Despite growing up in a low income and impoverished area in Angeles City, Philippines, my mother asked me to set high goals for myself in the future. As a seven-year-old new arrival to the United States, I could not forget watching the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, unfold. My brother joined in the United States Air Force while I was still in middle school, and I promised myself that I too would join the military to serve my country and my community. I took the first steps towards my goal by joining the Naval Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps program in high school. For four years, I learned military discipline, drill, history, leadership, comradery, and participated in hundreds of hours of community service in Lewisville, Texas. I joined the United States Air Force at 19 years old as an intelligence analyst. While serving, I was found to have post-traumatic stress from witnessing a co-worker commit suicide during my time as an 18-year-old security officer and was given a medical related honorable discharge from the military. However, I returned home with a motivated outlook due to my Company Commander’s parting words. “Just because you are no longer wearing the uniform, it does not mean that you cannot serve your community and country each day, you are forever a United States Airman, and may continue to serve with the values that have been instilled in you.” I then enrolled in college to pursue a career as a radiologic technologist. I was not accepted into the radiologic technologist program, but I continued my education until I received an Associate of Science degree. I later became a Supervisor, Assistant Director of Security, and ultimately a Director of Security for the largest security company in the United States. In security, we would often be the first to arrive and provide aid, before Emergency Medical Services. This gave me continued interest in the medical field and would be exacerbated by the COVID 19 pandemic. I found myself wishing I could do more to assist the community and an even greater sense of gratitude for health care providers and their sacrifices for others. I was laid off from my job of six years following the pandemic and took an opportunity in a different career field. While the financial field was personally unfulfilling, it did remind me that you do not have to be the smartest person in the room to pass a difficult program or licensure, but rather the motivation, hard work and persistence to achieve the goal are more important. Observing nurses care for others during family illnesses and my father’s recent cancer diagnosis provided further motivation to enter this field. I then spent a year taking my pre-requisite courses and achieved a 4.0 GPA. I was accepted to my local community college’s nursing school twice, but I ultimately declined, after being accepted to the Texan Woman’s University Bachelor of Science in Nursing program. This is my greatest achievement so far, not because of the competitive nature, but the long journey I had to arrive here. I began the program in January 2024 and have completed one semester out of four total with a GPA of 3.56. During this semester, I was able to conduct clinical hours at a level 1 trauma center in Dallas, providing care for patients on six different units. I truly feel like I have found the fulfilling career that with continued passion, hard work and resilience, will allow me to achieve my lifelong goal of providing help and a sense of security for others in my community.

Despite growing up in a low income and impoverished area in Angeles City, Philippines, my mother asked me to set high goals for myself in the future. As a seven-year-old new arrival to the United States, I could not forget watching the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, unfold. My brother joined in the United States Air Force while I was still in middle school, and I promised myself that I too would join the military to serve my country and my community. I took the first steps towards my goal by joining the Naval Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps program in high school. For four years, I learned military discipline, drill, history, leadership, comradery, and participated in hundreds of hours of community service in Lewisville, Texas. I joined the United States Air Force at 19 years old as an intelligence analyst. While serving, I was found to have post-traumatic stress from witnessing a co-worker commit suicide during my time as an 18-year-old security officer and was given a medical related honorable discharge from the military. However, I returned home with a motivated outlook due to my Company Commander’s parting words. “Just because you are no longer wearing the uniform, it does not mean that you cannot serve your community and country each day, you are forever a United States Airman, and may continue to serve with the values that have been instilled in you.” I then enrolled in college to pursue a career as a radiologic technologist. I was not accepted into the radiologic technologist program, but I continued my education until I received an Associate of Science degree. I later became a Supervisor, Assistant Director of Security, and ultimately a Director of Security for the largest security company in the United States. In security, we would often be the first to arrive and provide aid, before Emergency Medical Services. This gave me continued interest in the medical field and would be exacerbated by the COVID 19 pandemic. I found myself wishing I could do more to assist the community and an even greater sense of gratitude for health care providers and their sacrifices for others. I was laid off from my job of six years following the pandemic and took an opportunity in a different career field. While the financial field was personally unfulfilling, it did remind me that you do not have to be the smartest person in the room to pass a difficult program or licensure, but rather the motivation, hard work and persistence to achieve the goal are more important. Observing nurses care for others during family illnesses and my father’s recent cancer diagnosis provided further motivation to enter this field. I then spent a year taking my pre-requisite courses and achieved a 4.0 GPA. I was accepted to my local community college’s nursing school twice, but I ultimately declined, after being accepted to the Texan Woman’s University Bachelor of Science in Nursing program. This is my greatest achievement so far, not because of the competitive nature, but the long journey I had to arrive here. I began the program in January 2024 and have completed one semester out of four total with a GPA of 3.56. During this semester, I was able to conduct clinical hours at a level 1 trauma center in Dallas, providing care for patients on six different units. I truly feel like I have found the fulfilling career that with continued passion, hard work and resilience, will allow me to achieve my lifelong goal of providing help and a sense of security for others in my community.

