‘Very Appreciative’

VFW's "Sport Clips Help A Hero Scholarship" is assisting a veteran in her pursuit of a higher education.

From 2008-2016, Amber Valencia served in the Army National Guard with the 100th Quartermaster and 422nd Signal Battalion. She was a water treatment specialist and a cable systems installer and maintainer. She was deployed to Kandahar, Afghanistan.

Today, Valencia is working on her Bachelor of Science degree in nursing at Unitek College in Reno, Nevada.

After she finishes her nursing degree, Valencia plans to work as a psychiatric nurse while pursuing a post-graduate degree to become a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner.

"I would like to help make changes to the climate of mental health and the stigma surrounding mental health, especially for service members and first responders," she says.

Valencia heard about VFW's "Sport Clips Help A Hero Scholarship" when she saw a poster while getting her son's haircut.

She said that as a mother, the scholarship has been especially helpful in reducing the financial load of her studies.

"I am very appreciative for the opportunity," Valencia said. "I would encourage other service members to apply as well."

For more information on VFW's "Help A Hero Scholarship," visit vfw.org/Scholarships.

Submitted by Natalie Goldman, a student at St. John's College in Annapolis, Maryland.

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