Jenett Irene Richardson (Cooper)

I went to Miami-Dade College and got an associate's degree in nursing. From Miami-Dade College, I decided to go to Florida International after I started taking a few courses. That was how I started going to FIU. I got married and had two children, so I had to go back and forth. I ended up getting my bachelor's degree, and after they got a bit older, I started taking courses toward my MSN and advanced nurse practitioner degree. I was able to move up into different positions at my job. Once I completed my master's degree, I was able to manage medical staff and set up different care programs in the State of Florida Health Department. We took care of clients that had different problems. I went into writing protocols, policies, and procedures for family planning, counseling, and education. We did different types of counseling, like HIV testing. I helped a lot of students from FIU come through for training, and that worked out very well for me. I was able to support my kids. After things didn't work out between my husband and me, I had the financial balance I needed, the income I needed, and the job I needed. It was great. There aren't a lot of 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. jobs in nursing, but I was able to stay in that job. There were days when I had to work later or go in to work earlier, but I was able to work it out. It worked out well for me. Once I finished all of my classes and took all of my training, I was able to utilize all of my coursework. I was able to complete a course and do everything that I needed to get done in it, and that made me really happy. I was able to go on to my next one and get through it, and my goal was to take all of my courses and get through it. I was very surprised when I graduated and received the Doris Chaves Cultural Competence Award. That was a complete surprise to me, but while I was going through it, I had friends whom I encouraged and they came to me for help.