Learner Talent Entries

Myrna Yadira Lopez

Myrna began her artistic training when she was 14 in her hometown of Guadalajara, Mexico, and was influenced by the color and culture of her city. She later moved to the U.S. where she continued her studies with some of the most prominent artists in the country. Myrna attended Brigham Young University- Idaho where she studied Art, with an emphasis in illustration and fine art. She was awarded a full scholarship, recognition for outstanding scholastic achievement. Myrna’s passion for art along with her fresh contemporary style—a fusion of Mexican muralism with realism—has caused her to be a much sought after artist. Myrna has a strong passion for experimenting with size and color, she has done commercial murals, commissioned fine art, and children’s book illustrations.  This collection was inspired by residing in Roseville, Ca there she felt inspired by the beauty of local gardens to create her Flores de Primavera series. Myrna Lopez -“I try to put a little of myself in each painting, and bring a piece of Mexico to the viewers.” Nowadays she lives in Las Vegas, NV with her husband David and her five children, three dogs, and four fish.

Talent: Oil Paintings on canvas.

(Please Note:  If viewing Myrna’s blog on a cell phone please select “View Web Version” in order to see her artwork.)

Alex Doran/Crump

Hi Everyone!  My name is Alyx, I have been doing pyrography for a couple of years. It started as a hobby, and grew into a small business as a lot of people I knew wanted me to make things for them. Because of TikTok, I have had some fun trying new things to do my pyrography on which resulted in my love for decorating hats and creating fun bands for them. You can find my Etsy, Instagram and Facebook under the name Burnt Gravi, I hope you guys enjoy them as much as I do making them! Thank you!

Talent: Pyrography on hats and crafts 

Nightingale College 

Wendy Kalua         

I am a baker and have always loved to bake. When I was younger my grandma would call me over just so I can bake something for her. I started my side business in 2020 after I started bringing desserts to work and all my coworkers kept telling me to start a business because my desserts are worthy enough to be paid for! I didn’t start the business for money though, I started it because I love to see the happiness on my customer’s faces when they eat my desserts!

Talent: Sweet Sational Desserts 

Alicia Johnson           

I’m a single mom of a 16-year old boy plus a bonus son that’s my son’s best friend. I live in Evanston,  WY. I taught myself to make cakes about 7 years ago and it’s a fun stress reliever and hobby. I started at Nightingale College back in August to achieve my long-time goal to be an RN.

Talent: Alijo’s Cakes, Cookies, and Cupcakes 

Nightingale College 

Carlos Torres                       

I was born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. I came here when I was 17 years old. I’ve been married for 16 years; we have 3 kids and 3 grandkids. I started drawing when I was around 5 years old, and it has been my passion ever since. Drawing, painting, designing or creating, it all goes when it comes to this.

Talent: Airbrush Painting 

Nightingale College 

Sarah Junk                       

I live in Fairbanks, Alaska and I am set to graduate this December. I enjoy 4- wheeling, snow machining, camping, hiking with my dog, weight lifting, baking, listening to music, and of course singing. I have been singing since I was a kid. I was teased a lot and spent most of my time by myself so I started singing and listening to a lot of music. Now as an adult I love singing karaoke when I am out with friends and praise and worship songs at church. Singing has always been very therapeutic for me. Also, sometimes when I speak I  trip over my words, but when I sing, I don’t have this problem. Nursing school comes with so much stress, but when I sing all of the stress goes away especially when I sing a song about my Lord and Savior and all the promises he has for me. The song that I chose for the talent show is called, “The Breakup Song” It is about letting go of fear, which I think that we all need to do. I know that I do, especially towards the end of each semester when we take the HESI and our inner fear wants to take over. We can’t let our fear own us. We got this, future nurses!!

Talent: Singing 

Christina Vang               

Hello, my name is Christina Vang and I am currently in my second semester here at Nightingale College. A few things about me, I love to travel in nature! One of the best places I ever visited was Iceland and to this day, I still wish to go back. Lastly, I love cake! I am extremely grateful that I have been selected to be part of the final round of the talent show. I am a self-taught baker who watched cake videos on Instagram and that is where I grew interested in baking. I took the initiative to start baking for fun in late 2019, however, in 2020, during the pandemic, I managed to make it into a side hustle where I was baking cakes and cupcakes every weekend for people who loved my baking. Cupcakes were my specialty! One of the craziest weekends was Father’s day 2020, where I baked a total of 300 cupcakes and 3 single-tier cakes. I know it doesn’t like a lot but I know one day, I will be able to run my own shop. Unfortunately, I haven’t been taking any orders since I have gotten into the Nursing program but I do take small orders when I do get a short break from school.

Talent: Lil Bits of Sweets Desserts 

Tiana Smith   

I am a mom to 3 amazing children. I have been looking for natural ways to control my blood pressure because I hate medication, so I started taking sea moss gel, I found it cheaper to buy raw and prepare myself but I really don’t like the texture. A friend of mine kept telling me to use the sea moss gel in a juice, so I found a good juice recipe and began juicing. I learned how time-consuming and expensive juicing is so after having to quarantine back in January because I caught Omicron, I decided to try adding my sea moss gel to lemonade and the rest was history. I now have 4 flavors; blueberry, strawberry, strawberry-mint, and raspberry. My products are all natural-no sugar added with fresh ingredients. It’s an excellent outlet and break from student nurse life.

Talent: Not Your Average Homemade Juice & Lemonade 

Jennifer Rappuhn

Kuusaruk is the Queen of the Narwhals. Her story is symbolic of my own journey. She was named after my Great Grandmother and the name roughly translates to “runs with water.” With the collaboration of two nonprofits, Enchanted Alaska and Alaska Mermaids, She was created to cultivate excitement and acceptance among Alaska Native Youth about their heritage. Due to covid Kuusaruk has been telling stories to children to spread joy and increase literacy rates.

As an aspiring actress, I have also acted in movies, including “Big Miracle,” “Frozen Ground,” and documentaries and commercials. My favorite aspect about acting is sharing a story that creates magic or teaches a valuable lesson.

Talent: Alaska Mermaid Story Time 

Kevin Aguirre 

I am from the Bay Area and used to participate in hip-hop dance in high school which was about 13 years ago for me. I don’t practice anymore, but once in a while, I’ll get on the dance floor.

Talent: Hip-Hop Dancing 

Jill Reed 

After taking a few cake decorating classes at Michaels craft store I started teaching myself new decorating techniques by watching videos online. I began making cakes for my kid’s birthdays. My husband asked me to make a cake for his boss that was leaving which created a ripple effect. People who saw and tried my cake wanted to have them at their kid’s birthdays and graduations. I felt honored that so many people appreciated my hard work. In our culture cakes are a huge part of important events I love helping to make their day special.

Talent: Decorating and baking cakes, see pictures below.