She’s a hard working student, mother, daughter, fiancé, and it’s very likely she’s your classmate. She’s Amanda Burris.

Burris wants to become a nurse one day, and she’s willing to put forth the hard work to accomplish this. With two years of class work at ACC under her belt, she is well on her way to earning the bachelor’s in nursing she desires.

Burris has always wanted to be a nurse. As a child, she would check her teddy bear’s temperature. But the struggles of being a single mother prevented her from moving forward for a while. She has raised 3 daughters on her own, ages 11,14, and her eldest, 18, who she had as a teenager.

But the girls are growing up and she would love to say goodbye to her job as a scheduler in a doctor’s office so she can scrub up and work in a hospital as a nurse in an emergency room, surgery or an intensive care unit.

“I want to be where all the action is,” Burris said.

Not surprisingly, Grey’s Anatomy is her favorite show. She loves watching the nurses and doctors in action. She said she can binge watch an entire season of the show in a weekend.

She’s also an avid runner but is taking a break due to an injury from last June. That’s not stopping her for good, though. “Running is what keeps me physically active and keeps me from going crazy.” she said. Burris plans to get back into the sport soon.

Burris also is engaged. She and her fiancé have been together for four years and plan to get married in the near future. Right now she is planning for the wedding and hoping it all goes smoothly.

Though it took Burris longer than she hoped to accomplish her dream of becoming a nurse, the time has enabled her to accomplish a lot of other things.