Map-Works Really Works
Sergio Leal-Angeles began his journey toward nursing school last year when he registered for classes. Born in Mexico and raised in Texas and Heber Springs, Leal-Angeles chose UCA because he heard that the nursing program was the best around.
“I wanted to go to college away from home, but not too far away from home,” he said, “so UCA was the perfect location.”
During his freshman year, he was asked to participate in a program recently adopted by UCA called MAP-Works. MAP-Works is a student success and retention tool that was implemented in 2013 for first-time students living on campus. The program rolls out to all first-time students in 2014.
Hosted by parent company Educational Benchmarking Inc. (EBI), MAP-Works asked participating students to write essays about their college experiences and discuss their success using MAP-Works. Leal-Angeles wrote about the trials and tribulations of being the first person in his family to attend college and how he had to learn to blaze his own trail. His essay was so inspiring that, out of 155 applicants, he was awarded a $1,500 scholarship from EBI.
“MAP-Works positively affected my college experience because it got me from not having an idea of what method of studying would be best for me to finding the perfect method of studying for me.” Leal-Angeles stated in his essay. “…I would not have met all of these friends that I have made if I had not done the MAP-Works survey, and my grades would not be where they are if I had not done the survey and listened to the suggestions that it gave me.”
Leal-Angeles is very happy that he won and he plans on finishing nursing school at UCA, getting his doctorate, and becoming a nurse anesthetist. His calm demeanor will help him stay cool and collected as an anesthetist, where his main goal will be to keep patients comfortable before, during, and after surgery.
“I love going into surgeries and shadowing and that’s why I decided to do this,” Leal-Angeles said, “It just looks so interesting to me and I’ve watched a lot of surgeries. My job will be to talk to the patients and keep them calm before and after surgery. I seem to be good at keeping people calm whenever they’re scared.”
Leal-Angeles is very excited to have won the MAP-Works scholarship and plans to use his scholarship for the next semester. He hopes to make his family proud, and he knows he will have their support as he works toward his doctorate.