I am honoured to receive the Registered Nurses Foundation of BC Challenge Bursary for 2021. When I first started nursing school, I pictured myself going into emergency nursing, where the environment is fast-paced and exciting. However, during my third year, I did a clinical placement in the impoverished Downtown Eastside, where I saw first-hand the health disparities caused by unequal distribution of social determinants of health and oppressive social policies. I’ve been working there since, and although I love my job and the people I work with, I felt like I wasn’t making a difference. People were still dying to poisoned drugs, people were still being displaced from their homes, people were still falling through the gaps.
I applied for the Master of Public Health program at the University of British Columbia, with the ambition to learn how to enact change at a population level through health policies. Somewhere along the journey, I also discovered an interest in teaching. I want future nurses to think about health beyond the hospital walls, to think about societal and historical factors that can impact health. I think if we can do that, we will also be more kind and tolerant towards those who are marginalized.
I am truly grateful for this opportunity. Your donation will help me finish my master program, which will prepare me to be a strong advocate and leader for our communities, as well as allow me to be an educator for future nurses. Thank you once again for your generosity.
Sincerely,
Conrad So