Scholarships Help New Mom Realize Dream of Becoming a Nurse

Given the unique circumstances, it would have been pretty easy for Mya Murphy to press pause on her college journey.

By Steve Hanf

Instead, the 2022 graduate of First Flight High School has hit the fast-forward button on her march to adulthood, thanks in part to funding – and flexibility – from Outer Banks Community Foundation scholarships.

“Trust me,” Mya says with a laugh. “They’ve had to follow me through a lot. So many emails!”

The former Mya Salch was your typical high school student in the spring of 2022, applying to her dream school, soaking up the recognition of multiple awards during First Flight’s Scholarship Awards Ceremony, and then preparing for life in Greenville.

“All I ever really wanted to do was go to ECU and wear those purple scrubs and get my nursing degree through there,” Mya says. “I knew it was going to be a lot of money, so I just applied for everything and anything. I got two scholarships from the Outer Banks Community Foundation that have followed me ever since.”

The big award from OBCF was The Elizabeth and Wayne Evans Scholarship, a four-year, $20,000 renewable scholarship. The Osborne Scholarship provided additional much-needed aid for the first-generation college student.

Mya’s first year was going along well and she only needed a few classes to get into the nursing program thanks to having earned her associate degree from College of The Albemarle in the school system’s dual enrollment program. Right about the time she was studying for the big nursing school entrance exam, though, Mya made a discovery that would alter the course of her life.

She was pregnant.

“I was like, ‘Well, it’s going to be really hard going to nursing school and being all by myself in Greenville without any family,’ so I decided to come back home,” Mya says. “While I was pregnant, I did community college courses to get my last few pre-reqs that I needed for some other colleges.”

Following the birth of Addilyn in December, Mya looked into a couple of different nursing school options that didn’t work out. She then discovered the Accelerated BSN program out of Norfolk.

But could she afford it? She had a baby in 2023. A wedding to her longtime boyfriend, Camden Murphy, would come in 2024, along with a move to Grandy. Mya reached out to OBCF officials to learn more about the status of her awards.

Left: Mya Murphy in her scrubs. Right: Mya and her daughter Addilyn. Photos courtesy of Mya Murphy.

“Since Averett was an accredited program, when I asked, they were able to still keep funding me, so that’s been amazing that they’ve followed me through this chaotic journey,” Mya says. “They were super, super supportive of all my decisions, and they have said so many times how proud they were of me for continuing my education.”

Mya also expressed her thanks for a great support system on both her side and Cam’s side of the family. The 16-month program through Averett includes classes and clinical rotations – she had an exam on the day of her wedding rehearsal and a 12-hour clinical on the following Monday – but all the work is going to pay off this summer when she receives that bachelor’s degree.

Mya says she’s always wanted to work as a labor and delivery nurse – even before Addilyn entered the picture and she got to experience the job from the patient perspective – and hopes to land a position with a local healthcare provider.

“I feel like I did have to push through a little bit and there have been times I did miss Cam and Addilyn, but I knew I had to get through it because in the long term, that’s what’s more important, that we could have a future,” Mya says.

The end result will be the same even though she never could have imagined the unique nature of her journey sitting in the David E. Oaksmith Auditorium at FFHS just three years ago as the scholarships were being announced. As members of the Class of 2025 prepare their scholarship applications and prep for their interviews and nervously await the announcements of this year’s winners, it’s fun for Mya to press rewind and think about that night.

“It just felt incredible because, when you go through the process, you have absolutely no idea – you just show up because you got an email that you got at least one award,” Mya recalls. “It was very exciting to see that all the hard work I did, it paid off, and I know I have so many other classmates that are so successful, too. It just felt good, feeling accomplished that night.”

Author: Steve Hanf

Steve Hanf is a former professional sportswriter who teaches the journalism classes at First Flight High School. The dormant Nike Running Club app on his phone offers a reminder of the seven half-marathons and one full marathon he completed … several years ago.