My dad grew up and went to school in the Philippines. School back then (he was born in 1938) consisted of him going to school from ages 5- 16. He graduated from high school when he was 16 years old. He was an average student. When it came time for him to decide what he wanted to be, he had told everyone that he wanted to become a doctor. Funny enough, many people doubted him and did not think that he could become a doctor. Probably because in high school he was more concerned with fishing etc. than his schoolwork. However, having people doubting him made him want to try even harder to succeed at becoming a doctor. Sure enough he made it through pre-med and got accepted to the best medical school in the Philippines.

Raised in New York City, my mom went to college at New York University, earning an associates degree to become a medical assistant (she is a manger of a clinic now).

Growing up, my mom and dad always expressed the importance of education. When my dad was a kid, he did not have bicycles or a T.V. etc. so he had to come up with different things to entertain himself. Instead, he read a lot as a kid. My mom never really watched T.V. either. They never saw the purpose of me wanting to watch my T.V. shows or always wanting to be on the phone. They just did not understand how devastated I would be if I missed a phone call from a friend or an episode of Mr. Belvedere and the Cosby show. They always wished I would read in my spare time or learn how to play the piano. I think when my dad was young his family focused a lot on educational things. I remember when my Aunt would visit us for Christmas. I would want to show her the cute little cheers I had learned (in the 3rd grade) but she wanted me to read the encyclopedia to her. She would make me read passages out of the book and would always want us to watch educational movies. At that age, reading the encyclopedia and watching education movies weren’t my thing. However, I understand where they are coming from. I understand that there is more to life than just the fun stuff and that getting an education is important.

As it came to school things, my parents did not discipline us to do well in school. It was more of a self-discipline on my part to want to succeed well in school. The main thing my parents expressed was hard work. Just what ever you do make sure you are doing your own work and that you are putting time into your work.

My parents did not make any us go to college. However, there was an option, either go to college or move out and get a full time job. I always wanted to go to college so the hard part was deciding where to go and what to be. My parents were very supportive of me and never pressured me to go to a certain college or to become something I did not what to become. So when I got to college a lot of their values of education came with me, which is as long as you work hard and try you can succeed in any field of profession.

From my freshman year in high school until my senior year of school I bet I have changed my major every week. I was going to be everything from a pre-school teacher to, a veterinarian to, a marine biologist to, a chemist to, a psychologist to, a dietitian, to a nurse. Each week a rotated what I wanted to be. However, when it became my senior year I decided the best way to find out what I want to be is to experience that field. So I really thought about what I wanted to be, I wanted to be in a profession where I could help people. I love children so I knew that the profession that I wanted had to involve kids. I did the school to work program at a daycare (I love kids) and a doctor’s office. I really enjoyed both school to work programs. In the middle of the school to work program I decided that I wanted to become a nurse (pediatric nurse). One main reason I enrolled at Marshall was because I heard Marshall had a good nursing program. My, senior summer I couldn’t get a job (no wanted to hire if I couldn’t work through the year) so I volunteered at a local hospital in the nursery. I loved every minute of it. Until, one day the nurse asked me if I ever had watched a circumcision before. I had not, so of course, I said sure I would love to watch one. I thought this would be a great experience. I guess you could say it was an experience of itself. Half way through the procedure I passed out, it was to late for the doctor to do anything, and I fell and hit my face on the floor. So here I was with a huge bruise on my cheek and chin (under my chin is a scar from falling). This was so embarrassing. They had to wheel me down to the emergency room just to make sure nothing was broken, which luckily nothing was. I am not sure what caused me to pass I don’t think it was because of the blood (there was barely any blood from this procedure), or it could have been, but anyway the baby just cried hysterically and it looked helpless strapped down screaming to the top of it’s lungs. So after that experience that was enough to tell me that nursing was not the job for me. I already had gone through freshman orientation so it was too late to change my major. I was thinking to myself what am I going to do I really have not heard a lot about Marshall. Hardly any one from my tiny town goes out of state. I decided to go to Marshall anyway. In late September, early October I went to Marshall’s home page and clicked on programs of studies, and colleges of schools. Immediately when I read about communication disorders it caught my attention and I knew then that I did not have to search any more I found the profession that I wanted. I still wanted to work with children and with this profession I could do that. Like nursing, with this profession I would be able to interact with the children and help them. Also, I think why I like this profession is that, when I was a kid I had to see a speech pathologist for several sounds ( I used to call myself Tances). A matter of fact everyone in my family (my 2 sisters and brother) had to see the school speech pathologist. I remember my experience as having a lot of fun. With this I really thought that this major would provide me with an opportunity to make things fun but at the same time help someone communicate better. In general, being able to help someone communicate seems so rewarding. I like to be in a profession that the end result (hopefully is positive) makes me feel like both of us have achieved something great.