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<\/p>\n(HARLINGEN) – Daniel Avila recently shared with a room full of his classmates, their families and friends that he first realized he wanted to become a nurse when his son was in the neonatal intensive care unit after he was born.<\/p>\n
\u201cAuthor Mark Twain once said, \u2018The two most important days in your life are the day you were born, and the day you find out why,\u2019 and this is when I found my why,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Now six years later, Avila found himself telling his story as the salutatorian of the first registered nursing cohort at Texas State Technical College during the program\u2019s first pinning ceremony.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe feeling of helplessness, the fear of the unknown and seeing other families struggling in the NICU the way we were was my motivation,\u201d said Avila. \u201cI didn\u2019t want to be clueless about my son and his care, so that\u2019s when I told my wife I\u2019m becoming a nurse and I\u2019m going to work in the NICU someday.\u201d<\/p>\n
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So the Avila family sold their possessions, moved in with Avila\u2019s mother-in-law, he left his job as a customer service representative with United Health Care and went back to school.<\/p>\n
The 26-year-old and father of two first graduated with a certificate as a vocational nurse from a local community college, but found himself left out of the registered nursing program three years in a row.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were so many bumps in the road and this was my biggest one,\u201d he said. \u201cI tried three times and each time was a no.\u201d<\/p>\n
After speaking with a friend, who told him about TSTC\u2019s vocational nursing to registered nursing transition program, Avila called Shirley Byrd, the program\u2019s director, and found out he had only 24 hours to take his entrance exam and apply.<\/p>\n
And so he did.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m so honored to be a part of this first cohort,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s been a great experience being able to pave the way for future classes and I can\u2019t wait to come back and mentor students.\u201d<\/p>\n
Avila first became a nurse to work in the NICU, but along the way he found a new passion: working with cardiac patients. He has accepted an offer at Harlingen Medical Center in the Cardiac Care Unit and will start as early as September 1, contingent on him passing the National Council Licensure Examination.<\/p>\n
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