Del Norte Credit Union Awards Venessa Valerio Memorial Scholarship To NNMC Nursing Student Carra Webster

By Carol A. Clark on May 6, 2025
Courtesy of the Los Alamos Daily Post

DNCU scholarship recipient Carra Webster

NNMC News:
ESPAÑOLA — Del Norte Credit Union (DNCU) has announced this year’s recipient of the Venessa Valerio Memorial Scholarship. Carra Webster, who will be graduating from Northern New Mexico College (NNMC) with her Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) this month, plans to continue working toward her BSN degree and then a DNP to become a nurse practitioner.

“It’s really an honor to get this award. There are a lot of people who are very deserving of it. For whatever reason, they picked me, and that’s awesome,” Webster said.

When DNCU adopted Valdez Park in Española in 2015, they learned about the history of Venessa’s Hideaway, a playground built as a memorial to Venessa Valerio, whose life tragically ended more than 30 years prior. In 2017, DNCU decided to create a scholarship in Venessa’s honor.

“We were inspired by the 2,000 plus community members that got together and built this playground,” DNCU CEO John Molenda said. “We’ve been providing a $1,000 scholarship to promising recipients at the Department of Nursing & Health Sciences at Northern New Mexico College every year in Venessa’s name.”

Webster is one of Northern’s many nontraditional students, coming into nursing after 12 years as a paralegal and balancing family life with her husband Stephen M. Webster II and their 17-year-old son Stephen M. Webster III.

Webster had always felt a call to nursing but had never been in one place long enough to pursue a degree because of frequent moves due to her husband’s career in the oil industry. When Stephen accepted a position with Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and they moved to Los Alamos, Webster decided to pursue a degree in engineering “which is not what I wanted to do, but living in Los Alamos, you think you have to go into science and engineering.”

Then COVID hit, and Webster was moved by stories about the plight of hospitals and the shortage of nurses, recounted in the news and firsthand by family members and a best friend in the nursing field. She decided to change careers, submitting applications to three local nursing programs.

“Northern was the first to accept me and I was like, it’s fate. That’s where I’m supposed to go then,” Webster said. “It’s been a very good program. I’ve grown a lot from it. I have found my place in nursing.”

Webster is sure that she has found her calling.

“There has not been one time since all of this started that I have thought that this is not what I should do, it’s not where I should be. I don’t want to say it was easy, because it has not been easy, but everything has very easily fallen into place and it’s definitely where my heart is,” Webster said. “So it’s just meant to be. I just know it. I think that it’s what I should have always done. I wish I would have done it 20 years ago when I graduated high school.”

Webster is already employed on the Progressive Care Unit at Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center through their extern program and has accepted an RN position once she passes her National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN) licensure exam.

The scholarship money is a welcome infusion to the Webster family’s income as Webster continues her education and transitions into a professional career. She plans to apply the money fees associated with joining professional nursing organizations, which provide resources such as continuing education (nurses are required to take 30-hours of continuing education courses a year) and professional conferences.

“When you’re in nursing school, it is very difficult to find time to be able to work,” Webster said. “With the state of our economy, everything’s so expensive that any little bit helps. A dollar helps. A thousand dollars is phenomenal. So it’s awesome. I barely have words for it. Honestly, it’s just amazing.”

Webster’s ultimate career goal is to become a primary care family nurse practitioner. That goal was also inspired by personal experience. When the Websters moved to New Mexico, it took a long time to find a primary care provider accepting new patients and another three months to get an appointment.

“One person can’t make a huge change, but one person can make a difference. So having just one extra nurse practitioner in the area would be great,” Webster said. She estimates that one nurse practitioner could see 200 to 300 patients throughout the year. 

Webster is looking forward to her pinning ceremony on May 16, when she and her cohort will be welcomed into the nursing profession with a nursing pin personalized to NNMC. Graduates ask a nurse they admire to present their pin. Webster has received permission to have two people pin her: one of her best friends, Susie Edwards, and her preceptor at Christus St. Vincent, Azalea Corrales.
Webster will have a special role in that ceremony.

“My classmates nominated me to be the student speaker for our cohort, so you’ll see me crying there,” Webster said.