Spring 2025 Commencement coverage rolls on featuring our captivating conversation with Health Sciences President’s Award Winner Emma Marett, who was inspired to be a pediatric nurse by the treatment she received while recovering from illness. She discusses her travels and tribulations all culminating to the success story she has become today which showcases the inner strength to never give up.
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Unknown (00:01):
I welcome to the program. Pod, a national award
winning program on the rcbcPodcast Network which takes a
deep dive into the programsoffered at rcbc through
different perspectives ofstudents, faculty and employers.
Yes, another spring 2025commencement coverage special
here with your host and now twotime national award winner, not
to, you know, boast myself hereat J Varga with you, but just
(00:22):
getting that in and not bringingin another one of the other
victims here for our studentspeaker is going to be speaking
in front of her peers. EmmaMarett, Emma, how you doing? I'm
good, you know, yeah, justhanging in there, finals,
speaking, rehearsing, all thethings, trying to get you in.
Well, we actually, this year,you know, we were able to get
you guys going for almost acouple of weeks of practice.
(00:43):
Sometimes it's like the verylast minute rush, and then
everyone's and everyone's like,really stressing out about
finals and trying to get thespeech in hearing themselves for
the first time. And then it getsthat burden so but as we're kind
of going through it, and I'llask you in a second too, well.
Actually, let's ask how youfeeling about the speech so far.
You know, I started out kind of,like, not nervous, but I
(01:05):
definitely went very formal withit. I was, like, speaking as if
I was kind of like the Presidentof the United States. Let me
make this very, you know, clearcut. Just Congratulations,
everyone, and that's that. But,you know, I actually yes. You
sure did. You said, make it morepersonal. I was like, Well, why
would anyone want to hear aboutmy personal story and my life?
And then the more I was thinkingabout it, the more I kind of
(01:28):
thought, hey, that's kind of whyI ended up at rcbc. So why not
talk about it, you know? So thenI rewrote the whole thing. I
mean, I used some of the initialstuff, but I pretty much just
rewrote the whole thing andtried to inject as much of
myself into it as I could. And,you know, make it something that
would maybe speak to people. Andnow I feel, I feel pretty good
about it, and I'm, I'm happythat I was nervous about sharing
(01:51):
the message initially. Now I'm,I'm really excited that I'll get
to share it. Yeah, we are goingto, we are going to touch on
that because, again, I'mgetting, literally getting
goose. I was talking about itbecause I already got to
experience that story. So thelisteners right now here are the
program Potter. Are, you know,going to hear that message and
eventually hear the fullmessage, because we'll be
(02:12):
broadcasting live for the rcbc,you know, YouTube channel for
the live stream, as we do forall the commencements, so that,
yes, everyone can stream it, andyou have for your own personal
archives, and give it off towhoever, and you can go back and
relive it. But you know, youfeel an actual not just the
message itself. You feelcomfortable within your voice
and speaking to the, you know,to the big room, all that good
(02:34):
stuff. Because, I mean, that's,that's one thing I noticed. And
usually I'm the one that's kindof still not, I won't pick you
apart, right, but I'm here tocoach you up and and get your
your dialect down, or, like,those dramatic pauses and stuff,
and, like, in public speaking.But from what I've heard from
the first one, I didn't go tothe last two practices to today,
I was kind of, like, for thefirst time, like, I've got
(02:56):
nothing. I really, you know whatI mean, and, and my wife would
even say, that's no, you alwayshave some kind of, even if it's
a smart, you know, smartestcomment, or something, or
sarcastic comment. If want tokeep it clean, here at rcbc says
you always going to littlething. I'm like, hey, it's
constructive criticism. We gotthere. It's what, yeah, it's
what made me me and, you know,doing broadcasting and stuff
(03:18):
too. But you got to rewrite thatstory and share that so we're
going to kind of start to, youknow, get to know you, you know,
your experience here at rcbc,sharing some of that message
where it's going on. But youknow, when your speech first
starts, said, You know, you werea California girl, so, so how
did this, all you know,culminate? And you know, why did
you choose to first again,you're going to be the president
(03:40):
award winner, speaker for theHealth Sciences class, because
your major is nursing, nursingas a nurse, that's good stuff.
Yes, that's near and dear to myheart, my mother, my wife, too.
So, yes, so, so I love when Ilike, hear about other nurses.
