Hi everyone, my name is Mariah Velasco and I am currently a senior. I am so excited to be your Breakthrough to Nursing Director for this year! What I am most excited about is hopefully being able to recruit more future nurses in our underserved community, where we currently have a nursing shortage.

As your Breakthrough to Nursing Director, I will reach out to members of our community and talk about nursing as a profession. Reaching out to local schools and providing presentations, hands on skills, and resources to inspire the next generation of future nurses is what I am striving to do.

I chose nursing because I enjoy developing new relationships and connections with people. I want to be that person my patients can confide in and trust, especially at a time in their lives when they are at their most vulnerable. Advocating for patients is another reason why I chose nursing. Being that voice for them to ensure that they are receiving the best possible care is something that is very important to me.