Sober and focused, student pursues nursing goal

Linda Huizar | Contributing Writer

I learned many valuable lessons while growing up as a child and teenager in a dysfunctional household. One of the most important lessons I learned is how to be a compassionate and caring person toward others, and not to judge or hate others for their circumstances.

Since I spent the first half of my life discovering my own purpose in life. I would like to spend the second half of my life working toward helping others and giving back to my community. My career goal is to become a Registered Nurse, and I would like to work in a facility that allows me to help those less fortunate and to make life-changing differences.

I was born to a military father and welfare mother in 1972. We were very poor and we were always relocating as a family. My father was an alcoholic, and he was very abusive toward me and my two brothers, both verbally and physically. My mother had three children by the age of 22, and she was without a high school education. Her jobs were very low paying and we struggled as a result. We went without many necessities, such as new coats in the winter and shoes that fit properly. Needless to say, my mother loved us very much, and I believe she did her very best to give us a loving home while my father was away in the Navy. It was during those times, when my father was absent, that I discovered the true meaning of love and compassion.

While my father was away, my household was always calm and peaceful, except for the few times that my mother would have to diffuse an argument between me and my two brothers. But today, I realize that those arguments were very legitimate in helping me discover my purpose in life. I found that hurting others made me feel sad inside, and by sharing and helping others made me feel good inside. I can recall always being very tuned in to these feelings, which have helped me evolve into who I am today. I am compassionate and very loving toward others. I am also non-judgmental and very forgiving.

As a teenager I was raised by my mother because my parents were divorced by then. I had many resentments, and I was very hurt that my father would remain absent for extended periods of time. He used his departures in the military as an excuse to justify why he couldn’t be a father to his three children. I believe that these feelings of resentment, fueled by alcohol and coupled with the alcoholism gene, are what slowly turned me into a young alcoholic myself. By drinking, I could easily and quickly escape any uncomfortable situation and feel good about myself again. I found all the answers to all my problems through drinking.

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The longer I remained focused in the program, the longer I could stay sober. And before I realized it, I had 12 months of complete sobriety! It was at this point that I was allowed, and was expected to start helping others. That is just what I did for the next several years. I sponsored other women and shared my story at meetings. I advocated to skeptics about how the AA program can really change lives by helping people regain control over their lives. I was living proof that miracles can happen, and that miracles do happen!

When I was 15 months sober I decided to return to college in pursuit of a career in Registered Nursing. I looked back at all the wreckage in my life, which was honestly quite scary. This wreckage consisted of two children with child support obligations, two failed marriages with numerous credit card debt and three DUI’s with extensive court fees. This was a very frightening reality to look at for a 34-year-old woman without a job and only a high school diploma. But nonetheless, I gathered up the courage to lay it all out in front of me, and I began to make a plan to repair it all.

I began by getting a job in a deli at the local grocery store. Next, I called all my creditors and made hardship payment arrangements to repay every last cent to each of them. After that, I enrolled in community college classes.

Over the course of the next eight years I diligently worked full time and attended college classes. Of course, I could only take one or two classes per semester because my full time job limited my availability to attend college only on my days off. But finally in May of 2014 I graduated from City College with my AS degree in biology. I am now officially eligible to apply for the RN programs once the applications open this coming February.

Once I’m accepted and upon completion of the RN program, I hope to find work in a facility that allows me to apply my own life’s experiences towards helping others in similar situations as my own. I want to work with the mentally ill patients who struggle with alcoholism and drug addiction. I want to work with doctors who diagnose and treat patients with schizophrenia, and drug and alcohol induced psychosis.

Nothing brings more joy to my life than seeing others emerge and heal from these types of treatable illnesses. I believe that nursing is my calling and that God will work through me to help heal the sick. And to me, there is no better way to spend the second half of my life.