2026 – Mylee McCormick – Union High School HS

The Smell Of Cafeteria Cheeseburgers

The smell of Primary Children’s Hospital is a smell I know all too well, from the clean mix of chemicals to the cafeteria cheeseburgers. It’s a scent that many people associate with pain and sadness. But for me, it brings something different. The first memories I think of aren’t of fear; they’re of the doctors, child life specialists, and nurses who felt like family. I remember the medical supplies I proudly knew by name, and the amazing variety of movies they kept in their “super secret” movie room.

 

I remember the things my brother and I would make out of Play-Doh. I remember my little sister’s first birthday, and how the staff showed up to make her day special. I remember my brother’s first kidney transplant, when my dad donated his own kidney to him, and how I sang my favorite Disney song to my dad as soon as he came out of surgery. I remember my brother’s second transplant, and the joy on his face when he took his first bite of a banana after waiting six long years. I remember the board games, the paintings, the crafts, and all the songs we sang during his dialysis, three days a week.

 I also remember the hard parts: the shots that made him cry, the fear in my parents’ eyes before every surgery, and the time I watched another one of my little cousins take her last breath due to an extremely rare brain disorder that also took her sister’s life a few years prior. 

 

Watching my brother cry in pain is scary, watching my cousin die before I was even 12, and then doing it all again at 16 is haunting, and I will never forget those moments. But I choose to hold on to the better ones, the memories that shaped me into the person I am today. They taught me kindness, patience, laughter, and that even in the darkest times, there is always a bit of light. I am forever grateful to my parents, my family, and the medical staff who, from a young age, showed me the kind of person I want to be. I want to be someone who helps others create good memories, even in a hospital. I want to be someone who makes that familiar smell bring comfort, hope, and maybe even a smile. That’s why I will be pursuing a major in Nursing to become a pediatric nurse.

I will be pursuing this journey at The University of Utah, starting August 2026, not just because of its strong nursing program, but because it’s home to the very hospital that helped raise me. My experiences there didn’t just inspire me, they shaped me. Now I’mready to give back, to become the kind of nurse who makes a difference in the lives of children and families, just like others did for me.