In August 2008, Nicky asked Wishes & More® for an Alaskan cruise, hoping it might provide some relief for the extraordinarily heavy burdens she was enduring.

Nicky, along with her sister and parents, watched whales from the ship’s deck, dined at sumptuous seafaring buffets, and enjoyed things they will never forget.  She smiles widely just recalling it.  But giving Nicky her wish wasn’t enough in Wishes & More’s sight, so, just like every other wish child, Nicky was offered the Scholarship of Hope®.  At the time, Nicky said she didn’t think much about it, seeing as she had her condition to contend with first.  It wasn’t until later that Nicky realized there was something beyond her serious illness that others saw in her future.  The Scholarship of Hope got her thinking about what she might like to do with her life someday.  She began dreaming about those things, and in the meantime, her health began to improve.  By the time she got the scholarship application in the mail this spring, she was eager to apply.

There is something of a family tradition going on in Nicky’s household.  Her mom has enjoyed working as a dental assistant for 25 years while her sister is now cutting teeth at a new job in an endodontist’s office.  After shadowing her mom at work one day, she considered following in those footsteps as well.  Now 18 years old, healthy, and fully recovered from her Hodgkin’s, Nicky is thrilled to be graduating from Woodbury High School and moving on to Century College’s dental program.  The Scholarship of Hope will be used to pay for her first term’s tuition.

 “I’m so grateful to Wishes & More for everything.  Of course knowing that the tuition is there was nice, but the faith that I might someday see this dream come true was invaluable,” she says. “Now I’ll get to help lots of other people smile, too!”