I'm like, Yes, I have extrabias, extra bias for for your
whole field, and for every,obviously, everything you went
through, because you're going totalk about COVID too, a little
(04:02):
bit because of everything thatwent through with with COVID. So
your story, like, again, how yougot here, why? You know you
chose to do what you do. Andlet's hear Yeah. So my family,
like we had moved out during myteens, out to San Francisco, and
like I had lived in, I was movedout. Start with jersey. I moved
out of Jersey. I was born here,but I moved out by the time I
was two, so I really don'tremember anything about it. And
(04:24):
we were in Atlanta for a littlewhile, Atlanta Georgia, which
was very different, as well asthe South. And then we moved out
to San Francisco, and that'sreally where I kind of was
finding myself growing up andlike coming into my own. But for
me, it was obviouslychallenging, and not to
interrupt you, but your parentsmilitary or something. Oh, no.
Just or something. My dad, it'spart of why my public speaking,
(04:46):
like I had to get so used to itis my dad is, was actually,
like, in business, CEO typething, like, very like, speaking
is what he does, speaking topeople and, you know, making
presentations. And so I wasalways around him, and I got
really used to the idea.
Of like, if you have somethingto say, you just say it, and you
should be confident about it,you know. So that's why we were
moving. He had different jobskind of around the country,
(05:09):
sure. So he got with this greatcompany out in San Francisco,
and we were out there for quitesome time. And for me, I did
mention that in my speech that Iwas homeschooled. I was
homeschooled, very soloeducation journey for me, I
really did not, I don't think Ididn't have friends in school
until senior year. I met, maybe,like a couple, like, I had a
(05:33):
group of people that werefloating around at my school
that I would hang out with alot, and you know, one of them
I'm still friends with to thisday, but overall, it was just
me, like, I was the only one,like, so when it came to coming
to rcbc, I was like, Oh my gosh.Like, how do I go to college? I
don't understand. Now I'm aroundall these other people, and I
have to sit in class with otherpeople and share my time and
(05:55):
socialize, yeah, socialize. AndI have to, like, raise my hand
to say something, like, I don'tunderstand. Like, think about
that. Yeah, yes, it's a bigbecause it actually happened.
And I think that some of myclassmates would think I was
being they're like, oh my gosh,she's so rude. She just starts
talking. But it's because Iwould sit in the front, because
I'm so used to, like, just beingthe only one there, yeah, and so
I don't raise your hand for yourmama, right? No, my mom, or,
(06:17):
like, my one on one teachers,when I was out in SF and the
alternative school, like it wasme and a teacher. And so you
could just say it was aconversation. And so I would
just start talking, then I lookbehind me and be like, Oh my
gosh, there's somebody that'slike, raising their hand, and I
just talked over them, whoops,I'm sorry. I'm not trying to be
rude. I'm just like, a dumbhomeschool kid. I'm sorry.
Anyway, I digress back to endingup in SF.
(06:41):
Yeah, it wasn't military. It wasmy dad just having the job, and,
you know, then that companysold. It was the pandemic, like,
happened right after all thathappened. So he, he's, like, he
was getting to the point of,like, wanting to retire and,
like, start his own kind ofbusiness, and not wanting to be
in, like, that formal positionanyway, sure. And, you know,
(07:01):
obviously my parents were theones supporting me, because I
was still quite young, and atthe time, I was not able to go
straight into college, like Iwas taking numerous, I say, a
gap year. I was numerous gapyears. You know, my child, I am
not, but I am the youngest.Okay, so I was the only one,
almost only child vibes, whichis what I am. So, team only
(07:22):
child. But no, the so the secondyoungest, I'm the youngest. The
second youngest is 14 yearsolder than me. So that's
basically, that's why you're indifferent classrooms, or
whatever it is, yes. Sobasically, an only child. I was
the only one left. They weresupporting me, and then company
sold. He's like, Okay, I'm stillworking with this, you know,
bigger company that I got kindof on board with, and he's like,
(07:45):
then all of a sudden, pandemichappened, big kind of changes
and shifts. And he said, Yeah,I'm not staying with this
company, and we're going to goback because, you know, we have
connections here, and we alreadyhad an apartment here. So they
said, We're going back duringthe pandemic. We're going to lay
low for a year, and then we'llfigure out what to do next. And
you can figure out, you know,what you're going to do with
(08:06):
