Spring 2026 Winner of the Resilient Student Scholarship

Caden Cramer

We are thrilled to help support Caden as he finishes up his undergraduate degree at Idaho State University. While Caden faced much adversity as a young child, those challenges only pushed him to succeed in both athletics and academics. We know Caden will enter the healthcare field with tremendous perseverance and compassion for others.

Read Their Essay Here:

At the age of 10, my life was split in two as my parents divorced and everything I knew changed. My younger sister was only six at the time, and suddenly, we were navigating two different homes, two different routines, and two different realities. The emotional weight of it hit hard. I went from being a straight-A student to failing my first class. It was a wake-up call that life wasn’t always going to be steady or fair.

But I didn’t stay down. With time, I picked myself up, not just academically but mentally and emotionally. I threw myself into school and sports, determined not to let that chapter define me. Then came another challenge: my mom remarried and moved across the state to a cattle ranch—six hours away from the city I had always called home. That transition from city life to rural ranch life was jarring but an amazing decision in the end. At the same time, my dad remarried—and later divorced—twice more. Through it all, I kept pushing forward.

Those experiences shaped who I am. They taught me how to adapt, how to lead, and how to stay grounded when everything else feels uncertain. I graduated high school with 30 college credits and a 3.97 GPA, and I’ve carried that work ethic into college, where I maintain a 3.9 GPA. I’ve earned my pharmacy technician license, worked in both pharmacy and medical assistant roles, and gained real-world healthcare experience that’s fueled my passion for nursing.

Now, I’m on track to earn my BSN by Spring 2026, with the long-term goal of becoming a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA). Growing up in a divorced household taught me the value of persistence, of finding strength in tough times, and of building a future that rises above the challenges of the past. That’s the kind of nurse, and person, I strive to be every single day.