7
Striving for Success
Yvette Chavira
myself for this
intense and rigorous
program. Little did I
know that no matter
how much I tried,
I had no idea what
was in store for me.
As soon as classes
began, I instantly
understood what my
admissions advisor
had talked about:
the workload was no
joke. Right away, my
time management
skills were sharp-
ened, my maturity
level grew and my
social life dimin-
ished. If I was going
to become success-
ful in this term and
program, I needed
to dedicate every single minute to
these efforts.
The overwhelming effect was
rapidly creeping in as the weeks went
by. Every morning I would ask myself
why I was pushing myself so hard
and putting myself through so much
stress when I could easily quit and do
something else. But I knew I needed
to keep motivating myself and push
forward.
As I finished my first term, I felt
very proud of myself and extremely
accomplished as all those long and
sleepless nights had paid off. That
feeling was short-lived, however, as
my anxiety was through the roof
when my first day of lab rolled
around. I was the first one in the
hot seat: I was the first in my class
to perform the role of the surgical
technologist in a simulated surgery.
My first time made me appreciate all
the homework and strenuous work-
load. This was the real deal, what I
had been striving for and hopefully
was my future. As I continued to
have many sleepless nights practicing
my skills, my mom said me one day,
“Yvette, I’ve seen you go days without
sleeping, hardly eating, constantly
doing homework. Why are you doing
this to yourself? You look exhaust-
ed.” All I could do was laugh because
I had asked myself that very same
question.
As I continued to prepare myself
for hot seats and clinicals, I came to
a formal conclusion about why I had
been putting myself through all of
this. I wanted to be a surgical tech
because I wanted to be the backbone
of the OR, assisting the surgeon in
making the patient’s life better. I
wanted to be challenged every day to
the fullest of my abilities and be able
to give it my all. I wanted to have
long days standing on my feet until
they ached knowing I made a differ-
ence. I wanted to have days where I
didn’t have a proper meal because I
was too busy changing someone’s life.
One of the biggest sacrifices that I
have made is quitting my job. Living
at home helps, but being a child of
a single parent who takes care of my
twin sister with Down’s syndrome
doesn’t leave a lot of money left
over. Money is tight as my mom also
has made sacrifices to help me get
through this program.
Upon completing this term and
doing my clinical work, I’m going
to make it my mission to get hired
before I graduate. This program has
made me become more goal-oriented;
I am constantly setting new goals for
myself. One of those goals being able
to work with children at Children’s
Hospital or work in a heart surgi-
cal center. Then after a few years, I
would love to continue my education
and pursue a degree as a first assis-
tant or an operating room nurse.
The fact that I’m even attending
college is a huge accomplishment
because I will be the first to gradu-
ate college in my Mexican-American
family, and I know this will make my
family very proud. Graduating from
a surgical technology program with
high honors, will not only bring an
abundance of joy to my family, but it
will be one of my greatest personal
accomplishments.
My entire career changed within a
couple of days. Luckily, I found my
passion as well. Being accepted into
the surgical technology program was
an accomplishment in itself.
When I first walked into San
Joaquin Valley College Fresno, I was
interested in the pharmacy techni-
cian program. That’s what I thought
I was going to do. As my guide was
showing the corresponding program’s
classes, we happened to walk by the
surgical tech lab. At that moment, I
knew that surgical technology was
going to fulfill my passion for work-
ing in a blood-and-guts environment.
But, this program was held at such
a high standard that not just anyone
could get into the program. I took
the challenge and made it my mission
to get into this program. I submitted
my paperwork, took the entry exams
and scheduled my interview with the
program director. The interview was
nerve-wrecking, but I walked in con-
fident and with a positive attitude. A
couple weeks later, I received a call
saying that I had been accepted. It
was the first step into my career.
As the first day of class ap-
proached, I tried to mentally prepare
Finding My Calling
