We’d like to formally introduce our Spring 2026 3rd Place Scholarship Recipient, Alicia Reber. The Lisa Michelle Memorial Fund was established to assist and recognize students who have lost a parent, guardian, grandparent, sibling, and/or spouse to substance abuse. We are proud to award a $250 scholarship to assist Alicia this year. Alicia is in the Nursing program at the Dallas College.
Q: Tell us a bit about yourself.
My name is Alicia Reber. I’m a nursing student at Dallas College and a mother who came back to school later in life. My path here wasn’t the traditional one. A lot of my life has been shaped by addiction in my family, and by the grief of losing people I loved to it. Those years created a lot of instability, but they also made me who I am.
For a long time I felt like I was just trying to survive what was happening around me. Coming back to school changed that. Nursing gave me direction, something to build toward. I’ve seen how fragile life can be, and I carry that with me in the classroom, in clinicals, and with patients.
Q: Imagine yourself 10 years from now. What goals and ambitions do you have for yourself, personally, academically, and professionally?
In ten years, I want to be a nurse who’s confident, clinically and emotionally. I’d like to keep going past my RN and pursue more education so I can do more for patients and grow in the field.
Personally, I want my family to feel financial freedom. We’ve never really had that. So much of my earlier life was uncertain, and I want to be the one who changes that for my kids. I also want to mentor younger nurses and students who come from hard backgrounds, because I know how alone that path can feel.
Professionally, I want to be the nurse a patient remembers, not just for the skill, but because they knew I actually saw them.
Q: Aside from a college degree, what do you hope to gain from your college experience?
College has already given me something I didn’t expect: proof that my past doesn’t get to decide my future. Nursing school is hard, some days I don’t know how I’m still standing. But it’s shown me I’m capable of more than I used to believe.
I’m also the first person in my family to go to college. That means a lot. It’s not just my degree. It’s a different direction for my kids and whoever comes after them.
Past the degree itself, I want to walk away with a real sense of purpose, friendships with classmates who actually get what this journey is like, and mentors who helped me get here.
Q: What motivates you to continue working towards accomplishing your goals?
Loss has taught me more than almost anything else. Watching addiction take people I loved, and living through the grief after, made me look hard at the kind of life I actually wanted.
My kids motivate me. The patients I’ll eventually take care of motivate me. And I believe a hard beginning doesn’t have to be the ending. Every step in nursing school feels like taking something back that addiction and loss tried to take from me.
Q: What advice would you give to other students who have been through circumstances similar to yours?
Your story might be heavy, but it can still become your strength. The things that felt like they were breaking you can end up being where your compassion comes from.
You’re not as alone as it feels. There are people and organizations who genuinely want to see you succeed despite what you’ve been through. Keep going even when it feels slow. Healing usually happens quietly, one step at a time.
Closing Reflection: Being chosen for this scholarship feels different than I expected. It’s not just support, it’s someone seeing what I’m capable of, maybe before I fully saw it myself.
The Lisa Michelle Memorial Fund 