Melissa Mendez received a Nurses Educational Funds Scholarship. She went to undergraduate school at Fordham University including 1 year at Lehman College. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing at the College of New Rochelle. Before settling into nursing, she pursued several different professions, that included being an associate at the Fordham library; a manager at a catering hall in the Bronx; a senior day camp counselor in the Bedford Park area of the Bronx; and a research lab assistant at Lehman College. What motivated her choice to become a nurse was the shortage of nurses in the health care work force. She always desired to make a difference in the world and felt strongly that using her nursing education and experience would help with the nursing shortage.

She decided to further her education by being a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner at Hunter College so she could use advanced skills to help the mentally ill population. She is currently working as a nurse in a psychiatric hospital in the Bronx which has served as a steppingstone for advancing her nursing career. She loves working as a nurse especially when she is working on the Spanish unit where because of the current nursing staff shortage, she is the only Spanish-speaking nurse. To help improve patient care and health equity, she would like to encourage the younger generation, especially Hispanic minorities, to attend nursing school and fill the current nursing shortages she experiences daily on her unit.

She believes that being a nurse practitioner will provide her with many opportunities for improving healthcare in minority populations. She plans to act as a role model to inspire other Hispanics and other minorities to work in healthcare. Her advanced practice preparation in clinical care and pharmacology will also propel her future goals of more comprehensively treating the mentally ill in her community in the Bronx.

Receiving an NEF Scholarship proves that no matter where you come from, anything is possible. Even though Melissa came from a poor neighborhood in the Bronx, she was able to turn her future around and be an asset to her patients and her community. She is hopeful that as a recipient of a Nurses Educational Funds Scholarship, she can continue to serve as an exceptional nurse role model and increase diversity in the health field.