Kristen Kellogg

I was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, where I currently live with my sweet husband and our adorable and wild goldendoodle. I come from a widely diverse family. I am half Middle-Eastern; my father immigrated to the states to attend college and met my mother here. My mother was born in the states, but when she was growing up, her family always housed foreign exchange students, which gave she and her siblings an immense appreciation of other cultures and traditions. My entire family is essentially one giant melting pot with my Middle Eastern side, plus my uncles who all chose to marry women of different cultures (all speaking different languages, too). I grew up learning to accept those who were different from me. This was my normal; I didn't view anyone as "foreigners." Instead, I thrived on learning about people and places, and chose to love others fiercely and free from judgment. This ultimately drove me down the path of nursing, a career in which I could care for others all while continuing to expand my own mind and knowledge base.

I attended Xavier University in Cincinnati for nursing school, and was chosen to travel to Guatemala in 2014 for a medical service trip during my senior year of nursing school. This trip was different than any other "mission" I had traveled on, because it wasn't a "mission" at all. The goal in Guatemala is sustainability -- that was something my 22 year old brain hadn't ever quite understood before. Needless to say, the trip shook me to my core. Everything I thought I knew about education, capacity building, and other countries was challenged and ending up evolving into an even more incredible appreciation for diversity. I graduated from Xavier and began my career as a pediatric nurse in the float pool at Cincinnati Children's hospital where I have been for the last 5.5 years. The float pool presented a new set of challenges as I was expected to be competent floating between 17 different units of the hospital wherever help was needed. It was, and continues to be a difficult position, but I have grown immensely and learned so much. I get to experience a new floor and a new set of people and cultures every time I step through those hospital doors.

In 2018, I was thrilled to be chosen to return as a medical team member on the very trip that served as such a pivotal moment in my life. It was time for me to play a new role of the leader, and to watch students experience through their own eyes what I had once seen. It's an even greater feeling returning to my favorite place as a registered nurse, knowing that I am a part of the most incredible medical team in the world. It's a role that I do not take lightly, and I am certain that this very thing is what I was born to do.