Today, our class caught the seniors after their Zumba class at Bayside Community Center for a little group discussion. Our topic was “Life At 20”. When we first mentioned this activity, all the seniors cracked up laughing about how long ago 20 years old is. It made me really happy to see all of them share this moment of laughter. Amena, Maria, Katrina, and I got to speak to a lovely woman named Remi, who’s from the Philippines! Remi was in nursing school at age 20, and by the time she was my age (22), she was already working. She mentioned how life revolved around her studies and that there wasn’t much time for fun, which we could all relate to. One interesting thing from our conversation that stood out to me was when Amena asked whether Remi had considered becoming a nurse practitioner. Remi said no because she believes that everybody has their role in this world, and her role was being a bedside nurse (which she loved!). She reminded us to find a career that we genuinely like so that work won’t feel like work. This conversation got me thinking about what role I was… destined? to have in this world. I think that her words are good reminders because a lot of college students choose fields of study depending on their parents’ expectations or on conventional standards. Fast forward to today, Remi is prioritizing her health by attending these weekly Zumba lessons with her friends while making time for fun (which she said is possible because she doesn’t have kids, haha). Overall, I enjoyed hearing about the similarities and differences between Remi’s and our lives even though our time was short. I also feel closer to my classmates because we got to share our career goals and reasons for wanting to pursue them. I could see my classmates’ passion when they were speaking, so I know that our little group is living up to Remi’s words.
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Emily lIWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
June 2019
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