Her Story
About Angela
I've been in the nursing field for 34 years, and I currently serve as a nursing academic retention specialist at Dallas College, a role I've held for 3 years. In this position, I not only help increase retention, but I'm able to help students that learn differently and work with a diverse population. I'm proud to say that for 2 years, I've maintained 100% of the highest level for nursing students and helped increase the NCLEX first-time pass rate. My day-to-day responsibilities are student-facing, providing specific test-taking skills workshops and helping students be able to apply knowledge. The biggest challenge in my field is that you have external variables and internal variables, some which you can control and some that you can't. But I try my best to approach every student holistically, and we have great support services that can help decrease some of those barriers. I like to say I'm a barrier buster, because we can get a win-win situation - you just have to have a positive mindset, and I believe we like going for gold. I'm a master's prepared nurse for over 26 years, having received my master's in 2001, and I'm currently completing my doctorate, which I expect to finish in 2029. I am a certified nurse educator and board certified in high-risk obstetrics, and I also have a critical care nurse certification. In my nursing career outside of higher education, when I was in acute care, I worked specialty units including ICU, labor and delivery, the OR, ER, and PACU. I'm one of those people where once you master something, then you want to go on and learn something new, and so this is what led me to have multiple specialties.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Angela
01What do you attribute your success to?
To be honest, I have to say the success is contributed to being determined, because success is never final, and failure isn't fatal, you know what I mean? Just having that resilience and bouncing back, and keep trying. Don't give up. And I just feel like, you know, if it's something you're passionate about, then whatever you do, don't give up on yourself, you know? And if you're doing what you love, you're happy.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice that I can say that I've ever received was to be authentically you. Everyone comes with differences and different perspectives, but you have to believe in yourself. It's not negotiable.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
The advice I would give young females that want to enter in this line of work is that they would have to be completely dedicated, because this here is a labor of love. It's not always fancy, it's not always pretty, and you're in the trenches, and you have to understand, you're caring for people at their worst, not when they're at their best, because remember, when you're healthy and good and in your right mind and everything, you're not in the hospital, you don't need care, you know what I mean? So you have to be able to extend a lot of compassion. A lot. A lot. And so, you have to be able to know that that's where you have to come in at that angle.
04What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
My values are the same, which is why I'm at Dallas College, because you have to have respect for others and yourself, you have to have integrity. Because how are you able to lay your head down at night knowing you haven't given your best? Whatever that best is, you dedicate yourself to giving back, each and every day. Some days you may go over, some days you may fall a little short, but just start the day off trying to give your very best each and every day. So work, private life, across the board.
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