LIVING
dream T H E
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by Leena Duwadi | photos courtesy of Hannah Conrad Facebook profile
he has an infectious smile. She is the type of person who always finds something to smile about. “I am doing the best job in the world, and I thank God every day for giving me such an amazing life,” Hannah Conrad, a proud registered nurse from The Colony, said. She’s happy to make a difference in others’ lives. Conrad works at Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital, where she takes care of children and comforts them with smiles and positivity. Her decision to work in the healthcare field mirrors a life-changing experience she had in her childhood. As the story goes, Conrad was 11 years old when she was diagnosed with a spinal condition. She had to undergo several treatments, including a nine-hour spinal fusion surgery. It was a difficult phase for her, and she found herself vulnerable and fearful. But a nurse who took care of her in the hospital emerged as an angel who changed her life.
“My nurse made me feel capable in a time when all I felt was weakness. She was able to make me feel like my care was her top priority; that for a week, she cared so deeply for me that she was willing to do whatever it took to make me feel better. Towards the end of my stay, I realized that this was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life,” Hannah wrote in her scholarship essay years ago. 28 | LIFE IN CASTLE HILLS | JUNE 2021
Her ambition to being a nurse, inspired by the one who took care of her in her childhood, was fulfilled by LEF’s scholarship program. A 2015 graduate of The Colony, Hannah received the TCHS PTSA Scholarship through LEF and entered Baylor University. LEF partners with PTAs from across LISD and the LISD Council of PTAs to offer $20,000 in scholarships to students graduating from schools in LISD. Each year, 10 scholarships are provided. “I am grateful to LISD for helping me obtain the education I wanted. It feels great to know that there are people who support me and care about my future,” Conrad said. “Honestly, I don’t think that I could have succeeded as well as I did without contributions from community members like them. Yes, specifically in the LEF scholarship but also in other ways that different members of the community impacted me and took the time to either donate monetarily or with their time or their volunteer work.”
“TOWARDS THE END OF MY STAY, I REALIZED THAT THIS WAS WHAT I WANTED TO DO FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE.” www.LiveLocalMagazines.com
