John Gobel

I wanted to go back and start on a second career after almost two decades in business. I decided business was what I wanted to do when I was 17 and got two degrees one in management the other in business administration. I worked and loved what I did but I also traveled the states and to over a dozen countries around the world. I became a certified scuba professional and lived and worked in Central America. I visited other awesome locales and saw more of what is out there in the wide world. These experiences, a love of science and a desire to help sent, me looking for something new. I found it in nursing. A field that will challenge my mind and body daily. Will keep growing and allowing me to grow with it as new technology develops. A chance to really help others in a way that I couldn't have done before.

Receiving the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation NCIN scholarship is a huge boon for me and my family. Already having a degree limits the money I was eligible for and looking to large personal loans to carry me through my accelerated program. The worry of repayment would be an extra concern to weigh on any mind that was already being pushed by a steep work load.

I never saw myself getting one degree when I graduated high school, soon I will have three and a handful of certifications. I thought I knew what life had in store for me and that I had all the answers at 17 and 21. Now I know I don't know enough, that I want to know more, and that three degrees might not be enough. I want to look back at my path in years to come and see a line of people that are better because I meet them, that will be a how I define success for them and for myself the longer that line is the better I will have done. That journey will have been helped along by the RWJF scholarship.

“A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.” – Lao Tzu