Janelli Barrow: Impacting lives in her community
DNP student wants to work with minority, underserved communities Heading link
Janelli Barrow says the scholarships she received from UIC Nursing are inspiring her to complete her midwifery degree.
Born in Belize, Barrow immigrated to the U.S. at age 5 with her mom, sister, aunt and cousins. She grew up in the South Side communities of Englewood and Back of the Yards. She wanted to become a nurse after witnessing family and friends suffer from preventable chronic diseases, including watching her grandmother die due to complications from high blood pressure and diabetes.
A first-generation college student, she says she wanted to become “the first nurse educator and health advocate” in her family. Her passion for women’s health was sparked during her undergraduate program at Marquette University.
“[It] expanded my knowledge or health disparities among minority populations, especially among women who look like myself, and also identify as Black,” she says.
Now in the DNP nurse-midwifery program at UIC Nursing, her plan is to practice in the neighborhoods where she grew up, working with minority and underserved communities. She is the recipient of the Mitizi L. Duxbury Nursing, Neonatal Nursing and Midwifery Scholarship Fund in Memory of Dr. Alexander (Mack) Schmidt, and the Craig and Sarah Allen Scholarship in Memory of Hal Gold.
“Receiving support from UIC, whether academic, financial, or emotional, is fundamental in maintaining a strong support system and finishing my graduate degree,” she says. “Scholarship funds have assisted in decreasing the amount of loans I have taken out this academic school year. They’ve given me more inspiration to complete my midwifery degree and to continue impacting the lives of others in my community.”