27th December 2011
10:29 PM
Doha, Qatar
Looking back, I feel so blessed. I can safely say that 2011 is my year. With all the ups and downs that came along with it, ‘twas a remarkable year for me. This year started out so well and I believe it will end in a much a better way.
Like a normal young professional, I have experienced the so-called “quarter-life crisis” that took some toll on some, if not every aspect of my life. Being a Registered Nurse was never an easy feat. It takes a lot of courage, patience plus the famous SKA – skills, knowledge and attitude to become one. I may not be the best one but I assure you I’m giving my best when it comes to my profession. Time and again, I kept on telling stories that I never wanted and I never intended to become a nurse. All I wanted was a job in a corporate set-up: an air conditioned office with a desktop computer or laptop. That’s it. Practically a business or computer course, but it was my family who pushed me to pursue Nursing. In demand, for a greener pasture and work abroad – those were the reasons why many of us, if not forced, took the noble vocation of Nursing. So being an obedient child, grandchild and nephew, I enrolled for a course that did not appeal to me, no disrespect intended. Don’t get me wrong but I’m so grateful to God and my family that I was given a chance to continue my studies for there are some unfortunate high school graduates who don’t make it to college due to financial constraint. Since I’m not the type who plans, I blindly followed them and entered the magical world of Florence Nightingale. I don’t know what to expect at first so I just lived the days as they came.
Four years in the College of Nursing is uncertain and is a serious matter. One wrong move and you’ll be kicked out of your seat. It will take a lot of time and effort to finish the battle. You will face a lot of examinations, reporting, demonstrations & return demonstrations, case studies, hospital duties, case completions, etcetera. You will brave a lot of breaking points like your terror clinical instructor, battery examination and for some, repetition of the semester. I once said that if in case I don’t survive the Battery Examination, I’ll quit and I’ll just apply and work for a call center, but that was not the case. Being a happy-go-lucky and a not so grade-conscious type of student, I’m just glad I passed every semester with good grades except for two major subjects in my freshman year wherein I almost flunked. It is just now that I realized that if I became more focused and exerted extra effort, I’ll fair better than what I got, but no regrets. The four years I spent in college was a roller coaster ride. It has ups and downs and sometimes it turned my (our) world upside down. It’s a good thing I had my classmates, whom some became my good friends, along the journey not to mention the unending support of my family.
It’s been said that nothing monumental happens overnight. It is. So after all the hardships and perseverance, it paid off during our graduation back in 2007. It was a happy day, a fulfilment of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. After graduation, I purposely asked for a sign whether or not I should take the boards and then the Lord gave me a clear answer. Two, three days in euphoria and yet another chapter of agony is about to begin, the discombobulating phase of review. Eight solid hours of endless lectures that will cause you mental fatigue. It’s like compacting everything you learned in four years in less than two months prior to the boards. What’s more insane is that there are some topics being discussed that were never thought in our classes. Panicking was an understatement. Again, being a Filipino, we always put some joy into our labours and so there were days we procrastinate and skipped some review sessions and played in the arcade instead, a diversion in some way to balance the stress we were encountering then. Time ran so fast and before we knew it, it’s the first day of the 2-day board exam. I laid all my worries behind and lift them up to the Lord and prayed that He guide me throughout the examination. The weeks following the boards were crucial because the results will either make or break you. We waited about two months for the results. It was one Sunday afternoon in August, a few weeks before my 21st birthday, when I received the great news – I passed the Nursing Licensure Examination. Although I did not make it in the top notch and just got a good enough rating, I still consider it a huge blessing simply because I made it. It was then I realized how important it is be specific in your prayers. Praying to pass the boards and praying to pass the boards with a 100% rating spelled the difference. The days following the release of the result sent us to cloud nine although some of our friends and colleague did not make the cut. It was an awkward period wherein we were celebrating and we were empathizing all at the same time. As always, life goes on. We were all anticipating for the upcoming Oath Taking Ceremonies wherein we will be officially conferred as Registered Nurses and will have the right to append the letters R and N after our names, to be held at the Big Dome, the Araneta Coliseum. By the way, we were the last batch to have an oath taking in the said venue. A few days prior the ceremony following my birthday, I was rushed to the hospital and was admitted at Capitol Medical Center due to Dengue Fever. It was my first time to be hospitalized. I talked to my Attending Physician and was discharged the morning of the said ceremony. Although tired and weak, even though I don’t appear to be, I made it to the ceremony. All along we thought that was it and that we’re ready for employment, but we were wrong. A lot of requisites should be completed before you can apply for a job in a hospital. PRC card, IVT license, BLS, seminars, etcetera. So we postponed our job hunting to 2008 and just waited for our PRC card to be processed and had our Intravenous Therapy Training instead in between.
All is set for January 2008’s hospital job hunting. Name it; we’ve been there, after all, it’s not a sin to aim high – St. Luke’s, Makati Med, Medical City, Capitol, Cardinal Santos, UST Hospital, Asian Hospital, Manila Doctors, PGH, Philippine Heart Center, Veteran’s, Philippine Children’s, Philippine Orthopedic, NKTI, and our home-base, MCU Hospital, and some more, but to no avail. All of these hospitals will just say either they have no vacancy or they’ll just call you. Some of them responded, even having you take an exam which is a way for them to generate money, and some did not respond at all. I was so exhausted and frustrated back then because you’ll come prepared in business attire and yet you won’t even get to see a single HR officer. It’s only the security guards who well get your documents. Isn’t that degrading because you’re already a professional and yet you’ll be treated just like that? Some even posted that they will prioritize the graduates of their school and their affiliates, but that did not happened to us. We were like strangers in our own land. The most painful was you can’t get hired because someone got ahead of you with their internal and external connections. You wasted a lot of time, effort and money but seemed ‘twas all wasted. I reached by breaking and boiling point that I was ready to give up Nursing. I talked it through my family and I told them maybe it’s not for me. So after months of waiting for a hospital job, I decided to apply for a call center. I had a referral from my friend and after the 13-hour application process, I got hired. That was my first job, first pay slip, first Christmas bonus. I was happy then but my family got in the way again and so my call center stint was short lived.
