Small Town Girl With Big Nursing Dreams

My name is Samantha Winkler and I am 22 years old. Growing up, I lived in the tiny country town of Groveland, Ca. My town is considered a town that does not have much. Most of the children grow up to take on the roles their parents had in our town and continue the same cycle over and over again. Not many people in my town pursue education but I always wanted to make a very different choice. When I graduated high school I had always dreamed of being a nurse, but knew that dream would most likely stay a dream because of financial issues and my own self-doubt.


In February, 2010 my life came crashing down. My mom had passed away in her sleep due to respiratory failure. She was my rock, my world, my everything. I knew that day that I needed to make my mommy proud. No matter what it would take, I would make her proud of me. I am living for my mommy, and while she's rests in heaven she is looking down on her daughter and I want her to be proud of what she sees.


In 2012, after working as a waitress at local restaurant for 3 years, I had finally saved enough money from my enrollment tuition at Gurnick Academy of Medical Arts LVN School. After long treachery of coming up with the enrollment money, getting loans, begging family members to help me so I could go to school, my dream finally came true and I started the LVN nursing program in April 2012. I go to school 38 hours a week and work nights for almost 35 hours a week. I have been continually struggling so hard day to day to make ends meet. With bills, food, supply's, and most important gas money for school because I commute to school 3 hours a day 5 days a week. I spend an average on $200 a week just for gas to get to school and back. I currently borrow my friend's car every day to go to school because my car is not reliable. But even though it's been over a year battling and fighting just at finish my education, I will be graduating with my LVN license in December. But now that day may never come.


I have been faced with a great challenge. I have till 10/12/2013 to pay the rest of my tuition to which I was under the impression I had till my graduation date at the end of the year to pay. If I am not able to pay this amount I will not be allowed to attend school anymore and will be left with no education and greatly in debt for almost $30,000 worth of loans I already have for school. I have no other options now. I can't get any more federal loans or funding, I have been denied every loan I have applied for, and my family has given me everything they had just for me to go to school and they now have nothing left to give. I will never forgive myself if I am not allowed to finish my education at my school because of money. I have spent over a year of my life dedicated to this school and to have it all thrown away because I cannot pay my fines is not right. I want nothing more in life than to be a success story from my small town, to prove to the children growing up in Groveland right now that we can do something with our lives, and that we do not have to stay in our small town rut and live there forever. I want people to know that education is life, and without it, well what do you even have? Please, help me have my dreams come true, any size of donation will help me so much.