Genesis Munguia-Valencia

Genesis Munguia-Valencia says she’s wanted to be a nurse “since forever.”

There wasn’t one thing that happened, but she remembers at about age 13, she realized that nursing was in her future.

“My next-door neighbor is a nurse, and a lot of my family is in the medical field. I’ve always been drawn to it,” Munguia-Valencia says.

By the time she graduated from SouthWest Edgecombe High School in 2014, she was well on her way.

She earned a Nurse Aide certificate while in high school, and she started taking prerequisite nursing classes at Edgecombe Community College after graduating.

But paying for college over the past two years started taking its toll on Munguia-Valencia and her family.

“It has been a tough transition from the beginning of college to where I am now,” the 19-year-old says. “I had to take out a student loan.”

This spring, Munguia-Valencia decided to apply for the new EDGE Scholarship, which funds tuition, fees, and books for three years as long as the student meets certain criteria. A week later, she received word that she was awarded the scholarship.

“I was excited, I was happy, I was proud of myself,” she says.

Now that her tuition angst is behind her, Munguia-Valencia can focus on what she’s always wanted to do – help people.

“I didn’t want to put more hardship on my family. And it would have been a hardship without the scholarship.”