I play many roles. On most days, I am a wife, a mother, a daughter, a student, and a veterinary assistant. When I was 12 years old I lost my father from a heart attack because he was misdiagnosed by a Navy doctor while he was still on Active Duty. When the Zika outbreak reached North America, I was nervous to travel for a destination wedding in Mexico because I was 14 weeks pregnant. As a new mother, I have felt the baby blues, the pressure of losing the pregnancy weight, and the disappointment of not being able to breastfeed my child until her first birthday. I was outraged when I found out that my infant daughter may have been exposed to chicken pox at daycare because a parent refused to vaccinate their child. As a student nurse, I have seen nurses and patients get frustrated because the patient to nurse ratio was too high. In class, I always chose to sit at the back of the room because I did not want to get sick whenever other students coughed or sneezed. As a veterinary assistant, I am often vexed by the pet owners who refuse treatment for their pets that need it. Sometimes I get anxious for my safety whenever I go to work. Besides having to restrain aggressive animals, I could recall the time when I almost fainted in the surgery suite because the anesthetic gas scavenging system was off. During our three-year …show more content…
I wish to focus on environmental and occupational health so I can use my degree to obtain a position in Safety and Occupational Health Management. I remember when I had a co-worker get bitten by an aggressive dog because the veterinarian decided that the pet’s stress level and safety was more important than the staff’s. If safety precautions were enforced and followed, my co-worker would not have been hospitalized and we would not have to hire and train a new veterinary assistant to replace him. Every job has its own risks but we can always try to make the workplace as safe as