¶ … Respiratory Care In Puerto Rico I was a licensed respiratory therapist. When I moved to America, the license that I held was not valid to allow me to continue that line of work. I deliberated whether or not I wanted to pursue a respiratory care degree so as to return to this profession. It is a demanding activity and requires care and patience. However, as I thought about it and what I loved about it in Puerto Rico, I decided to take up this program here in the States. I feel it was the right decision because as soon as I did I fell right back in love with the profession. So, after being away from it for nearly a decade, I have returned to what I love to do, and I am very happy to be able to do it right here in Florida.

Being able to work in respiratory care is therefore not just some arbitrary or random field that I chose because it sounded good but rather it is something that is familiar to me, something I have known in my life for a good long while. True, when I first got involved in the profession in Puerto Rico it was because the opportunity presented itself and I did not want to turn it down. But after coming to the States, so many opportunities presented themselves and I was by no means compelled to continue in this profession. What made me decide to return to it after 10 years of being away was a desire to scratch one my item off my bucket list (graduate from college) and build on the knowledge...

Because I have some experience in respiratory care already, it was really the most attractive option for me. I did not know that when I re-entered this profession I would feel as much love for it as I do, but that is one of the happy bonuses of taking back up something that you know but have left for a certain amount of time. It is like returning to an old friend in a way.
That I am able to do this in Florida and be part of the community in a serving way is even better. There are many ways that one might choose to be part of one's community in a fuller capacity -- whether through political leadership, or through teaching, or through servicing. I chose to be part of my community in a more active and direct manner by employing the skills I had developed in Puerto Rico and enriching them through higher education here at this college.

I also draw on my experience in the neonatal intensive care unit where I worked as well in Puerto Rico. This could be a very stressful unit where in many cases extreme caution and care had to be exercised. Being able to operate in this facility using the skills I had learned gave me immense appreciation for life and a love for helping those in need. The thought of experiencing that level of intensity and deepening that appreciation is immensely gratifying. It seems like such a simple, basic thing, the ability to breathe. And yet when one…