CNF Diversity Award

I was 16 years old when my father had an accident at work. He sustained second and third degree burns from a gas pipe-line that exploded at their site. We had him for another year after that accident and eventually died of sepsis.

In my wanting to understand what really happened to my father, I was able to land in a profession that I learned to embrace and love. Shortly after passing the local board exam in the Philippines, I wrote and took the NLCEX-RN exam in the hope of living the American dream. It is a sad fact that nurses in our country leave for better compensation and greener pastures, to help provide for other members of the family who are in need, aside from the noble job of the nurse per se.

However, there wasn’t any opportunity for me to apply to the United States.  Nonetheless, there was a better   pathway meant for me here in Canada when it opened its doors for skilled workers like me.  Applying for this scholarship was a leap of faith.  Being granted this scholarship is a very special blessing for me.  I will continue to strive hard to become a useful entity of society and serve this country that I now call home.  I am halfway through the program and I am fully determined to pass it with flying colors.  And if there is one person I wanted to be the proudest, that’s my old man watching over me from heaven.