Diana Perez

I would say number one, God, honestly, because he's allowed me to be able to study, work, keep it together, have a family, and get married along the way. Facing so many hurdles and challenges, having a very difficult childhood and being marginalized - I remember when I was a little girl feeling shame growing up in my community and not being like everyone else, not having the mother and father and resources that others had. Growing up with all those challenges and not being like everyone else in our community made me angry, but it inspired me to really try to excel and do the best that I could so that my life would be different. I wouldn't have been able to do it without the help of God and my prayer life, just staying connected.

I think it's important to, if you have something that you're interested in, connect with someone who is working in that field or within that position. It's important to connect with people and really get a good sense, get some feedback, meet with them. If you're able to visit their workplace, that would really be beneficial so you can see what they're actually doing throughout the day and really spend time with them and get advice from them, because they know firsthand what the profession is like. It's very important to have a mentor - it's vital, everybody needs a mentor. Be able to laugh when things are hard, and don't expect to avoid mistakes, but get up and keep on going and never quit, because a mistake is temporary. Pursue your dreams and be okay with coming to the conclusion that what you thought you were going to be up until this point in real life is not what you want to do - it's okay. Don't cave in to pressures of parents or society or culture. Pursue your dreams, go after your dreams, because you will do it. If it's your dream and you are meeting with people and getting feedback and having experiences from people who are in the field and still are saying yes, this is what I want to do, then nothing's gonna stop you because there's that passion and that zeal that will keep you when times are hard and you're exhausted.

Challenges would be safe staffing levels, both in hospital and outside of hospital systems. Administrators who don't understand the clinical reality, who don't have clinical training - they have masters and doctorates, but they don't have clinical training and don't understand the reality and challenges that are faced by healthcare providers that are actually seeing patients outside and inside of hospital systems. It really has been such a hindrance, working with leadership and leaders that don't understand, so it's dollars and cents and growth graphs and data, but when it comes down to it, staffing is impacted, and then that impacts patient safety. So it's been a real challenge for me in the different systems I work with, working with people, trying to collaborate with people who have a grave disconnect from reality.

Honesty, integrity, consistency, care, empathy, determination, never quitting, resiliency - never giving up. Things are possible for those who never quit.