Faiza Shafique

I was a foreign medical graduate, and FIU Nursing had a program for foreign medical graduates. They closed it after our batch. My background was in the medical field, so I wanted to stay in it. FIU Nursing gave me an opportunity and helped me go through the Nursing Program. I got my master's degree as an adult general primary care nurse practitioner in 2021. I was on campus full-time, and then COVID-19 hit. Every single professor of mine was very helpful. They guided me through. Nursing had a different mindset so it was a bit tricky. All of the professors and every single colleague of mine helped each other in every single way. If I had to ask the teachers anything, they never hesitated to get back to us or help us. If there was any kind of difficulty, they were always there. It used to take me three hours in a day to commute there and back, so COVID-19 saved time in that way. The classes were challenging, but at the same time, the teachers were very cooperative and clear. Going to nursing school and seeing everything helped me build more respect for the nursing community. I saw how much hard work, effort, and education went into nursing. Now I look back and don't know how I did all of that. Something was pushing me to do that. I grew as a person. The degrees and education helped me grow. They gave me the opportunity to work in healthcare, which was the field I always wanted to work in.