The impact of nursing scholarships
The passion Alexandria Ellis, RN, MSN (MSN 2023), has for nursing began at the bedside of her parents.
When both her mom and dad underwent surgeries, she witnessed firsthand how nurses offered clinical care and compassion to her family, even going so far as to let her interact with their tools and learn how to use a stethoscope. In those moments, she realized the unique power of nursing: to connect with patients and their families in ways that are both technical and deeply human.
Today, through the help of her generous donors and the scholarships they created in the UAB School of Nursing, she is working toward becoming a Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner.
Because of her donors’ support, she’s been able to grow academically, serve as a clinical instructor, and focus on becoming the kind of nurse who gives back.
Ellis is not the only student who generous donors have helped serve the community at the bedside after graduation. Since 2016, more than one in four nursing graduates in Alabama have come from UABSON. As the School celebrates its 75th anniversary, it’s not just honoring its legacy and impressive reach—it’s expanding it, with a goal of creating 75 new scholarships in 2025.
And as the School of Nursing’s prestige and prominence have risen, so have the number of scholarships created by donors and awarded to students. Over the last 20 years, the total number of scholarships has increased by 145 percent, rising from 44 in 2005 to 108 in 2025. That has culminated in 408 UABSON students receiving scholarship awards totaling nearly $1.1 million in the 2024-2025 academic year alone.
These scholarships don’t just reduce the burden of tuition. They shape the future of health care in Alabama and offer future nurses a sense of belonging—that someone sees their hard work and believes they can make a difference in the lives of their patients.
“It gives me a sense of pride,” said Master of Science in Nursing student and scholarship recipient Olivia Railey, RN, BSN (BSN 2022).
“Somebody that doesn’t know me appreciates my story enough to think that I deserve to have this scholarship—like they have an appreciation of the work I’m doing.”
Nurses and the backbone of health care
As a former obstetrician and now an Associate Professor at the UABSON, Bill Somerall, MD, said quality nurses are essential.
“I’ve always appreciated the work that nurses do,” he said. “Having well-trained, highly experienced nurses in Labor and Delivery gave me the confidence that I could be in the office seeing patients and know that my laboring patients were receiving expert care. Now I have a role of educating future nurses and I personally know how great that responsibility is for health care providers and patients.”
D’Ann Somerall, DNP, MAEd, FNP-BC, FAANP (BSN 1995, MSN 1999, DNP 2011), knows the need for good nurses intimately. As Associate Professor in the Department of Acute, Chronic and Continuing Care and Specialty Track Co-coordinator for the Family Nurse Practitioner Program, D’Ann spends her days within the halls of the School training future nurses.
Now, through the D’Ann W. And William E. Somerall, Jr. Endowed Scholarship in Nursing, D’Ann and Bill will do more than train the future of health care. Their aim for the scholarship is to help someone pursue a career in nursing without the financial burden of tuition.
“We hope this scholarship allows students to have more flexibility in their time to study by providing a financial respite,” D’Ann said.
For Ellis, that’s exactly what her student scholarships provide. As the recipient of the Florence A. Hixson Nursing Scholarship Endowment, Marie Carter Bonner Memorial Scholarship Fund, Helene Fuld Health Trust Scholarship, Lettie Pate Whitehead Foundation Scholarship and Marie L. O’Koren School of Nursing Alumni Association Scholarship, she can pursue her degree without the weight of financial stress and has affirmed that others believe in her mission to advocate for mental wellness as an essential part of overall health and reduce stigma.
Recognition and belonging
It’s not just financial respite that scholarships provide. Curry Bordelon, DNP, MBA, CRNP, CNE, ANEF, FNAP (DNP 2016), Associate Professor and Interim Department Chair for Family, Community and Health Systems, and Instructor Christopher Hickman, MSIS, said scholarships create community, curious learners, and a better health care system overall.
For that reason, and to give back to UAB to say thanks for a successful career, they established the Curry Bordelon & Christopher Hickman Endowed Nursing Scholarship.
“It’s recognition,” Bordelon said. “It’s a way of saying, ‘You belong here.’ And that sense of belonging leads to stronger students and better nurses.”
Although Verenice Gomez is a first-generation college student, the passion for nursing runs deep in her veins. With cousins and aunts who are nurses, Gomez thought there was no better way to combine her passion for the health care field and desire to help others than by pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree at UAB.
She chose UAB because it felt like a place where she could grow not only academically, but also professionally, emotionally and spiritually.
That growth has carried her through the nursing curriculum and helped her solidify long-term goals: After graduation, she hopes to gain experience as an ICU nurse, then pursue a Doctor of Nursing Practice to become a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist.
As a recipient of the Dorothy and Bernard Pilon Scholarship in Nursing, she’s been able to focus more fully on her goals without the added pressure of financial strain. Beyond financial relief, the scholarship has offered a sense of affirmation and belonging and has given her an opportunity to take advantage of everything that UAB has to offer, from academic resources to network opportunities without the added stress of financial limitations.
“Honestly, it has been a blessing,” she said. “It feels so good to feel like other people have seen what I’ve done, the hard work that I’ve put in. The scholarship they provided has alleviated so much stress, and it has motivated me to push forward with even more determination.”
The scholarship is named after the parents of alumna Bonnie Pilon, PhD, NEA-BC, FAAN (PhD 1988), who wanted to make sure future nurses have access to the same mentorship and resources she had to succeed.
“I was a scholarship student for all of my undergraduate years and without those donors, I would not have been able to attend college. I feel I am paying that forward when I donate. It is a privilege,” Pilon said.
Paying it forward
Larry Hornsby, BSN, CRNA, FAANA (BSN 1981, BS 1985), was the first person in his family to go to college. He showed up at the registrar’s office with $125 to his name and plans to apply to the UAB School of Nursing.
At the time, UAB didn’t offer scholarships for the Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist program. Although becoming a nurse anesthetist was his dream, the coursework was rigorous and the clinical schedule demanding. The program, which now takes 36 months to complete, doesn’t allow students to seek employment.
But for Larry, it was all worth it because it gave him a career he loved. With a national shortage of both nurse anesthetists and anesthesiologists, Larry and his wife, Carol, decided to give back to the place that started it all. In 2018, the Hornsbys created the Larry G. and Carol C. Hornsby Family Endowed Scholarship in Nurse Anesthesia to support future CRNAs.
Larry hopes that the example he set will inspire other nurse anesthetists to follow in his footsteps and give back to UAB.
Ellis, who dreamed at her parents’ bedside of becoming a nurse and will graduate Summer 2027 as a psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner, couldn’t agree more.
“My donors’ support doesn’t just impact me—it touches every future patient I will care for,” Ellis said. “I hope to one day pay it forward and create opportunities for others just as they have done for me.”
-Emma Lang