Nursing Symposium 2021

Mya Sakura Spady

Mya Sakura Spady, a high school junior from Seattle, has always wanted to be a nurse. Spady first heard about nursing from an introduction to medical careers class. She struggled with health problems and wanted to help people with similar experiences. In addition, they noticed the discrepancies in healthcare and wanted to help change that. “Being East Asian, I’ve seen very unsatisfactory experiences with healthcare providers, including limited access to providers in general. I hope as a nurse, I can change that and be more involved in my community,” said Spady.

Spady was part of this year’s Nursing Symposium, a free week-long symposium geared towards increasing nursing access and opportunities to high school sophomores and juniors. More than 30 students from high schools across the region attended the weeklong event. They engaged in different sessions on topics like social determinants of health and health disparities, meeting nursing students and hearing more about the various degree options, how to apply for college and nursing programs, and careers in the nursing field.

In addition, the Symposium features speakers like Dr. Ben Danielson who spoke on health disparities. Spady said this was their favorite part of the week. “Dr. Danielson’s talk was sad, but left me in awe and was so inspiring.”

Spady hopes other high school students apply to the Nursing Symposium. They also wanted to shout out Ms. Cher Espina, the organizer of this symposium and said that she “was incredibly kind and such a helpful and warm person to talk to. I had an amazing, completely unforgettable experience and learned so much from this program. If anyone is afraid to apply, just go for it!”

Learn more about the Nursing Symposium 

The School of Nursing recognizes the generous supporters who like Salal Credit Union who make Nurse Camp and the Nursing Symposium possible each year.