A Woman’s Perseverance: From Childhood Struggles to Professional Success

Written by: Mauricio Cueva

Mrs. Alvira discusses her story of perseverance through the impact her childhood has had on her life. She was raised by her mother in Lima, Peru. She explains how she only saw her father ten times throughout her youth. She describes being in awe of her father's prowess as a mathematics professor. She recalls one of the few memories she holds dear, a memory of fatherly advice to study hard so she could provide for herself in the future. Mrs. Alvira recalls that due to her father's absence throughout the majority of her youth, when her mother fought with her, no one would be on her side, and that would cause her to feel isolated and sad. Mrs. Alvira mentions, "As I have grown, I now know that as a parent, we make mistakes over and over, but that is a part of life." She explained that she had to become a mother to her brother and sister at a young age and cook their meals for them often throughout the day due to their mother needing to work often. She reminisces on being able to help her siblings with their school work and go against local bullies for her younger brother. She explains that her caring for her siblings is what inspired her to search for a profession in life in which she can extend her care for others. Her search eventually led her to travel to the United States of America. 

In order to get better pay and more opportunities for professional growth, Mrs. Alvira emigrated from Peru to the United States of America. She began working as a babysitter, describing her love for caring for kids. Alongside her babysitting job, She describes her work as a maid in order to pay for rent to live at her Aunt's house in America. Mrs. Alvira describes that she then studied for a few weeks to work to become a Patient Care Assistant (PCA). She recalls meeting the love of her life at the nursing home that she worked at during her time as a PCA. In 2004, she had her first child, and subsequently had another child in 2007 and another in 2009. She recalls how she began attending Molloy University in 2009 and how she had chosen to pursue a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. Mrs. Alvira describes her reasoning for going for her major, "I knew that it had great benefits; I knew I would be able to work three days and spend the other four days with my kids; I love kids.  I realized that when I used to be a PCA, I saw a lot of errors that happened because people didn't have somebody to advocate for them.  When I say people, I mean Hispanic people with no English or medical background; that inspired me to be able to advocate for my children, husband, mom, parents, in-laws, and my friends."

However, Studying for the degree proved to be troublesome for Mrs. Alvira. She describes frequently feeling stressed at the time due to the substantial amount of coursework and familial responsibilities. She emphasized that the hardest part of schooling was devoting her time and attention away from her children to focus on schoolwork. She mentions, "Knowing that time I spend in school is time I wouldn't get back with my children really put a mental toll on me at the time." She explains that her attendance at a Protestant Christian Church had helped her get through her personal and academic struggles. Mrs. Alvira attributes her success at the university to God, the wonderful professors she encountered, and the resources the school provided as well. In 2013, Mrs. Alvira graduated from Molloy University with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. She is currently employed as a nurse at St. Mary's Hospital for Children in Bayside, NY. She has worked for a dozen years, providing her expertise and aiding in caring for the children at the hospital. She lives with her family in a suburban neighborhood with her husband, three children, a dog, and a parakeet. She expresses that the best part of her profession is: "Being able to see a kid smile and to send them home feeling all better is the most rewarding part. After they come from a TBI (Traumatic brain Injury) accident, we are there to see their improvement and how much they progress with us. When they come to us, sometimes they can't move their finger, but many times they go home walking. It is a good motivator for us to keep doing what we do." Mrs. Alvira says that her experience as a pediatric nurse showed her that every little effort would add up to make a big difference in her patient's life,  motivating her to put in all her effort to provide clinical care in order to improve her patients' conditions. 

Mrs. Alvira expresses that her current inspiration in life is: "my mother, because she was able to raise her three kids basically on her own; I remember she would sometimes be working seven days a week, jumping from one job to another, to pay for education for us." She mentions that she would tell her younger self not to be too anxious and give her worries to God. Mrs. Alvira expresses that though she regrets not taking enough videos of her children growing up, if she could do it all over again, she would do the same thing because she knows that her kids will always have her financial support and parental love. She mentions her future goals are to begin studying for a Masters degree to become either a Nurse Practitioner or Nurse Clinical educator. Mrs. Alvira wishes for others, if anything, to take away from her story the message: "In order for us to accomplish big things, we have to make big sacrifices, and that we must trust that God's plans are better than ours and that having a good support system to rely on makes a big difference."