MPOWER Financing’s Nursing Scholarship Winners Include Midwife and Aspiring Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner
In March, MPOWER Financing celebrated its expansion to support 25 of the top nursing schools in the U.S. – and its continued support for 188 North American universities with top-notch nursing degree programs – by launching the MPOWER Nursing Scholarship Program. In keeping with MPOWER’s commitment to empower high-potential global citizens to realize their educational aspirations and improve the quality of life in emerging markets, we designed this scholarship program to focus on students with the greatest potential to effect positive social change through nursing, especially by improving nursing services to underserved and vulnerable populations.
We’re very excited to announce our winners!
1st Place: Irebamidale Reinace Odufisan, Nigerian RN and Midwife
Odufisan is a registered nurse and registered midwife who graduated third in her class from her Nigerian nursing school. She co-organized a week-long community health clinic in Ogun State, Nigeria, and spent a year in the National Youth Service Corps working with patients with HIV, cancer, kidney disease, and other life-threatening illnesses. Now, she is studying at the University of Virginia (UVA) to become a Family Nurse Practitioner.
“In the long-term,” she wrote in her essay, “I aspire to become an advocate for positive health policy formation. As a Family Nurse Practitioner, I would have the clinical experience and the educational proficiency to be directly involved with health care issues in the community. I also look forward to educating others in and out of the clinical setting.”
“I was at a loss for words when I [found out] I had been selected as the first-place winner!” Odufisan said. “This scholarship [will] help toward my tuition, allowing me to focus entirely on my education.”
2nd Place: Yixi Dong, Aspiring Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner
Dong impressed the judges with her intensely personal essay about her motivation to pursue a Master’s degree in Psychiatric Nursing from Shenandoah University.
“I struggled during school, especially with depression,” she wrote in her essay. “This experience helped me realize there are scarce mental health resources that are designated to meet the needs of international students. Therefore, I launched a YouTube channel to educate people about mental health. For my further career goal, I desire to establish a non-profit organization for international students. The organization will provide international students with low-cost psychotherapy and psychiatric treatments, education about mental health, and scholarships. Pursuing a Master’s degree [to become a] psychiatric nurse practitioner will assist me tremendously to set a strong foundation to advance my knowledge and enhance my leadership skills.”
“I am truly honored to be selected as a winner of the MPOWER Nursing Scholarship,” said Dong. “The scholarship tremendously empower[s] me to realize my dream [of] establishing a non-profit organization in the United States for international students, especially focusing on their mental health.”
3rd Place: Jenniffer Pascual, Aspiring RN
Pascual calls her acceptance into CSU-Long Beach’s Nursing Program “one of the biggest academic accomplishments in my life.”
Her passion for her work impressed the judges. “After each clinical,” she wrote in her essay, “I reflect on how my day went and I always realize that I still have so much more to learn and absorb to become a great nurse someday. As I close my eyes before going to sleep, I always ask myself if I have done everything I can for my patients, and I know deep down that I did the best I could to give my greatest quality of care possible with the knowledge I have so far. One of the most memorable moments during my clinicals was when my patients would ask me if I would be back tomorrow to take care of them. Hearing those words really warmed my heart knowing that they would love for me to […] continue taking care of them. It has truly been an amazing learning experience being able to care for my patients and being their advocates.”
After becoming a Registered Nurse, Jenniffer hopes to work for a few years before continuing her education further.
“I am forever grateful for the scholarship opportunity MPOWER has given me,” she said. “I look forward to creating the same opportunity this scholarship has given me to future students who are in underserved and vulnerable populations once I start my nursing career.”
About MPOWER Financing
MPOWER Financing, headquartered in Washington, D.C., and with offices in New York City and Bangalore, India, is a mission-driven fintech company and provider of global educational loans. It is the only student lender in the world that leverages both overseas and U.S. credit data, as well as future earning potential, to serve high-promise international and DACA students. MPOWER Financing works with more than 350 top universities and colleges across the USA and Canada to provide financing to students from over 200 countries. Since 2014, it has received close to $1B in loan application volume on its platform. MPOWER Financing helps students build their credit histories and provides them with personal finance education and career support to help prepare for life after college. The team is backed by Gray Matters Capital, Breega, Potencia Ventures, Zephyr Management, Goal Structured Solutions, 1776, Village Capital, VARIV, DreamIt, Fresco, Chilango, K Street Capital, and University Ventures, as well as funds managed by Lloyd Crescendo Advisors and Community Investment Management.
