---
title: "Celebrating AZCN Values: A Nursing Student’s Mission to Serve Rural Communities"
url: "https://arizonacollege.edu/blog/a-nursing-students-mission-to-serve-rural-communities/"
type: post
date_published: 2025-03-07
date_modified: 2025-12-11
schema:
  @type: Article
language: en-US
word_count: 1345
reading_time: 7 min
canonical: "https://arizonacollege.edu/blog/a-nursing-students-mission-to-serve-rural-communities/"
featured_image: "https://arizonacollege.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Teya-Values-Award.webp"
categories:
  - Nursing School
---

# Celebrating AZCN Values: A Nursing Student’s Mission to Serve Rural Communities

![nursing school scholarship winner](https://arizonacollege.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Teya-Values-Award.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 **Teya Phanmanivong** as she shares some of her journey to nursing._

---

## Introducing Teya from AZCN Tempe

Meet AZCN Values Scholarship Recipient, Teya Phanmanivong, a Nursing Student at
the [AZCN Tempe Campus](https://www.arizonacollege.edu/tempe-nursing-school/).
Growing up in Alaska, Teya looks to make an impact in rural communities by
finding ways to improve patient care and better access to healthcare in remote
areas.

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

---

Receiving the Arizona College of Nursing Values scholarship would not only have
a profound impact on my own life but also on the community I serve. By allowing
me to focus on my education, this scholarship would enable me to make a greater
impact on the healthcare needs of my community.

![nursing school scholarship winner 2025](https://arizonacollege.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Teya-Vales-Image-shirt.webp?w=600)

As a self-reliant student, I spend all my additional time outside of studying
working long hours over the weekends and before class. If I were to receive a
scholarship, it would lessen the burden of making ends meet. This would allow me
to spend more time collaborating with my classmates and focusing on what really
matters – my education. My education is important to me because of the plans I
have for my nursing career. With my education and eventual nursing license, I
want to use my career to further my commitment and advocacy for the health and
well-being of communities across the United States.

Advocating for policies and initiatives that benefit my community is an
important aspect of my career. I am eager to participate in focus groups and
collaborations that influence decisions regarding healthcare quality and access,
particularly in the small towns and villages of my home state, Alaska. I am
passionate about the improvement of access to high-quality care in rural
villages in Alaska.

Due to geographic isolation, high-quality care can be very difficult to obtain
for many patients. For example, Kotzebue, Alaska, is regarded as a “hub” among
its surrounding villages because it’s the closest village with a hospital- even
though it can be as far as 80 miles away and only accessible by plane year-round
(Walker, 2023).

Upon graduation from the Arizona College of Nursing, my objective is to work as
a licensed traveling nurse, providing better access to healthcare and improving
patient care in remote areas. I have full confidence that my efforts will have a
positive impact on the healthcare needs of multiple communities.

Arizona College of Nursing is committed to increasing the number of qualified
nurses, promoting diversity, encouraging specialization, and fostering community
engagement. These are values that I share and strive to uphold in my own future
nursing career.

I am proud to be a nursing student, especially when the demand for qualified
nurses continues to grow. As I advance my career, I look forward to specializing
in a particular area and making a meaningful impact on community health. I
believe that working as a traveling nurse in rural areas of the U.S. will allow
me to promote diverse cultures and contribute to community engagement.

I am confident that I possess the ideal qualities to qualify for the Arizona
College of Nursing Values Scholarship. I strive for excellence by implementing a
highly structured and disciplined learning routine, which is reflected in my
test scores and the quality of my assignments.

My devotion to my community is evident in class when I actively participate,
engage with my peers, and others or receive help. Moreover, I am adaptable in
class, able to easily connect with students I have yet to meet, and unafraid to
confront challenging concepts that I may not fully comprehend. Even when things
get tough and uncertain, I pride myself on upholding my integrity and staying
committed to my ethical values. My ethical values keep me accountable to my
studies, my community, and most importantly- myself.

Through education and the adoption of Arizona College of Nursing’s values, I
have seen firsthand the positive impact that these principles can have on my
work ethic, attitude, and relationship with my community. I am confident that as
I continue to progress with passion and positivity, these benefits will only
increase. The values imparted by Arizona College of Nursing are truly
transformative, and I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to embrace them
fully.

---

## Q&A with Teya

**Q:** How did you find AZCN?

**A:** I was doing some research, and I knew that I wanted to go into nursing
school. I was really impressed with Arizona College of Nursing. For example,
when I was putting out those feelers, putting my email down, putting my number
down, Arizona College of Nursing, the people who called me, they are the ones
who convinced me, this is the place that I want to go. They are so friendly, so
helpful, so passionate. You could tell that they really loved their jobs and it
honestly, like, I really didn’t have to question it once I started talking to
them. It just stood out to me especially seeing all the campuses that have
opened up in the past few years, it’s obviously a very professional setting and
has a great standing and great reviews.

**Q:** Why did you choose AZCN’s Tempe Campus and what does AZCN mean to you?

**A:** I flourish in smaller settings, so when I decided to go back to school
and get a nursing degree, I knew that I wanted to go to a smaller school with
smaller classes. The personal connection with your classmates and your teacher
is way more important than being in a crazy big fancy campus.

I only have great things to say about all of my professors. Specifically, I
really love the way Dr. Hassan teaches. I went to him when he wasn’t even my
teacher. He had a tutoring thing, and I went before my midterm for my chemistry
class, and he just really helped me understand a lesson that I could not get.

I feel very comfortable approaching them. I say “hi” to them in the hallways
when I see them all, wave at them, smile at them. I see them more like mentors
than cold professors that are kind of up here. I see them as someone who
genuinely want to be on this journey with me and watch us flourish and grow.

**Q:** How’s the Tempe Campus community with your cohorts and other students?

**A:** I love it. When I went to [my previous school], I was in a sorority for
a year and being like just an Alaskan girl, it didn’t really resonate with me.
But I wanted that friendship, and I feel like with nursing school, it’s just
what I was looking for because all of us have the same goals. We all have the
same interests and passion. So, even if you think that you don’t have anything
in common with somebody, At Arizona College of Nursing, you do, because we’re
all there for the same reasons. We all want to see each other grow. It’s amazing
how being driven with the same purpose really brings you together. I really see
the effort in my classmates, trying to connect with me. And it’s the same way
with me to them. We are just in it for the long haul, and we’re going to get
through it together.

**Categories:** Nursing School