Despite growing up in a low income and impoverished area in Angeles City, Philippines, my mother asked me to set high goals for myself in the future. As a seven-year-old new arrival to the United States, I could not forget watching the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, unfold. My brother joined in the United States Air Force while I was still in middle school, and I promised myself that I too would join the military to serve my country and my community. I took the first steps towards my goal by joining the Naval Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps program in high school. For four years, I learned military discipline, drill, history, leadership, comradery, and participated in hundreds of hours of community service in Lewisville, Texas. I joined the United States Air Force at 19 years old as an intelligence analyst. While serving, I was found to have post-traumatic stress from witnessing a co-worker commit suicide during my time as an 18-year-old security officer and was given a medical related honorable discharge from the military. However, I returned home with a motivated outlook due to my Company Commander’s parting words. “Just because you are no longer wearing the uniform, it does not mean that you cannot serve your community and country each day, you are forever a United States Airman, and may continue to serve with the values that have been instilled in you.” I then enrolled in college to pursue a career as a radiologic technologist. I was not accepted into the radiologic technologist program, but I continued my education until I received an Associate of Science degree. I later became a Supervisor, Assistant Director of Security, and ultimately a Director of Security for the largest security company in the United States. In security, we would often be the first to arrive and provide aid, before Emergency Medical Services. This gave me continued interest in the medical field and would be exacerbated by the COVID 19 pandemic. I found myself wishing I could do more to assist the community and an even greater sense of gratitude for health care providers and their sacrifices for others. I was laid off from my job of six years following the pandemic and took an opportunity in a different career field. While the financial field was personally unfulfilling, it did remind me that you do not have to be the smartest person in the room to pass a difficult program or licensure, but rather the motivation, hard work and persistence to achieve the goal are more important. Observing nurses care for others during family illnesses and my father’s recent cancer diagnosis provided further motivation to enter this field. I then spent a year taking my pre-requisite courses and achieved a 4.0 GPA. I was accepted to my local community college’s nursing school twice, but I ultimately declined, after being accepted to the Texan Woman’s University Bachelor of Science in Nursing program. This is my greatest achievement so far, not because of the competitive nature, but the long journey I had to arrive here. I began the program in January 2024 and have completed one semester out of four total with a GPA of 3.56. During this semester, I was able to conduct clinical hours at a level 1 trauma center in Dallas, providing care for patients on six different units. I truly feel like I have found the fulfilling career that with continued passion, hard work and resilience, will allow me to achieve my lifelong goal of providing help and a sense of security for others in my community.

Despite growing up in a low income and impoverished area in Angeles City, Philippines, my mother asked me to set high goals for myself in the future. As a seven-year-old new arrival to the United States, I could not forget watching the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, unfold. My brother joined in the United States Air Force while I was still in middle school, and I promised myself that I too would join the military to serve my country and my community. I took the first steps towards my goal by joining the Naval Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps program in high school. For four years, I learned military discipline, drill, history, leadership, comradery, and participated in hundreds of hours of community service in Lewisville, Texas. I joined the United States Air Force at 19 years old as an intelligence analyst. While serving, I was found to have post-traumatic stress from witnessing a co-worker commit suicide during my time as an 18 year old security officer and was given a medical related honorable discharge from the military. However, I returned home with a motivated outlook due to my Company Commander’s parting words. “Just because you are no longer wearing the uniform, it does not mean that you cannot serve your community and country each day, you are forever a United States Airman, and may continue to serve with the values that have been instilled in you.” I then enrolled in college to pursue a career as a radiologic technologist. I was not accepted into the radiologic technologist program, but I continued my education until I received an Associate of Science degree. I later became a Supervisor, Assistant Director of Security, and ultimately a Director of Security for the largest security company in the United States. In security, we would often be the first to arrive and provide aid, before Emergency Medical Services. This gave me continued interest in the medical field and would be exacerbated by the COVID 19 pandemic. I found myself wishing I could do more to assist the community and an even greater sense of gratitude for health care providers and their sacrifices for others. I was laid off from my job of six years following the pandemic and took an opportunity in a different career field. While the financial field was personally unfulfilling, it did remind me that you do not have to be the smartest person in the room to pass a difficult program or licensure, but rather the motivation, hard work and persistence to achieve the goal are more important. Seeing nurses care for others during family illnesses and my father’s recent cancer diagnosis provided further motivation to enter this field. I then spent a year taking my pre-requisite courses and achieved a 4.0 GPA. I was accepted to my local community college’s nursing school twice, but I ultimately declined, after being accepted to the Texan Woman’s University Bachelor of Science in Nursing program, my greatest achievement so far. Not because of the competitive nature, but the long journey I had to arrive here. I began the program in January 2024 and have completed one semester out of four total with a GPA of 3.56. During this semester, I was able to conduct clinical hours at a level 1 trauma center in Dallas, providing care for patients on six different units. I truly feel like I have found the fulfilling career that with continued passion, hard work and resilience, will allow me to achieve my lifelong goal of providing help and a sense of security for others in my community.