Marielle Lacanlale

’22 Nursing

Being a student at SJSU has definitely transformed my life. Since I was not guaranteed acceptance into the Valley Foundation School of Nursing when I was a freshman and had to apply to the school as undeclared, I had to do well in my prerequisite classes for the intended major. Only around 60 students are accepted to the nursing school every semester, so I had to be able to stand out in an applicant pool of over 400 people.

I worked extremely hard during my first two years of school taking the classes that were needed to apply to my major while being involved in extracurriculars and working almost full time. Through all of this, I learned how to manage my time well and balance my work and school life. In the end, I was able to achieve a 4.0 GPA in three of the four semesters of my first two years of college. I was awarded the President's Scholar Award in Spring 2019 for having had two consecutive semesters of achieving a 4.0 GPA.

If I had not gone to SJSU to pursue nursing, I would not have been able to develop the work ethic that I have now to achieve my goals. SJSU has also provided me with a very strong Filipino community. Prior to college, I was not very involved with any cultural group and I was not very knowledgeable about my own culture. When I was a freshman, I had joined the Filipino cultural club on campus known as Akbayan. At the time, I was very involved in the club and actively participated in many of their events. I had also grown a very close knit friend group that has been able to support me in my journey throughout college.

If I had not gone to SJSU, I would not have been exposed to these experiences to grow in my culture and to develop the support group that I have in my life today. Now that I am in the nursing school here, SJSU has provided me with so many opportunities to make a difference within my community.