Growing up, I only had my mom and my two older sisters. We stayed far away from the discerning eyes of the rest of my family and learned to live in content with just us, the four of us. My mom became a mother at the early age of 21 and had just moved to America from Vietnam at the age of 18. She didn't speak "perfect" English, she didn't go to college, and she didn't have a husband to help her. Due to all these reasons, having a livable income for a household of four, two of whom were babies, was a more than difficult task, to say the least. But she did it. The neighbors became my nanny and their children became my friends. While we played she worked and while we slept she studied. She saved and studied and soon got a cosmetology license. She dreamed big and expected bigger, and the next thing I knew she became the only esthetician at the boutique she worked at for Fresh Beauty, next thing I knew she moved on to become the same thing but at Dior, and just yesterday, she let me know that, with her skills, they're inviting her to Paris to study more esthetics. While her accomplishments in the industry she dreamed of excelling in were inspirational on their own, it is all the more incredible that she did it as an immigrant single mother with no familial support other than her daughters. To me, my mother is amazing and despite whatever trials I may have, I can move forward because she could. Of the many trials my mother has overcome, the one that still stands as a worthy opponent is the language barrier. Over the years, my mom's English has become more polished and extensive, however, her accent still remains. Her accent alone makes people perceive her as less than capable, of communicating. From this, for as long as I could remember, I was heavily taught to read aloud and have perfect pronunciation, because whenever a situation would arise where someone wouldn't take my mother's words seriously, they would take mine with full attention and care just because of the way I said it. It didn't matter if I could understand her perfectly or repeated exactly what she said verbatim, or even if I was a literal child, the way I said it "without an accent" was what mattered. Because of this, one of my many goals in my chosen field of study (healthcare) is to show no prejudice and lack of attention or care to anyone regardless of ethnicity. I've heard stories, apart from my own, of healthcare providers not giving the proper care to individuals just because they can't "understand" them even if they speak their best English and I refuse to be one of them. I never want a patient to be in my care stressed and overwhelmed that I won't understand them or take what they say with careful consideration. I never want my patient to feel the same way my mom does. In addition to that, accent or no accent, another goal of mine within the healthcare industry is to carefully provide my best efforts to every patient. I feel as though a great deal of empathy is important for this job because, despite whatever trials a person may be going through in their life, everyone gets sick. Whether or not they have ten family members by their side waiting for them to get better or none, I want to make sure every patient has at least one, me.