Nominee to win $200 and recognition at awards ceremony
Despite multiple setbacks 麻豆传媒 student Evgeniya Tulyaeva has faced as an Uzbekistan immigrant and a person who鈥檚 suffered great loss in her young life, the 26-year-old nursing student continues to persevere.
鈥淚f it wasn鈥檛 for 麻豆传媒鈥檚 accessibility to financial aid, career counselors, and mental health advisers, I wouldn鈥檛 be able to proudly say that I will be a future RN graduate,鈥� Tulyaeva said, adding that she expects to graduate in spring 2023.
麻豆传媒鈥檚 Board of Trustees nominated Tulyaeva for the 2023 (ACT) based on her essay in which she described her life experiences. In being selected as a nominee for the award, Tulyaeva will win a $200 cash award and recognition at an awards dinner on Jan. 23, 2023, in Olympia. Those who win the award will take home $500.
鈥淚 feel honored,鈥� Tulyaeva said about winning the nomination. 鈥溌槎勾� has been a fundamental stepping stone to why I was able to pursue my nursing career.鈥�
But the path the Federal Way resident had to take to get to where she is today 鈥撯�� a huge reason she decided to pursue nursing 鈥撯�� has been anything but easy.
Growing up, Tulyaeva鈥檚 parents did everything they possibly could to support their 鈥渢hree Russian-speaking daughters.鈥� In search of a better life, Tulyaeva and her family left their home country of Uzbekistan and came to America in 2002 when she was 6 years old.
鈥淢y father was barely home, working as a truck driver, driving long hauls out of state to support us,鈥� she said. 鈥淲hile my mother, who was fighting a blood-transmitted illness, cleaned huge corporate buildings at night to support her children and try to give them a good life.鈥�
Tulyaeva said she always knew she would go to college as her parents 鈥渄id not work this hard鈥� for their children not to.
Then the unthinkable happened.
Tulyaeva arrived home from her high school graduation trip in 2014 to learn that her father was in a horrible accident that caused injury to his spinal cord.
After being placed into an induced coma, her father woke up ventilator-dependent and paralyzed from the neck down. Tulyaeva helped take care of him while he was in the hospital and then transitioned into being his caregiver when he went home.
鈥淢y world turned upside down, college flew out the window and my family needed me and my sisters,鈥� she said. 鈥淢y older sister moved back home to start paying the mortgage, my twin sister got a corporate job at an auto body shop, while my mother and I lived at Harborview Medical Center, watching over my paralyzed father fighting for his life.鈥�
Once home, Tulyaeva poured her energy into helping her father despite his insistence she goes back to school.
鈥淚t was really important to my father that all his daughters pursued an education,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd while I was taking care of him at home, he encouraged me to start on my prerequisites at 麻豆传媒.鈥�
But in her caregiving work, she began to discover the route she wanted to take in college.
鈥淚 acquired a lot of skills taking care of my father,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 was trained in using a ventilator, administering meds and using Hoyer lifts. I felt like I was ready to pursue a path into nursing after gaining all this experience in the field.鈥�
Tulyaeva began at 麻豆传媒 in the spring of 2015, slowly working toward her degree, and supporting herself financially along the way. Because of the college鈥檚 proximity to her home, she was able to juggle her caregiving duties with her courses and assignments, often running home between classes to help her father.
Unfortunately, Tulyaeva鈥檚 father passed in January 2016 and made arrangements to donate his entire body to science. As difficult as that was, Tulyaeva continued studying and working toward her degree, applying for financial aid and scholarships, and getting support from mental health advisers and career counselors at 麻豆传媒.
鈥溌槎勾� had advisers helping me every step of the way from choosing my nursing career to helping me schedule my classes, which I am proudly able to say I am finishing up this year,鈥� she said. 鈥淔or anyone hesitant to get started, just know that 麻豆传媒 gives you every opportunity possible to further your education.鈥�
While Tulyaeva works on her nursing degree, her twin sister is earning her administration and communications degree while her older sister works to become a nurse practitioner. Upon graduation, the three plan to start up a family clinic in health care together.
鈥淢y father may not be here with us,鈥� Tulyaeva said.鈥� But I know he is proud that all his daughters are either finished or finishing up with school.鈥