Seventeen years ago, Eaba Dechasa arrived in America from Ethiopia with his family. His father was a geologist. His mother a teacher. The Dechasas came to America through the Diversity Immigrant Visa program (also known as the visa lottery), which provides up to 50,000 immigrant visas each year. Drawn from random selection among all entries, the visas are awarded to individuals who are from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States. Distributed among six geographic regions, no single country can receive more than 7% of the available DVs in any one year.

Dana Brandorff | May 18, 2020

Born into a service-oriented family with strong roots in pediatric cardiology, China Opland knew from a young age that her path would focus on giving. Her maternal grandmother Francine Leca, the first female cardiac surgeon in France, founded Mécénat Chirurgerie Cardiaque in 1996 –  an organization well known throughout the world for providing free heart surgery to children in need.

Dana Brandorff | May 15, 2020

Sara Schwartz had a bumpy start to her nursing degree. Notified 14 days prior to the start of orientation that she was accepted into CU Nursing, she drove to Colorado from California. “I was homeless for a week and planned to live in my car,” she said. Fortunately, she met a girl during orientation whose family allowed her to live in their basement. 

Dana Brandorff | May 13, 2020

All he wanted was a plastic toy car. At 4 years old, that was what Josh Harrington wanted and he was going to get it.

Dana Brandorff | May 13, 2020

For 15 years, Bill Martchenke was a high school and middle school teacher. A devoted teacher, he regularly worked 12-14 hour days. When his wife became pregnant with their first son, he couldn’t justify it any longer and got a job working for Kaiser Permanente in their electronic medical record (EMR) department training nurses on the system. After supporting the hospital for five months, “I recognized nurses had the greatest job in the world and why wasn’t I doing this?”

Dana Brandorff | May 12, 2020

Eleven years ago, Erika Vaske was on a two-year waitlist to get into a nursing program. “A lot of my inspiration came from my mom, who has been a nurse’s aid for over 35 years,” she said. For Vaske, the wait was “interminable.” So she chose another path -- changed majors and earned a bachelor’s degree in social work.

Dana Brandorff | May 12, 2020

Originally trained as a physical therapist in her homeland of Germany, Sabs Sheppard chose nursing after moving to the U.S. 12 years ago. After working with nurses for years, she realized that the profession more closely aligned with her goals and ambitions to work in critical care. 

Dana Brandorff | May 12, 2020

Pam:  So, uh, Greg. How’s your job?
Greg:  Um, good, Pam. Thanks for asking. I recently got transferred to triage.
Dina: Oh, is that better than a nurse?
Pam: No, Mom, triage is a unit of the E.R. It’s where all the top nurses work.
Greg:  Well—
Pam:  No, they do.
Jack: Not many men in your profession, though, are there, Greg?
Greg:  No, Jack, not traditionally.
Jack:  Mm-hmm.

Dana Brandorff | May 12, 2020

Arriving in the U.S. at age 4 from Colombia, South America, Kay Maldonado knew when she graduated from high school that challenges would lie ahead.

Dana Brandorff | May 12, 2020

Struggling with depression as a teenager, Rachel Johnson came to a pivotal moment in her young life.

Dana Brandorff | May 11, 2020