college. And I had already beenhearing from, like, my high
school counselors, like, youshould apply, you know, to all
the big universities. Because,like, that's a brag. I had a
great GPA, and so they werelike, You need to go to all
these big schools, and I was inthe midst of just not focusing
at all on that future, like Iwas just trying to, we'll get
(08:29):
into it, I'm sure. But I wasjust trying to survive and, you
know, find my way and get intoit right now. Yeah. Well, are
you ready? Yeah, yeah. Well, andthat's what, that's what I'd
love, you know, again, I wasalready kind of, I got to hear
your story, but the listenerright now doesn't know it's kind
of coming. And these are thetypes of stories that I love
having on the show, becausethere's people that can relate,
(08:50):
and it's very important toshare, and I'm glad you are
sharing it. Yeah, there waslike, there's always fear about
it. I think I mentioned to youlike, it's something that is
taboo. It's kind of like I feellike, when people talk about it,
they kind of make it like I'veleft that behind, and I'm better
than all that now, and it's likefor me, I always said it. I said
this, let's just get it out ofthe way. I was diagnosed in my
(09:13):
teens with anorexia nervosa. Iwas very sick, I was very
underweight,
and I ended up in the hospital,and I was there for quite a few
weeks, um, just, you know,continuous heart monitor. And,
you know, I have to make surethat, as a health sciences
major, I don't say stuff thatother people won't understand,
(09:33):
because I'm like, I know whatall of it is, sure. Yeah, you
know, I was on the continuousheart monitor and the, you know,
tube in the nose, and all thefeedings and the drips and all
the things, and it was just sucha tough thing, because I went
from being at home and not beingwell, and then I was brought to
(09:55):
the emergency room, and that'show I ended up in the hospital.
And it was kind of surreal.
Well, like I was, I was 17 whenI finally got hospitalized. It
had been kind of an on and offthing, but really hit the the
low point when I was 17,
and then I had all these peoplecoming in, like, all the time,
(10:16):
you know, I felt like they werepushing me on this, like, Okay,
well now you're gonna go toresidential and you're gonna go
to partial hospitals. To partialhospitalization, and then you're
going to go to intensiveoutpatient and, like, it was all
set up to give us another stat,right? And, you know, these,
they're great people like, youknow, the doctors, I know that
they're focused on, you know, Ihave to, this is a medical case,
(10:38):
and I have to stabilize thisperson. I completely understand,
especially now that, you know,I'm going to be a nurse, like,
I've learned all about it.That's their job, you know. And
that's why, you know, the nurseshave to take our job with the
human part really seriously,like the holistic part. And I
learned that later, but at thetime, when I was a dumb kid, I
was like, You guys are just kindof throwing this all at me, and
I'm not, like, I'm not ready,like, I'm not interested in it.
(10:59):
And when it comes to like amental health situation, whether
it be eating disorder in mycase, or addiction,
whatever it may be, it's youhave to be the one to choose. No
one can really make you do it.They can drag you through all of
it as much as they want, butuntil you choose it, it's not
gonna happen. And so that waskind of my story. It started,
(11:23):
but I it took me a lot of yearsgetting through all those things
and having a meeting a lot ofdifferent people, you know,
people who were also patients,you know, had anorexia, and
being around them, and seeingpeople at different stages of
their journeys, and meetingother people outside of that as
well, that kind of made methink, okay, like, I do want
(11:45):
something different. And I wouldsay I didn't actually really get
that full realization, like Iwas going through the motions. I
didn't really get that fullrealization of, like, I want
more, I'm going to do more. Iwant to live and I want to like
this is taking up too much of mytime, and yes, it may be
(12:08):
something that I carry forever,but I'm going to make it so much
of a background thing that Ihave to have something else to
live for. And I've done thatnow. It didn't happen until 2022
and that was kind of right, as Iwas really getting into the flow
at rcbc, sure, but I'm always abig believer of things happen
for a reason, good or bad,right? And because of where you
(12:30):
were in that hospital and andmade a connection to one special
person, right? And, and youcouldn't you say it in your
speech, whatever,
you know, can you shareelaborate on that for those that
aren't listening to the stream.So I was there, and I'm sure
this was a matter ofcircumstance too. It was a
pediatric unit, because at thetime I was peds, I was young.
