With the birth of her first child soon after high school graduation, Gloria Arredondo feared that she would lose her childhood dream of helping people. Yet, she knew her children were her first priority. Twelve years and 5 children later, Gloria found herself facing a health crisis with her last child. Her little newborn had to be rushed to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and had to stay there for two months.
The experience was emotionally trying for Gloria and her family, and they wondered how they were going to make it through. The tender mercies from the nurses were a light that helped carry them through. “Every time I was away, I would be afraid that my child would pass away and I wouldn’t be there,” reflected Chavez. “It was the nurses who buoyed me up. They would send me pictures of my child smiling or her wearing a little bow.” Their attention to all the little details comforted her while away from her baby.
In the midst of this trial, Gloria’s bishop invited her to apply for BYU Pathway. Worrying about her daughter made Gloria initially doubt that she could complete the program. Nevertheless Gloria applied and graduated. At the end of the semester, Gloria took a career aptitude test and got nursing twice in a row. “I honestly doubted myself,” shared Gloria. “I thought I would be so traumatized after watching all the little things that they have to do for babies. Then I thought if I don't try it, I'll never know for sure. Maybe I can do that for somebody else because I've been there, because I've lived it.” Gloria then applied to the BYU College of Nursing and is now in her fifth semester.
Gloria has had a number of experiences caring for patients as her NICU nurses showed her. “I have given hugs and listened to people, holding their hands and telling them that this too was going to pass,” said Gloria. “I knew I could relate to them or show them where certain resources were because I've been there. I can say now that I'm grateful that I went through that [NICU] experience because it showed me things that otherwise I would not know.”
I knew I could relate to them or show them where certain resources were because I've been there. I can say now that I'm grateful that I went through that [NICU] experience because it showed me things that otherwise I would not know.
When the time came for the required global nursing practicum, Gloria immediately self-opted out of an international experience because of her family needs. But as she attended the pre-trip meeting in Fall semester, she felt prompted to go abroad. She again felt prompted to attend the Spain info session since that group needed Spanish speakers. After hearing the pitch, she knew that she needed to go to Spain. “I thought when you become a mom, you let go of other opportunities because you're doing something greater for your family,” Gloria shared. “I felt that those kinds of opportunities were gone for me. But this was a second chance.”
Struggling to find the requisite funds to go, Gloria was ready to make sacrifices, like a potentially smaller family Christmas, but she found the trip paid for in miraculous ways. One was through scholarships after program directors Dr. Matt Anderson and Dr. Sondra Heaston nominated her. She also had family friends who covered the cost of her flights. “Those little signs helped me realize that it wasn't just me wanting to go abroad,” said Gloria. “Once I was there, it felt like getting to know an ancestor I didn't know that I had.”
Walking through the streets in Madrid and other Spanish cities, Gloria recognized words and names that were city names in her native Mexico. She was continuously amazed at the links between Mexico and Spain. Even when mentioning that her Spanish may sound different because she was from Mexico as she introduced the group at an elementary school, she was surprised how excited the kids were to meet someone from her country (the kids were also overjoyed that she loved tacos).
The most transformative part of clinical work in Spain was seeing how the Spanish nurses cared for their patients who sometimes didn’t speak the language — the Spanish healthcare system provides free healthcare even for tourists. As an immigrant to the United States, she thought that other countries didn’t have the bilingual barrier that she had to overcome, but many hospital patients could not speak Spanish. The nurses there were as comforting and friendly with the foreign patients as they were with the native Spaniards.
Gloria’s view of the world changed because of these interactions. She realized that she and other nurses in the United States could be better at helping patients in spite of different languages. “It's all about love,” said Gloria. “I think about what the Savior did for us and everything that he continues to do for us is out of pure love. Learning to love a person even though you only see them for a couple of days or a few minutes and just try to treat them in the same way that the Lord would, I know for a fact that that will change everybody's heart.”
Her experiences in the BYU College of Nursing, both domestic and abroad, have cemented the lessons of love and empathy that she has been taught throughout her life. Gloria, now one semester from graduation, eagerly anticipates her future career in labor and delivery or the NICU, aspiring to provide the same level of compassionate care that initially inspired her.