Sasha A. Pizarro submitted 2020-01-27
My name is Sasha A. Pizarro, 32 years old, Filipina American. I am the third child out of four children created by two Filipino immigrants from the Philippines, whom are our parents. First and foremost, I want to share my background and upbringing with you as it has played an impactful role in my life. My parents were born and raised in a small province in the Philippines with a number of siblings, which provided me with a huge family and countless cousins. My father is the eldest of nine and was the supporter of his family as my grandparents struggled to work in the Philippines. Farming was their way of income and my father raised feeding, clothing, babysitting, and caring for the rest of his little siblings. At age 18, my father decided to enlist into the military and join the United States Navy. My father explained to me the struggles that his family endured and wanted more for his life and more for his siblings. As my father moved to the United States and traveled across the sea for years, he continued to provide assistance to his family financially. Today, as my father’s daughter, I will continue to share that I am so proud of him and his heart for providing and caring for his family. While he was in the military, he married my mother and because he took that leap of faith, that risk to join the United States Navy, I am so grateful and blessed that he was able to give my siblings and I his dream, to live in America. “America, that land of the free, the land of dreams, the land of opportunity.”
My father was stationed in different parts of the world and has traveled the seas to protect the United States. When I was in a teenager in high school, my family discovered that my dad was diagnosed with Sarcoma Cancer. The cancer was from a dangerous and powerful chemical that was spread out and used during the Vietnam War called “agent orange”. My father fought in the Vietnam War and has truly been scarred emotionally, mentally, and physically. I never really understood what he went through until I got older. I did not know that he was disabled from the military after serving 20 years. I did not know that his current illnesses and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder were real. I did not know much because I was not exposed to the medical filled nor did it interest me at a young age. Being my in thirties now is completely different being in my twenties. I truly believe that age and maturity has it time, however, life’s ending does not have a time. Life is not promised tomorrow. Life is too precious and can be taken away at any given time and day, so we need to cherish each moment we have with our loved ones and live each day like it is our last. I am grateful to still have a my fearless father and my supportive mother still by my side, however, they have done so much for me and my family that financially it has been really hard for us day-to-day.
In my life time, I have lost all my grandparents from natural causes and diseases. However, I have lost a number of friends due to murder, gang violence, accidents, and some from diseases. All have been very tragic and has changed my mentally and way of living. To answer the question, how will I prepare mentally and physically before performing life saving techniques on patients in the medical career can be approached in many different ways. Personally, my preparation and drive in life comes from nurturing and healing my mind, body, and spirit first. When my personal health is in great shape and aligned, I feel confident and ready to save other people’s lives in any way possible. Any health care position is going to be demanding and stressful. It is up to every health care professional to approach each situation, each patient, each family member with compassion, trust, and love that is delivered with confidence and care. I believe that every being has their right to emotion regardless of their mental state because we all have souls and they need to be treated with kindness throughout their treatment and journey of being saved or being healed. As a future registered nurse and as a current BSN student, I wake up each day with a purpose and that is to serve with my health mind, body, and spirit to those who need it the most. When I love myself first, I am able to deliver and serve with a full heart of compassion. And I believe everyone impacted in my journey and those around will treated with full attention and care. So my advice to other health care professionals is to reevaluate yourself each day and night and reflected on the greater things in life to see its purpose and joy that each one brings to fulfill your life. When you manifest the beauty in every obstacle, you will start to understand the love, compassion and impact you have to treat and take care of another being in every situation.
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