(12:50):
It's kind of crazy to thinkabout, but I was a child, and
I guess the unit didn't have,like, a lot of people on it,
like there weren't a lot ofpatients, and so I think this
one nurse, like that was kind ofthe benefit she for whatever
reason, like she really was theonly one. She was consistently
there, and she was night shift,and that was always the time
(13:13):
when I felt the worst because,like I was so like to be candid
about anorexia, it hurts, likeyour body hurts. You're not
comfortable ever. It's cold,you're aching, whether you're
moving, sitting still, itdoesn't matter, just constant
pain, and I would feel it themost at night. I don't know what
that was about, and it wouldjust be so hard for me to sleep.
(13:35):
And so she was night shift, andshe would just come in and she
would just talk to me like Iremember, we had a whole
conversation about just DisneyWorld and, like, what
attractions we liked, and, oh,what restaurants do you like to
go to when you, you know, go.And obviously, I was like, I
don't go to restaurants, but,you know, now I do. So that's
(13:56):
cool. She's out there. I do now.
There we go. But um, and so shewould talk to me about my hair.
I had colorful hair at the time,and,
you know, she would just talk tome like a human, you know, like,
of course, we would talk about,okay, this medication you're
gonna take this or I'm gonna dothis feeding. And, like, you
(14:16):
can't, you know, she hadboundaries for me, obviously,
but I felt like she really justbecause she knew that I had to
be there for a long time. Shereally made me feel like I could
be safe in that space. And like,not just there were moments when
it would be like the doctors andall the residents coming in, and
it would just be like eightpeople staring me down, and I
(14:38):
just felt totally like I'm juston display for all these people.
And they're, they're going awayand talking about me, like, oh,
this kid that did this toherself, and she's, you know,
crazy or whatever. Like, I'msure they don't talk about it
like that, but, yeah, but inyour head, in my head, when I
was that young, that's what Ithought, you know, when I was
that age, I thought they're alljudging me, and this sucks. And
(14:59):
I.
Hate being here, and I just wantto leave, and then having to
kind of manage my parents beingreally upset, you know,
especially my mom and becauseshe stayed with me the whole
time I was there, and I couldn'thelp her. I mean, I really
couldn't, because the way that Icould have made it better would
be to just get better, and Icouldn't do it at that moment.
(15:20):
So she was there reallysupporting my mom, like I
remember one time I woke up
in the middle of the night and Iheard something like outside the
door, and it was my mom. She wascrying, and I don't know what I
couldn't hear what they weretalking about, but I just
remember hearing that nursespeaking to her, just very
(15:42):
gently and just being with her,really I mean, it was just her,
being with her and being with metoo, like just being a presence,
like a solid presence, that wassuch a big deal. And I just
thought she was the best. Imean, I really did. I thought
she was amazing, becauseeverybody else had to do that
medical part, and she did too,but she made it a priority to
(16:04):
spend that time where she couldwith me. And I know that's
obviously now I'm a nursingstudent. I know it's not always
possible to, like, stand in apatient's room forever and, you
know, engage them and make themfeel human, but all those little
bits, all those little moments,count, like even just those 15
minute conversations she wouldhave with me the little extra
time she would stay before sheleft. Her shift, you know, made
(16:26):
such a difference to me, becauseI was there for a long time, and
it gets really lonely and justit feels like hopeless, and she
just made me feel like, oh mygosh, I have a whole life and
existence out of all this. Andthat was cool. That was, like,
the first time that it came tomy brain. Light bulb going off.
