I currently teach in the School of Nursing at UNCW. I have been teaching since 2007 and I truly believe this is what I am meant to do. From the first student nurse that followed me in the emergency room, I had the best time sharing what I did as a nurse with someone that needed mentoring. I would like students to know that I am there for them as a teacher in nursing, as a mentor to share my knowledge, and as a guide if they have questions. I grew up in the church and I have had a relationship with God since childhood, but it was through difficult times that I truly understood the power and comfort that God can bring. My father died unexpectedly when I was 15 years old and that was my first significant loss in my life. I couldn't understand at the time why this would happen, and I was very angry and shut God out for a period of time. During that time, I felt very lost, and I started questioning all of my beliefs. I think this is normal and we don't always need to have everything figured out. There was a part of me that blamed myself because I wasn't there and couldn't prevent my father's death. As I got older, I went into nursing and started working in the Emergency Department. It was through working in that area that I could see that we as human beings, even as trained healthcare workers, cannot always save people. I made peace with God and truly understood that there was nothing I could have done to change what happened. Since that time, I have learned to lean on my faith in difficult times. There is so much in this world that we don't have control over, but if we can fall back on grace and the love of God, we can find a way to get through those difficult times. Without the difficult times, we could not appreciate the good times. We just have to remember who we want to be and strive to help others in their times of need knowing that we also rely on others and that we need to be the reflection of what we want to see in this world.