I have grown up and matured quite rapidly since then. A steep learning curve ensued soon after that short welcome… an uphill climb to adopt to new sights, sounds, scents and tastes; with cycles of ups, downs, and dull plateaus. Time, prayers, and experience have curved a special path for me. I find myself in Phoenix working in its only children’s hospital for two years now.

My schedule as hectic as it is now – trying to juggle school, work while attempting to keep a new house in order – KJZZ (public radio) has become a dear friend. It talks me through my day and gives me both excellent news and entertainment. Yet there is only so much radio can do. It can hardly smile… let alone hug back. What I need sometimes is a kababayan with whom I can have an engaging discussion … in Tagalog.

Filipino RNs in the US are unique in this way – overtime rules! We rarely ever find the time to interact among peers of the same age and of the same culture. For someone who lived three years of her life in the Philippine General Hospital Nurses Home (dorm), crammed with ten other ladies in a huge room – I sorely miss that. 

I envision this monthly column to be a venue for Filipino RNs - whose numbers are as impressive as their stories - to tell their tales. Men and women of diverse backgrounds, from all four corners of the valley. Different shades of brown (or pale), in all dress and shoe sizes, some surprisingly young while others fondly refer to themselves as the ‘young once’.

Phoenix living as seen from a perspective that is uniquely Filipino, distinctly feminine and definitely nursing! Don’t you think it’s about time?