My father asked me long before to do volunteer works in the hospitals and it might be a stepping stone for me to land a position there but I insisted not to. My thinking was why I should go work for free wherein I should get paid because I’m a licensed professional. It was good idea after all and soon enough, I ate what I said and found myself working in a government hospital for free. We were even paying for the training program. It was in Tondo Medical Center where I had my first taste of hospital work and I’ve been there for five months. After five months in hiatus, I resumed training again in Quirino Memorial Medical Center for ten months. If we haven’t stopped that would be one whole year. In both hospitals, I had a chance to get employed but then, due to uncontrolled circumstances, it did not push through. The experiences I got from the two hospitals were so worthwhile. The learning and the friendship built over a short period of time were priceless.
It was around in April of this year that my uncle asked for my resume and he said he’ll try what he can to help me get a job. I e-mailed my resume and did not take it seriously. I was very happy training then in QMMC. My training contract ended in June and so I bumming around again when one day in July, my uncle told me that I’m included in the shortlist of the applicants being considered and just wait for a call from the agency. I was hesitant then and so I’m delaying things. My grandmother was more excited than I am and she insisted that I phone the agency. True enough the agency was waiting for me to come to their office. Then I went to the agency, completed some forms and submitted my documents. I was then scheduled for a medical examination. The medical was so tiring and took practically a whole day. Everything went well until the physical examination. A fistula was noted and was advised to undergo surgery for me to get cleared medically. I ran out of words for a moment because I’m afraid to go under the knife. My condition, according to them, was not life-threatening so aside from their preferred surgeon, we asked for a second opinion to two more doctors. They said that the procedure is considered elective and it can be delayed. However, if it’s their policy to have it done, we shall proceed. Left with no choice, I found myself admitted at Medical Center Manila – my first time to have a surgery and should be the last time. I was not nervous at all; I just found it weird that the nurse is now the patient. The procedure lasted for 18 minutes under local anesthesia. We opted out for the spinal anesthesia to cut cost and to avoid the down time following it. I was asked to stay in the hospital for the night for monitoring and was discharged the following day. After two weeks, I got my surgical clearance and had it processed. I was then asked at home if I’m really decided to work abroad. My response was I did not go all through that pain for no reason at all. They were glad with my answer but in the back of my mind, I’m asking myself, “Are you ready? Are you sure? Do you really want this?” Those questions were boggling my mind. I don’t know the answers to this question. As I’ve said earlier, I don’t plan and I live as the day comes.
It is in this year that I celebrated my twenty fifth year of existence. I’m not the type who makes a big fuss for my birthday so my family and I just had a simple dinner after a Sunday Fellowship. Little did I know that I’ll be getting yet the biggest surprise of my life. A few days following my birthday, I got a call from the agency and we were then finalizing my application process. I was asking them for an exact date of departure but they can’t give any yet. They just told me to be prepared. I don’t know what to feel. Part of me was happy, excited, confused and in denial. Again, I was procrastinating and was just bumming around and having a good time with my family and friends. A short two-week notice was given and I was busy buying stuff and fixing my schedule to give time for my family and friends before I leave. I was out of our house everyday doing this, buying that and meeting them. It was out of denial that I did not pack my things early that we crammed fixing my things the night before my flight. We finished at almost sunrise.
October 23, 2011 marks the day of my departure, and it was in this day that everything sunk in. I was very emotional for a moment and was able to control it soon enough. My father was even joking that if I don’t really want to go, then I should stay. I said no. A lot has been done for this to happen. My uncle even said that they should push me literally to board the plane. I left our house feeling nothing. I was quite the whole time on our way to the airport. It’s my first time to be away with my family but I need to do this for me to grow. The actual farewell was far from what we see in the movies and drama shows. We just prayed and hugged each other. I that point in time, I don’t feel anything as I said goodbye. I walked away and didn’t look back. We just had our final phone conversation before I checked-in, I had my final text message before we boarded the plane. Our itinerary was Manila to Kuwait then Kuwait to Doha. We had an almost two-hour stopover in Bangkok as the plane loaded gas and crews switched. It was a long flight but I just slept it through. Upon arriving in Kuwait on October 24th, we were told that our flight to Doha was cancelled and so we were stuck there for more than eight hours. The airline company just checked us in the airport hotel. Thank you to the Wi-Fi connection in the hotel, I was able to let my family know my whereabouts because my phone’s roaming service isn’t working yet. The flight from Kuwait to Doha was less than an hour. We were then transported from the airport to the labour camp, and there our adventure begins…
Things happened so fast and I’m just thankful to the Lord and the people He used for me to be here. I don’t know why I am here but I know there’s a reason for everything. We asked if this is His will and if it is, then so be it. I guess so. :D
"Life begins when you start to step out of your comfort zone."
"Life begins when you start to step out of your comfort zone."
