“I want to be a child life specialist. I won’t be a nurse or a doctor, but I’ll do more like planning things for kids to do while they are stuck in the hospital. I have a nonprofit I started when I was 15 and it’s delivering hospital-approved activity items to kids fighting cancer. Those are the people that I talk to when I go and deliver the buckets to them. I’ve seen what they do and the impact that they have on the kids.” – Ella Kate Nichols, 18, of Andalusia

Nichols is heading to Auburn University in the fall and is excited to take lessons learned in school and life with her.

Ella Kate Nichols of Andalusia will be attending Auburn University and wants to be a child life specialist. (Tamika Moore / People of Alabama)

“Be empathetic with different people. Be able to understand people from different walks of life and be able to understand what they are going through even though you may have not gone through it yourself,” she said.

Her nonprofit is called Bucket of Smiles. Find out more here.

These are the faces and stories of people from all walks of life who call Alabama home. People of Alabama is a Red Clay Media and Alabama NewsCenter partnership.