BY GRACE CARTWRIGHT

If you look for me in my classes, you will find me two rows back on the right-hand side. If you rummage through my bookbag, you will find an iPod, notebooks, and flash cards listing medical terminology. If you look for me on a break, you will find me at Case Coffee. I am the student in line in the cafeteria. I am the student rushing to make it to class on time. I am the student studying late in Hannon Library, flanked by textbooks and coffee cups. You might pass me in the halls.

I am every student at SOU. But I am more than that.

I was born in South Korea to a single, unwed mother who worked in a factory. After she courageously gave me up for adoption, I was placed in foster care, where I awaited a permanent home and family. Adopted when I was nine months old, I came home to my two elated older sisters. I became a big sister to my little brother just before I entered kindergarten.

My parents always nurtured a love for learning in our home. We were homeschooled as young children and quickly immersed in music lessons, church programs, and activities with friends. I learned to read when I was three, and ever since, I have been more comfortable leafing through a book than watching TV.

When I entered high school, I was convinced I wanted to be a teacher, inspired by my incredible English teacher, Adrienne Hillman, at North Medford High School. As a high school junior, I enrolled in an anatomy and physiology class to simultaneously earn college and high school credits. Under the guidance of my wonderful teacher, Debbie Warren, I fell in love with the science of medicine.

I knew where I wanted to go, but I didn’t know how to get there. I looked into several different universities, not sure where I wanted to attend. Though Southern Oregon University was an easy choice given the vicinity, I wasn’t sure I wanted to attend college in the same town where I grew up. Eventually, I chose SOU, and today, I can’t imagine any other university giving me the support and growth I’ve received here.

As a terrified freshman, I was uncertain how to navigate the campus. Bolstered by faculty who rallied around me and students who became my dearest friends, I soon found SOU offered me much more than just education. I became involved in the Criminology Club, the Psychology Club, and the SOMA group.

In 2007, I was accepted into OHSU’s School of Nursing at Ashland, grateful to begin my journey toward the career I had dreamed about. I fell in love with nursing school, feeling my heart expand to encompass the patients who truly became ‘mine.’ I fell in love with the family I found in my fellow nursing students, and with the faculty who became both mentors and friends. I even fell in love with the technicalities of calculating IV drop rates and medication dosages.

Throughout my first year of college, I was able to attend SOU without debt, thanks to my generous scholarship donors. I don’t know how I would have been able to attend college without them. One of the scholarships I received was the Robert and Betty Root Scholarship, which has supported me each year of my education.

I cannot express how it feels to know someone believes in what you are doing. On the days when it felt as if I couldn’t study any harder or possibly pass another exam, I remembered that someone, somewhere, believed in me enough to support and fund my education. It’s a humbling revelation.

The Robert and Betty F. Root Scholarship, given through the SOU Foundation, is awarded to students who qualify and maintain a 3.0 GPA. Betty Root says, “We wanted to give to SOU because it’s our campus. We wanted to reach the ‘middle’ students. Families that made enough money to sustain themselves and to maybe help pay for a little bit of college, but not enough to pay the whole way. We wanted it to go to students who didn’t qualify for grants but still couldn’t make ends meet, because it’s those types of students who often fall between the cracks.”

My high school teachers Adrienne Hillman and Debbie Warren helped me fall in love with writing and science. This past year, my OHSU nursing faculty have opened my eyes to the joy of loving others through nursing, teaching me that sometimes sharing your heart means cleaning a wound or reading an X-Ray. SOU Associate Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice Lee Ayers invested in me by pushing me to dig deep and research. My anatomy class professor, Dr. Richard May, and biology professor, Dr. John Sollinger, taught me more than DNA and the structure of bones—they taught me to never stop learning. Most of all, Betty Root made it all possible with her gift of funding my education.

Because of these people, I want to give back. I know where I came from, and where I might have ended up. I know where I am today, and it’s because of the giving of these individuals and so many more. At the end of this term, I will have completed my first year of nursing school, one step closer to my degree. I will be traveling to Mumbai, India, in September of 2010, using my medical skills to offer hope and healing to women.

So if you pass me in the halls, remember, every student has a story. Every one of us has people who have helped us write the pages of our life story, and mine wouldn’t be complete without the people behind the scenes of SOU, people who selflessly give of themselves to help students like me achieve their dreams. Now, I can’t wait to give back.

<- Student Stories