Gloria M. Alday-Plaza

I wanted to become a nurse since I was a little girl. It was the dream of my life. In my adolescence, I wasn't sure if I would be accepted at school and whether that was going to be my career. I didn't get it at first because I got married and became a widow. My husband got into a fatal accident while I was in Chile. I started at the University of Chile, and then I moved to the United States. The first thing I did was go to nursing school. I went by taxi from the hotel. My youngest daughter was 9 years old. I went to Miami-Dade first, and then I started to study. Then I brought my certificate from the University of Chile Nursing School. I was accepted, and I took an entrance test. I graduated with my RN from Miami-Dade. At one point, there were four of us in my home, three children and I, and all four of us were FIU students. My son was in engineering school, and my two daughters were becoming nurses too. Everybody was so nice and understanding, and I felt the support. When I went to university, I was already a registered nurse and working full-time. I found very understanding, nice people. They gave me support, and I kept going. I wished I could have gone for my master's degree, but as a single mother, I had to work and work. I took some courses for my master's degree, but I didn't complete it. The education that I received at the Nursing School was very good. I could carry that thinking in my private life, not only in nursing. I could be caring, understanding, comprehensive, and prudent with people. It helped me to understand many of the individual aspects of my life. It was my dream. My dreams came true, and I felt so good. There are many nurses that just get the RN, so the BSN gave me a different status. I felt satisfied and happy with what I had accomplished in this country. In addition to nursing, I felt the satisfaction of being able to speak English to my patients and take care of them.