Meet Rydgel

During the second semester of my first year in UPCN, we were assigned to the PGH Cancer Institute Outpatient Section for our NSTP 2 class. Our task was to simply interact with the patients in the building, specifically to play and care for the small, young children who had been coming and going to the hospital for the management of their conditions. The most memorable experience that I cherish from that exposure was having the opportunity to meet a 1-year-old boy who had gastric cancer and his caring, loving mother. The boy was greatly underdeveloped for his age for he could not walk nor stand alone without assistance, was quiet for he could not speak, and looked no more than a couple of months old even though he was past his first year of life. Of all kids in the area that day, I approached him because he was smiling at me from way across the hall. I introduced myself to his mother and got to know their story. In the middle of our conversation, the little boy kept showing interest in me and weakly held my arm as if wanting me to carry him. I asked permission from his mother and slowly gathered him in my arms and carried him carefully. The mother was teary-eyed the whole time. I asked her why she was crying and she told me, “Ngayon lang siya sumama sa ibang tao.” “(It is only now that he chose to go with someone he doesn’t know)” I felt emotional and honoured. The little boy and his mother trusted me, a complete stranger, and I felt empowered as a student nurse. The mother was happy because she had someone to talk to, and I spent the whole time playing with her baby. In the end, the mother thanked me for making her son happy and for keeping them company. Even though it was a brief encounter, I believe it is a prime example of the power of Nursing – to make people cared for and valued. While Nursing is indeed difficult, it is also profoundly fulfilling. We work hard, we show up, and we care. That is life in UPCN.

There are many reasons why I chose to study in UP. However, the greatest of them of all was because UP challenged me. It challenged me to expand my academic interests, harness my skills, and develop a positive and productive attitude toward learning and service. It challenged me to abandon comfort – to fail, to reach for greater ambitions, and to be the voice for those in need. It challenged me to go beyond mediocrity and become the standard of the nation. It called me to serve the people because, at my very core, this is what I have promised to do. UP invited me to become more than just a nurse; it accepted my flaws, faults, and shortcomings and promised to teach me competence, compassion, and integrity. What sets UP apart is why I ultimately chose it: It is a dauntless place for dauntless people with the same passion and vigor for academic pursuit, nationalism, honor, and excellence.