Diarou Answers Her Calling
Nineteen-year-old Diarou Bayo will not stop until she reaches her dream of becoming a pediatric nurse. “My interest is personal,” she says. “Nurses are leaders who have an impact on people’s lives. My experience growing up showed me that.”
Bayo’s family moved from Guinea to America in 2016. She saw her mother experience many challenges raising four children on her own. Each of her three siblings receives care at Children’s National for medical conditions. One has Sturge-Weber syndrome, a rare neurological disease that causes intellectual disabilities. Another has a memory disorder. The third has lung issues.
Freedom from health limitations of her own inspires Bayo to make the most of every opportunity. In 2020, she became a published author. “Diarou’s Not So Different” recounts her experiences connecting across language barriers to make friends. In 2021, she completed her high school requirements at Calvin Coolidge High School two years early. This enabled her to earn college credits at Trinity Washington University.
The calling to become a nurse beckoned. Marie Ritzo, her family’s social worker at Children’s National, believes this dream is within reach. “Diarou is a dynamic young woman and her mother’s daughter,” says Ritzo, who connected Bayo to the Conway Nursing Pathway Program. William and Joanne Conway created this pioneering initiative five years ago. It connects promising students with experienced mentors for hands-on nursing experiences at Children’s National.
“It feels amazing to work with patients. I can put myself in their shoes,” Bayo says. One day last summer, she helped a distressed patient by offering him a toy car with lights. She saw the boy jump with excitement and his father’s face relaxed with relief.
In 2023, after her first summer as a Pathfinder, Bayo entered the Conway School of Nursing at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., with a full scholarship. This summer she returns to Children’s National where she hopes one day to work as a nurse in our Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
Bayo’s family moved from Guinea to America in 2016. She saw her mother experience many challenges raising four children on her own. Each of her three siblings receives care at Children’s National for medical conditions. One has Sturge-Weber syndrome, a rare neurological disease that causes intellectual disabilities. Another has a memory disorder. The third has lung issues.
Freedom from health limitations of her own inspires Bayo to make the most of every opportunity. In 2020, she became a published author. “Diarou’s Not So Different” recounts her experiences connecting across language barriers to make friends. In 2021, she completed her high school requirements at Calvin Coolidge High School two years early. This enabled her to earn college credits at Trinity Washington University.
The calling to become a nurse beckoned. Marie Ritzo, her family’s social worker at Children’s National, believes this dream is within reach. “Diarou is a dynamic young woman and her mother’s daughter,” says Ritzo, who connected Bayo to the Conway Nursing Pathway Program. William and Joanne Conway created this pioneering initiative five years ago. It connects promising students with experienced mentors for hands-on nursing experiences at Children’s National.
“It feels amazing to work with patients. I can put myself in their shoes,” Bayo says. One day last summer, she helped a distressed patient by offering him a toy car with lights. She saw the boy jump with excitement and his father’s face relaxed with relief.
In 2023, after her first summer as a Pathfinder, Bayo entered the Conway School of Nursing at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., with a full scholarship. This summer she returns to Children’s National where she hopes one day to work as a nurse in our Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
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