A new city, global pandemic, this nursing student finished strong
Xenia A. Guerrero did not think twice to uproot her family from San Diego and relocate to Central Valley to make her dream of becoming a nurse a step closer to reality.
“When I got accepted here into this program we move here from San Diego to Fresno,” Guerrero said of applying to Fresno City College Registered Nursing program. “I saw it was a good program and I did not want to leave out of state, also my parents meet in the Central Valley area too.”
On Saturday, (May 22) Guerrero took part of the drive-thru Class of Spring 2021 Nursing Pinning Ceremony at Fresno City College.
“It’s a big chapter of my life. This means I am ready to help out those in need and I am really happy for the next step in my life,” Guerrero said of completing the program.
Approximately 99 nursing students showed up with their loved ones for the drive-through pinning ceremony held at parking lot X behind the Ratcliffe Stadium, said faculty member William Baldwin.
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Saturday’s drive-thru pinning ceremony was the third one the Fresno City College registered nursing program has held since the pandemic started in 2020 including one in May and one in December of last year.
“This one went much smoother, much quicker, although we did have a little bit more room to deal with, that really helped the situation,” Baldwin said of learned a thing or two when doing drive-thru ceremonies. “We got to spread out a lot more.”
Pamela Vogel, interim director of nursing said the program has plan A and B for the next class depending on the state’s COVID-19 regulations.
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Vogel said as the state lift pandemic emergency orders in June, the nursing program might slowly phase students back into campus.
“When it all started a lot of students didn’t have access or reliable technology or internet, so our campus had loaner laptops, we also buster Wi-Fi in the parking lot,” said Vogel of the many challenges the program faced because of the COVID-19 pandemic. “That was our first challenge, getting everybody moved from the classroom to technology and being reliable.”
Vogel said faculty also had to move everything from the classroom to online and “that was difficult in nursing because some of our classes, especially skills, we had to go to virtual simulations online.”
“But we had three graduations with over 100 nurses, so we feel like we came through it and we’ve been successful,” Vogel said.
Celebrating with Guerrero inside her vehicle were her husband, two dogs and her parents.
“I’ve been doing on this degree for two and a half years,” said Guerrero, of wanting to become a nurse.
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Guerrero said her dogs were a big stress reliever for her as “nursing school can be very stressful. They were part of helping relax and stay present.”
Doing nursing school during the pandemic was a challenge, said the 29-year-old Guerrero.
“Going from lecture class in person to online was difficult for sure, but I believe it was worth it. Taught us a lot and definitely remind us that we need more nurses,” Guerrero said. “So happy to be in this field, especially now when it’s needed most right now.”
Guerrero is looking forward to getting a job as a nurse after passing the NCLEX exam and start working as a nurse.
“Exactly what, where, I am still unsure, definitely thinking I want to work with neonatal, with babies, but we will see,” Guerrero said.
Guerrero’s mother Flora Bautista said she is proud of her daughter’s accomplishment, specially since she relocated to a new city, changing her environment to move to the Valley and then finish her program during a pandemic.
“It has payoff. Finally, she is done and ready to start moving on in her career and do what she likes,” Bautista said. “We are very proud. Both of us are very proud of her.”
Guerrero said what she loves about living in the Valley is that “people are very genuine here. I meet very genuine people that genuine care for me and they were able to help me out.”
Esta historia fue publicada originalmente el 24 de mayo de 2021, 6:44 p. m..
