 My name is Maria Manzela and I am a clinical nurse specialist at Ocean University Medical Center. I have been employed with HMH for 26 years. So as a young child I help my parents care for a chronically ill family member. In doing so it gave me a sense of purpose and it fueled me to continue my journey in taking care of others. I love that nursing offers so many career paths and opportunities for growth and development and continuous learning. There are so many challenges with the pandemic that we did not foresee and it was a collaboration amongst the team members here at HMH that drove me to stay and to continue providing best care. My college coach taught me to pace myself and that stands for positive attitude changes everything and that is something that has helped carry me through many professional and personal challenges. A fun fact about me is that I was a competitive swimmer my entire life and throughout my college career. Everything for my athletic career has carried me through my professional career dedication commitment setting goals and achieving them. Being a nurse is difficult and receiving this magnet recognition is so humbling. I don't think I'd be here today if it was not for my fellow nurses. I think one of the biggest driving forces for me is to continue inspiring others to do great things.