Inspired by Care

Some of Lauren Zurick’s earliest memories are of hospitals and the caregivers who helped her recover after a childhood car accident. Those memories quietly planted the seed for a future in health care—one that years later would grow stronger when her newborn son faced a sudden, life-threatening illness. The compassion her family received during that crisis left a lasting impression.

“I realized that the people who saved my life — and my son’s — were exactly the kind of people I wanted to become,” Lauren said.

In 2020, Lauren joined UPMC Hamot as a Patient Care Technician in Orthopaedics and Trauma. She thrived in the role, eventually becoming Lead PCT, and soon felt called to advance her career by becoming a nurse. Still, as a mother of young children, she wondered how she could make nursing school financially possible.

Thanks to two scholarships through Hamot Health Foundation, Lauren is now attending the UPMC Jameson School of Nursing at UPMC Hamot while continuing to work and support her family.

“Scholarships are so important,” she said. “Sometimes they’re the only way for a single mom or a family in the thick of raising kids to elevate themselves into a much better life.”

For Lauren, nursing is more than a profession — it’s a way to pay forward the compassion that shaped her own life. “Healthcare is about unfiltered human connection,” she shared. “That’s the kind of care I want to give my patients.”