It’s a high school counselor’s sign of a job well done when a student shadows someone working in a profession that becomes her vocational pursuit. That is the case for Alexandria Holmes, a Deaconess nursing scholar who attended Nerinx Hall High School in Webster Groves.
“We were to choose three career professionals to follow for a day. I followed a nurse at Barnes in the ER and absolutely loved it,” Holmes said. “I have always had a passion for caring for people, and nursing was the right career choice for me.”
The St. Louisan is in her senior year at Saint Louis University and plans to pass the boards and begin working as a registered nurse as soon as possible.
“Right now I work on the cardiovascular floor at Barnes as a student nurse technician so I hope to continue my work there as an RN,” she said. “I have always had an interest in pediatric oncology. I love children and forming relationships with patients.”
Holmes said the Deaconess Scholarship helped her to pursue her educational goals in nursing.
“Without it, I don’t know if I would be where I am now in school,” she added. “It has given me the opportunity to pursue my dream as a nurse.”
The Deaconess Scholarship is collaboration between the Deaconess Foundation, the Scholarship Foundation of St. Louis and the St. Louis American Foundation. It provides financial support to selected students in nursing school with the overall goal of increasing the nursing pool in the St. Louis area.
Looking ahead five years from now, her sights are set on being an experienced nurse working with children.
“Hopefully 10 years from now I will have gone back to school for my Masters in nursing or maybe even as a nurse practitioner,” Holmes said. “I am always wanting to know more about nursing. I find that every day I work and go to school, the more I learn about the field of nursing. There is never enough you can know about nursing.”
The Deaconess Foundation Nursing Scholarship will be awarded to 10-15 students annually, with an average award of $6,000. Students must be permanent residents of the St. Louis metropolitan area and pursuing nursing (RN, BSN) at an accredited, nonprofit school. Awards are based on financial need, strength of character and academic potential.
All correspondence will be communicated by email, so it is important to have a valid email address when you start the application.
To apply, students must complete two applications by April 15: the Deaconess Foundation Nursing Scholarship and The Scholarship Foundation Interest-Free Loan in Scholarship Central at www.sfstl.org.
Students selected to receive the Deaconess scholarship may also be given an opportunity to accept or decline an interest-free loan or other grants through Scholarship Foundation of St. Louis.
For additional information, call 314-725-7990 or email info@sfstl.org. For applications, select the link “Deaconess Foundation Nursing Scholarship” at https://stlouisgraduates.academicworks.com/.
