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Genesis Munguia-Valencia says she’s wanted to be a nurse “since forever.”

There wasn’t one thing that happened, but she remembers at about age 13, she realized that nursing was in her future.

“My next-door neighbor is a nurse, and a lot of my family is in the medical field. I’ve always been drawn to it,” Munguia-Valencia says.

By the time she graduated from SouthWest Edgecombe High School in 2014, she was well on her way.

She earned a Nurse Aide certificate while in high school, and she started taking prerequisite nursing classes at �鶹��Ƶ���߹ۿ� after graduating.

But paying for college over the past two years started taking its toll on Munguia-Valencia and her family.

“It has been a tough transition from the beginning of college to where I am now,” the 19-year-old says. “I had to take out a student loan.”

This spring, Munguia-Valencia decided to apply for the new , which funds tuition, fees, and books for three years as long as the student meets certain criteria. A week later, she received word that she was awarded the scholarship.

“I was excited, I was happy, I was proud of myself,” she says.

Now that her tuition angst is behind her, Munguia-Valencia can focus on what she’s always wanted to do – help people.

“I didn’t want to put more hardship on my family. And it would have been a hardship without the scholarship.”