Mia
Alvarez
December 2022
Mia
Alvarez
York College of Pennsylvania
York
,
PA
United States
Mia reached out to the school nurses in these four schools to learn about their highest needs. She worked with our community professor to set up flyers, distribute them, spread the word to athletics, Greek life, etc., and set up boxes to collect clothing donations.
One day, following a day at Ferguson Elementary School for our community clinical rotation, Mia came to me with tears in her eyes. I asked her what was wrong, so she proceeded to tell me about her day at clinical. Mia told me that throughout the day, there were three young students who came into the nurse's office with either ripped or soiled pants. The school nurse and Mia first tried to have a new pair of pants brought into school for these students by their parents. However, they soon found out that the parents could not bring in another pair of pants because the pants they had ripped or dirtied were their ONLY pair of pants. Knowing that the students in this school community were severely underserved, with over 90% of them living below the poverty line, Mia was disheartened by these students' reality.
She called her mom right after she left the school to see if they could donate some of her younger brother's clothing for the student's use. Immediately following that clinical day, Mia also went to our instructor and asked her if there was anything else we could do to help the students at Ferguson. Together, they decided to set up a clothing drive to receive donations from York College students and staff to provide clothing to four different York City schools. Mia reached out to the school nurses in these four schools to learn about their highest needs. She worked with our community professor to set up flyers, distribute them, spread the word to athletics, Greek life, etc., and set up boxes to collect clothing donations. While the clothing drive is still going on throughout this school year, she will also distribute the donations to the schools once all the clothing is received. She took this task upon herself with a busy schedule of being a nursing student and a student-athlete.
Mia went above and beyond her responsibility as a nursing student. She was an advocate for the patients that she saw in the school setting. She wanted to give them access to a pair of clean clothes at school when their family couldn't afford more than one pair of pants. She was showing these children respect by providing them with clean clothes, a basic human right that everyone should have access to. Often times as nursing students, we feel that we cannot make an impact and we are just in the way. But, Mia proved that thought wrong. She inspired me, and probably many others, that we are not just nursing students but have the ability to make a true impact in the nursing world.
She called her mom right after she left the school to see if they could donate some of her younger brother's clothing for the student's use. Immediately following that clinical day, Mia also went to our instructor and asked her if there was anything else we could do to help the students at Ferguson. Together, they decided to set up a clothing drive to receive donations from York College students and staff to provide clothing to four different York City schools. Mia reached out to the school nurses in these four schools to learn about their highest needs. She worked with our community professor to set up flyers, distribute them, spread the word to athletics, Greek life, etc., and set up boxes to collect clothing donations. While the clothing drive is still going on throughout this school year, she will also distribute the donations to the schools once all the clothing is received. She took this task upon herself with a busy schedule of being a nursing student and a student-athlete.
Mia went above and beyond her responsibility as a nursing student. She was an advocate for the patients that she saw in the school setting. She wanted to give them access to a pair of clean clothes at school when their family couldn't afford more than one pair of pants. She was showing these children respect by providing them with clean clothes, a basic human right that everyone should have access to. Often times as nursing students, we feel that we cannot make an impact and we are just in the way. But, Mia proved that thought wrong. She inspired me, and probably many others, that we are not just nursing students but have the ability to make a true impact in the nursing world.