Seiloni Sanft moved to Colorado with her family from Tonga fifteen years ago. The move from the Polynesian kingdom of more than 170 South Pacific islands was a bit of a culture shock for the seven-year-old. No longer living on an island surrounded by the Pacific whose closest neighbor is New Zealand, she was transported smack dab to the middle of the U.S. Sanft explains that the family of eight decided to emigrate and moved to Colorado because “my mother’s side of the family lives here.”

The second youngest of three brothers and two sisters, Sanft graduated from Hinkley High School in Aurora, received an Associate of Science degree upon her high school graduation, and immediately applied and tracked into CU Anschutz Nursing’s Integrated Nursing Pathway program. Admittedly, “it was a fast transition to nursing school.” Sanft is the first in her family to go into the nursing profession and has plans to pursue pediatrics.