David Zelaya
2018-2019 Graduate Scholarship Recipient
University of California, Los Angeles | School of Nursing
My name is David Rawle Zelaya and I will be graduating from the UCLA School of Nursing (SON) this June 2019. I have faced an inordinate number of experiences in my lifetime that have led me to embark on my journey to become a nurse. I lost my father to an aneurysm, my sister to brain cancer, and my aunt to ovarian cancer; I am a cancer survivor. These life changing events are the experiences that pointed me in the right direction and lead me to where I am today.
I could not imagine my battle with cancer without the support of my family, friends, and the nurses that stood by my side. After my six-hour surgery, I woke up on the critical care unit being infused with 2-3 liters of blood and had a large abdominal incision that required over 30 staples. That was the beginning of a painful stay in the hospital. Although the pain was temporarily managed with a patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) pump, I ended up with an ileus and having another nasogastric tube (NG) put back into me. It was a very uncomfortable experience having another NG tube inserted because this time I was awake. While I was hospitalized there was one particular nurse that took care of me, helped me get through the pain, and kept me company when I was alone. She made me laugh and gave me hope. I certainly received the “gift of a nurse.” Throughout the years I would always share my story of how I survived cancer with the help of my mother, aunt, family, friends, and that one unforgettable nurse that took care of me. [A few years later I went back to the same hospital to volunteer and I found that special nurse, Suzi. Since then we have become very good friends and share our story to help others face the challenges of being hospitalized.]
The surgery took place while I was in graduate school for a Master’s in Clinical Psychology. Upon graduating from my program, my aunt was diagnosed with advanced stage three ovarian cancer. Without hesitation, I made the decision to resign from work to become her primary caretaker as she began her battle. I thought of the amazing nurses that helped carry me through my surgeries and chemotherapy, and I wanted to be that person for my aunt.
I made my aunt laugh and I gave her hope, just as my nurses had done for me. I was honored to stand by her side for three years, until she lost her battle. She believed in me and it was her greatest wish that I would become a nurse to take care of others and be at their side as I was for her. She told me before she passed away that if it wasn’t for my emotional and physical support, she would have given up when she first began her bout with cancer. In her final hours in the ICU, I held her hand and kissed her on the head. I made her that promise and subsequently passed away a few hours later.
Within our school of nursing, I am currently the president of our Graduate Student Nursing Association, one of the UCLA SON Student Ambassadors, and the liaison to our MECN cohort and our American Association of Critical Care Nurses Chapter at UCLA. I also support many organizations within our school of nursing such as GAIN, WIN, Men in Nursing, etc. As a Student Ambassador I volunteer to meet with international nursing students and nurses from Japan and Hong Kong. I also volunteered with the UCLA Peer Assistance and Wellness program. It was very rewarding because prior to nursing school, I was a therapist. I am always willing to volunteer time and eager to support our faculty and staff when they ask me for assistance with information sessions, student recommendations, etc.
Also, for more than a year I have also volunteered as a Buddy with UCLA Operation Mend, which is an amazing organization that helps our nation’s military service members with medical and psychological support. As a volunteer buddy, I help provide a support system to our veterans that travel alone at times to UCLA. I hope to continue volunteering after graduation as I am committed and dedicated. As a token of my commitment, for the past two years, I also created our SON Relay For Life Team and participated in the American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life fundraiser. We were able to raise approximately five-thousand dollars and helped raise cancer awareness in our SON department.
All of my experiences in life with my aunt, family, my own cancer experiences, nursing association, leadership, and community positions and being taken care of by amazing nurses have inspired and influenced me to be where I am and who I am, today. Unfortunately, due to circumstances, I will be completing the Masters Entry Clinical Nurse program in three years, instead of two. Sometimes in life, we do not understand why some things happen, but eventually we do figure it out. I am extremely thankful and blessed to have received the Bonnie A.C. Lee Fang Foundation Scholarship. I believe the Foundation’s mission and vision represent who I am and who I have become. I do my best each and every day I am with my patients and provide help, hope, and honor. Receiving this amazing scholarship has helped pay for the extra year of tuition and expenses that I have accumulated and helped me focus more on my critical care preceptorship. Upon graduation, I hope to continue working in the area of critical care nursing, continue working with the community and underserved communities I serve, and continue to represent what the Bonnie Lee Foundation represents; help, hope, and honor. The Bonnie Lee Foundation has helped me reach my goal of becoming a registered nurse and help those that are in their time of need.
