---
title: "Celebrating AZCN Values: A Nursing Student’s Commitment to Children in Need"
url: "https://arizonacollege.edu/blog/a-nursing-students-commitment-to-children-in-need/"
type: post
date_published: 2025-03-31
date_modified: 2026-04-10
schema:
  @type: Article
language: en-US
word_count: 1450
reading_time: 8 min
canonical: "https://arizonacollege.edu/blog/a-nursing-students-commitment-to-children-in-need/"
featured_image: "https://arizonacollege.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Nursing-Student-Scholarship-Recipient.webp"
categories:
  - Nursing School
---

# Celebrating AZCN Values: A Nursing Student’s Commitment to Children in Need

![Nursing Student Scholarship Recipient](https://arizonacollege.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Nursing-Student-Scholarship-Recipient.webp)

_This is a multi-part series celebrating Arizona College of Nursing students, their stories, and their embodiment of the AZCN values._

_In 2023, Arizona College of Nursing established the AZCN Values Scholarship Fund as a way to celebrate our values with our colleagues, our students, and the communities in which we serve. Each time an AZCN colleague recognizes another colleague for demonstrating our values, $5 is added to the scholarship fund. These add up to $5,000 scholarships awarded to students the following year who have demonstrated our values within their communities._

_Join us in celebrating 2024 AZCN Values Scholarship recipient **Amy Kim** as she shares some of her journey to nursing:_

---

## Introducing Amy Kim: A Nursing Student Living AZCN Values

Meet AZCN Values Scholarship Recipient, Amy Kim, a Nursing Student at the
[AZCN Dallas Campus](https://arizonacollege.edu/dallas-nursing-school/). Amy has
been volunteering since she was 18 years old, helping orphans and special needs
children in Russia, Kyrgyzstan and Korea. She has also traveled to Romania
volunteering to help Ukrainian refugees. Amy is part of the Campus Student Nurse
Association (SNA) and a peer tutor.

![Nursing Degree with NCLEX Prep](https://arizonacollege.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/swatch.jpeg)

##  

---

## Amy Kim’s Essay: Excellence in Nursing Through Helping Others

From the age of four years old, my dream was to go to Russia and help the
orphans.

At the age of 18, I moved to Russia and began working as a full-time volunteer
with orphans and special needs children, volunteering at children’s hospitals,
and working with at-risk mothers, a job which included translating for American
medical specialists, nurses, and therapists who came to work with the children,
teach the mothers about child care, and instruct local doctors about specialist
operations for children with conditions like hydrocephalus. I worked with
therapists who would give me tasks to perform with children who had cerebral
palsy, practicing picking up a ball from one side and moving it to the other, or
helping one of the girls practice walking without crutches by taking one step
forward, one step back, one step to one side and then the other to Brazilian pop
songs so that it felt like we were dancing together, not doing physical therapy.

![Dallas Nursing Student Amy Kim](https://arizonacollege.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Dallas-Nursing-Student-Amy-Kim.webp?w=880)

For 13 years, I worked with children in Russia, Kyrgyzstan, and Korea, until
COVID brought me home to Texas. I pursued a career in esthetics, as I thought
nursing was out of my reach now that I was ‘so old’ and in my 30s, but shortly
after I met my husband and we married, I confided to him that maybe I would
pursue nursing sometime in the future after we had had children, and they grew
up. My husband was the one who turned my world upside down and said, “There’s no
time like the present, go for it now, I will quit school and work full time to
support you in this.”

The war in Ukraine put my search for a nursing program on hold for several
months, as I went to Romania as a volunteer to help the Ukrainian refugees, but
upon coming back to Texas three months later, my research for a nursing program
led me to Arizona College.

I will be honest, the main selling point for me at first was the accelerated
learning and the fact that the general education classes were all in the
evenings, which would allow me to work for the first year, but as I began to
meet people and also interact with faculty and professors I came to really
appreciate the school for the atmosphere and the way the campus values student
input and leadership. I was able to join PALs while still in general education,
and that was such an honor for me that I was allowed to join and participate in
the student-to-student mentoring program. Now that I just started core, I also
have joined the SNA and hope to become more involved in volunteering in the
community as an Arizona College student.

The dream for me has two points now. I want to become a CRNA first, purely for
financial reasons, mainly to care for my family, and then to fund my main
passion, which is volunteering and helping people. After CRNA, I want to pursue
becoming an NP or a doctor, which I would then use to give medical attention
free of charge to those in my community, especially for women, children, and
veterans, and overseas at the orphanages and children’s hospitals where I used
to volunteer and translate. I want to form medical teams to do mobile medical
stations in areas in our community where there are lots of immigrants, elderly,
or socio-economically challenged people who need care but can’t afford basic
check-ups, and I want to take medical teams to countries where medical care is
minimal or non-existent.

In summary, my journey from a childhood dream of helping orphans to now pursuing
a career in nursing has been shaped by a deep commitment to serving and helping
others. Engaging with PALs, joining SNA, and observing the school’s unwavering
dedication to fostering student success has deepened my appreciation for Arizona
College’s supportive community and commitment to nurturing future healthcare
leaders. This scholarship would not only assist me in realizing these dreams but
also enable me to contribute actively to the community here and abroad, aligning
perfectly with Arizona College’s commitment to excellence, service,
volunteerism, and leadership.

---

## Q&A with Amy

**Q:** How did you find Arizona College of Nursing?

**A:** I’m currently at the
[Dallas campus](https://arizonacollege.edu/dallas-nursing-school/) and Arizona
College was the first college that I looked into. I researched a couple other
ones, but I liked AZCN. The staff, they’re very quick to get in touch with me.
And not only that, they had everything laid out perfectly. So I was like, okay,
I can see the timeline of events, how this is all going to work. Everything is
very clear. Some of the other colleges I talked to, it wasn’t as clear to me. I
didn’t quite understand where they’re coming from. They didn’t seem as
interested. But within a month of talking with representatives from AZCN, I had
taken the HESI and I was enrolled.

**Q:** Tell me about your experience at the AZCN Dallas Campus.

**A:** I’ve been loving my journey so far. I love the campus that I’m at. I love
our faculty. We have some really great teachers. I’m still in touch with a lot
of my Gen Ed professors as well. You know, now that I’m in core, I’m making some
good memories, some good connections there as well.

They’ve given me lots of opportunities to be part of PAL, the peer academic
leaders. I get to tutor other people in English and things of that sort. And
they just made me the chair of tutoring. I’m just trying to give back as much as
I can into the AZCN community. But my goal is, you know, once I graduate to be
able to give in to the community at large, both within the Dallas region.

**Q:** How has the AZCN community been supportive?

**A:** I think what has been the standout for me with AZCN is that most of the
faculty is very personable from Gen Ed on. They are willing to make time for you
if you say, “hey, I want to sit down and talk with you.” They’re always willing
to share their knowledge, share what they know. And then even, you know,
leadership faculty. I like to go down the doors and say hi to the different
professors and say hi to the president. I think the inclusivity makes me feel at
home.

And I think especially my cohort is really awesome because we are very diverse.
We’re from all different states, countries, backgrounds. But we’ve all kind of
just melded together and formed study groups and formed chat groups. And we were
all there supporting each other. I think that’s been a really amazing
experience.

This is my first college experience. I’ve done little things here and there, but
this is basically my first time going after a full-time degree. I always kind of
thought, oh, I can do this when I’m older. Now that I’m here, I’ve realized you
really shouldn’t be putting any kind of limits on yourself. It doesn’t matter
what age you are.

**Categories:** Nursing School