shouldn’t be putting any kind of limits on yourself. It doesn’t matter what age you are.
Start Your Future in Nursing Today
If you’re considering a career as a registered nurse (RN), Arizona College of Nursing is here to help you pursue your dream. Our BSN program enables you to earn a Bachelor of Science in Nursing in just 3 years or less with qualifying transfer credits. We’ve helped hundreds of students to earn a BSN degree and enter the nursing profession – and we’re ready to support you on your path to becoming an RN.
Why Choose Arizona College of Nursing?
- Earn a BSN degree in 3 years or less with eligible transfer credits
- Campus locations throughout the US
- Night classes for general education courses
- Hybrid Online/In-Person format for general education classes
- Nursing education is all we do
- CCNE-Accredited Program*
- NCLEX-RN success coaches and exam preparation class
- Financial aid available to those who qualify
Discover Your Path to a Career in Nursing
Information in this post is accurate as of .
*The Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree program at Arizona College of Nursing is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (https://www.aacnnursing.org/). All Arizona College of Nursing and Arizona College campuses are institutionally accredited by the Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools (https://www.abhes.org/), a U.S. Department of Education-recognized accrediting agency.