Scholarship Recipient 2002 - Elizabeth Corrales

    “ In keeping with my interest to become a registered nurse and having learned hospital
    procedures through my Regional Occupation Program class, I volunteer at the Courtyards at
    Pine Creek, an assisted living community and at the Veteran’s Affairs Medical Center.

     I work at the Courtyards every Sunday from nine to two. I help the Activities Director
    organize the agenda of activities for the week. I help feed, transport and entertain the
    residents. While in charge, I am also responsible for their safety. I intervene and pacity them
    when they mistreat each other. Seeing their animated responses to the activites I plan brings
    me great pleasure. Having a young person around seems to energize them. They appreciate
    being tended to by someone younger and different.

     At the VA, I am receiving hands on training in nursing. Some of my responsibilities include
    transporting, feeding and attaching blood pressure, cardiac, and pulse-oximetry monitors to
    patients. I have witnessed cataract surger and assisted in a colonscopy. I have learned how to
    remove IV’s and assist patients in getting dressed. The nurses I assist appreciate my
    enthusiastic help. They in turn have taken time to teach me about nursing and share their
    professional experiences with me.

     Volunteering has helped me realize that people need to be cared for during different stages of
    life, and for the many illnesses we all encounter. It gives me pride and security to know
    nursing is a rewarding career”.
                           Elizabeth Corrales

    “ She is consistent both on being here and being on time. She is very helpful and the residents
    love her….I believe she will be an asset to our community as a nurse”.
                             Arlinda Smith, Activities Director, The Courtyards at Pine Creek

    “Elizabeth’s organization is impeccable, and the quality of her work is exceptional. She is a
    thoughtful writer, and through various essays, stories, and journal entries she’s written, I’ve
    seen that her knowledge not only reaches deeply into her own self and mind, but that she is
    also very aware of the world around her. This second type of knowledge is evident in the
    altruism she shows in her life and at school”.
                            Catherine Cunningham, YVHS English Teacher



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