---
title: "A Passion to Help Others: Sabawoon’s Path to Nursing"
url: "https://arizonacollege.edu/blog/a-passion-to-help-others-sabawoons-path-to-nursing/"
type: post
date_published: 2026-08-03
date_modified: 2026-08-03
schema:
  @type: Article
language: en-US
word_count: 1264
reading_time: 7 min
canonical: "https://arizonacollege.edu/blog/a-passion-to-help-others-sabawoons-path-to-nursing/"
featured_image: "https://arizonacollege.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/AZCN-Students-at-Nursing-Clinicals.webp"
categories:
  - Nursing School
topic:
  - Military
  - Nursing
---

# A Passion to Help Others: Sabawoon’s Path to Nursing

![AZCN Students at Nursing Clinicals](https://arizonacollege.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/AZCN-Students-at-Nursing-Clinicals.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 2025 AZCN Values Scholarship recipient, Sabawoon Pohmal,
as he shares some of his journey to nursing:

## Life as a Falls Church Nursing Student

Meet AZCN Values Scholarship Recipient, Sabawoon Pohmal, a Nursing Student at
the
[AZCN Falls Church Campus](https://arizonacollege.edu/falls-church-nursing-school/)
. Sabawoon was drawn to the nursing field after seeing firsthand how important
health literacy is, especially in underserved communities.

Watch Sabawoon’s video here:

## A Passion to Serve

My journey into nursing is built on love, loss, and a deep desire to serve
others. I was born and raised in Afghanistan, where access to healthcare was
extremely limited and health literacy was nearly nonexistent. Like many families
in my community, mine struggled to understand illness, and where to seek help, a
reality that forever changed our lives.

![Sabawoon in Military Before Nursing School](https://arizonacollege.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Sabawoon-Pohmals-Nursing-Program-Graduation.webp?w=867)

My mother lived for years with undiagnosed diabetes. We didn’t know the signs.
We didn’t understand the risks. By the time her condition was discovered, it had
already progressed to kidney failure. I remember the fear in our home as we
watched her deteriorate, unsure if she would survive. We almost lost her. That
helplessness not from lack of love, but from lack of knowledge and resources
left a deep wound in me. It also gave me purpose: I knew one day I wanted to
help prevent other families from going through what mine did.

Before coming to the United States, I served as a translator for the U.S.
coalition forces in Afghanistan. That work taught me the power of communication,
trust, and cultural connection. After my service, I immigrated to the U.S.
through the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program, with a dream to start over,
build a future, and make a difference.

Today, I am a full-time nursing student, a husband, and a proud father to a
joyful two-year-old daughter. My wife and I are both students, and though we are
working hard every day, we are going through serious financial hardship. We rely
on limited support and stretch every resource to provide for our daughter while
staying focused on our education. It’s not easy, but everything we do is for her
and for the future we want to build for our family and our community.

The Arizona College of Nursing’s mission to
[prepare students for service](https://arizonacollege.edu/accredited-bsn-program/skills-and-science-lab/)
to society resonates deeply with me. I want to serve in communities where people
often feel forgotten about those facing homelessness, poverty, or lack of access
to healthcare. My goal is to combine strong clinical skills with compassion to
make a tangible difference, not only in hospitals but also through outreach
programs and health education.

![Nursing School Students at AZCN Falls Church](https://arizonacollege.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Nursing-School-Students-at-AZCN-Falls-Church.webp?w=680)

![Nursing Program Graduation Sabawoon Pohmal](https://arizonacollege.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Nursing-Program-Graduation-Sabawoon-Pohmal.webp?w=637)

##  Q&A with Sabawoon

**Q: Where did your nursing journey start?**

**A: **Growing up, I always felt that in my family and back home living in a
Third World country and having complications with healthcare and understanding
healthcare that I wanted to know more. It is always hard to get into healthcare
in any country. But I saw my family members have health complications that could
be very preventable and saw [that we did not] have the right education and
information.

I got the opportunity to work with the [U.S. coalition forces in Afghanistan]
as a translator and I got lucky through that pathway that I could get a visa and
come to America. When I came, I knew I wanted to do this. It took me a while to
figure out the education system because everything was new…but I kept going and
found Arizona College.

**Q: How did you know Arizona College of Nursing was the right fit for you?**

**A:** I knew I wanted to be in healthcare and when I did my research, I could
not find a more perfect and diverse place than nursing. There’s room everywhere,
there are jobs everywhere, and I was surprised at the amount of opportunities a
nurse can have…One day I saw Arizona College and my brother and I, who is also
going to be a nurse, thought it was too good to be true. We
[talked to the staff](https://arizonacollege.edu/student-services/career-services/)
and they were so energetic. The process was so seamless and they take care of
everything, you just have to show up to class and do the work. All the other
stuff is taken care of which for someone born and raised here may not be a big
deal but for me, it was. I didn’t have to worry about all of the other stuff, I
could just study and focus on my education.

My whole family goes to Arizona College of nursing. My brother, my
sister-in-law, my wife, and I all joined, and it has been perfect. Arizona
College of Nursing has helped us with all the hours and we even went to many of
the same classes. [For my brother and sister-in-law], since they have kids,
clinicals were hard to manage, but they did a great job.

**Q: What is your biggest passion as a nurse?**

**A:** The nursing job itself is a passion. Showing up, helping out, and talking
to people has been great. [Nurses] are so helpful and while doing my
[clinical preceptorship](https://arizonacollege.edu/accredited-bsn-program/skills-and-science-lab/)
, I learned that this is such an important job. People rely on you and I am
really glad I chose this. It is exhilarating and exciting, but you’re also
saving people. You have so much responsibility and it’s so exciting to help
people out. I feel empowered, really responsible, and never get bored of the
job.

![Sabawoon in Military Before Nursing School](https://arizonacollege.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Sabawoon-in-Military-Before-Nursing-School.webp?w=1024)

For our kids, especially being born here and having all the opportunities we
didn’t have, I want to
[see them be great nurses](https://arizonacollege.edu/accredited-bsn-program/why-azcn/)
or be in the medical field. Regardless, I want them to take the opportunities to
be educated.

**Q: What is the value scholarship mean to you and how’s it impacting you?**

**A:** Personally, it impacts not just me, but my family. The moral support I
got from this is awesome. It has been a hard journey and just being recognized
for it is one of the accomplishments I’m going to be proud of throughout my
life. The Arizona College Values Scholarship has had a great impact in my life
and it’s given me such a great boost of energy that I never had before.

**Categories:** Nursing School