(16:46):
Yeah, that was the first time.And it takes multiple light
bulbs when it comes to, youknow, eating disorder,
addiction, anything absolutelylike that, multiple light bulb
moments. But that was the firstone. That was the first one, so
I'm really grateful to her forthat. I still remember her. I
remember her name. I won't sayit because HIPAA and all that,
but I remember, I get it, andnow, now we get to like this,
like the, was it the hot wingsmeme, whatever it's like. Now,
(17:09):
look at us now, right? We'rePaul Rudd's right there. So look
at us now, because here you are,a nursing student going to be
speaking from your class for thepresident award winner. You know
what made you decide that youwanted, you know, you wanted, to
go speak in front of your class?So initially, I got the email,
and at first, like that, I wasable to apply, and I was like,
(17:32):
Who wants to hear from me? LikeI am not again, awkward,
homeschooled, like kid, like Ihave my close people, and I'm
very much like talkative. I loveto talk, but, you know, I don't
feel like that. I was like, am Iparticularly close to, like, the
whole class? I don't know, likeall these people, I don't think
so. Who would want to hear fromme, right? And then I mentioned
(17:52):
it in passing, like we wereabout to start one of our
lectures, like a critical carelecture. I mentioned it, oh my
gosh. I got this email, like,and they were like, What do you
mean? Why are you not applyingfor it? You should, like, you
could talk to a brick wall,like, you're great. You would be
the best person to do it, youknow. And, you know, the nursing
students, obviously, they take alot of pride in nursing. They're
(18:15):
like, we need a nursing studentto represent. Oh, you're a fun
bunch. Yeah, I always say I wasjoking with Nicole, you know,
doing the stem stuff, usually onthe introverted side. And I and
President CEO got to try andmake some jokes during
commencement. Try to get onefired up health sciences fired
up as soon as they get out ofthe car, you know. So it's not
so true. It's, you know what?It's funny. Like, I feel like
the nursing cohort is that. Butmore than us, the dental hygiene
(18:37):
cohort this year, they are likesomething else, yeah, oh my
gosh. I love it. I love it.Brings energy, yeah? Brings
energy to the to the field. Theywere great, but, um, yeah, it
was really them that kind ofpushed me to do it. And I will
be completely honest, I wassuper last minute. So putting my
application in, literally theday of the day it was due, I was
(18:58):
reaching out to the director ofmy program, Dr Shannon Williams,
who I love. She's been such aninspiration to me. And I was
like, Can you write me a letterof recommendation? I, you know,
I need at least one fromfaculty. And you're someone that
I really, you know, haveconfidence would write, you
know, a letter that representsme well. And you know, if they
read it and determine that I'm agood fit for the interview, then
(19:20):
that's good, because I reallytrust her with that information
and about me, because I feellike she really knows me. And
then I asked one of my peers whohad encouraged me to even apply,
I said, Will you write me aletter of recommendation? And it
was funny, because during myinterview with the faculty who
were going to be choosing, youknow, who was going to be
speaking, they said, why did youchoose to ask a peer for a
(19:41):
letter of recommendation,usually it's two faculty
letters. You did, one fromfaculty and one from peer. What
was the rationale behind thatdecision? And I said, I'm like,
Well, I'm speaking for my peers.I mean, yes, I'm speaking for
the school and for faculty.Absolutely, that's half of it,
but the other half is, this isthe.
Men of the graduating class. Soif they don't want me speaking
(20:03):
for them, if they don't thinkthat I am someone who can
represent them or who can sharea good message, then there's no
point in me getting up there andbeing the one to do it like the
student. Speaker should besomeone who's speaking for the
students. And it was kind oflike what shaped my speech too?
Because initially that's why Iwent so impersonal. Because I
(20:24):
was like, I'm speaking for thestudents. I can't just make this
all about me. And it wasn'tuntil I talked to you guys that
I realized talking about me istalking, yeah, credit all right.
Greg's more. Greg's more aboutgetting, more about getting the
time and everything else goingon I want to get, I want that
story development or just, like,just you, like, this is your
(20:44):
story. But like, I was tryingto, and that's why I had, like,
a proud dad moment when I'mhearing you going through your
speech and stuff, because it issharing that experience with
your with your peers, yeah? Andthat's when I kind of thought, I
was like, yeah, it is that stuffthat connects people to each
other. And one of the otherspeakers who's going to be
speaking for the liberal artsand humanities program Emmanuel
he was sharing, like in his, youknow, preliminary speech, the
(21:06):
power of human connection. Andpart of human connection is that
we're not all the same, and ifwe were all the same, there
would only be one human onEarth, right? But we all have
something to bring to eachother, so part of connecting
with others is sharing yourself.And you know, it's not like some
narcissistic thing to be like,Hey, this is my story, and this
is what I did, and I believe youcan all do it too. So I kind of
(21:28):
had to figure that out. And youwere the one who encouraged me
to be like to share thatmessage. Pat shoulder. There you
go.
Pat shoulder. No, but, butlistening to your story, your
message, obviously, your workethic and the fact you chose a
peer, it's, it's a pretty easyreason why I see that, why you
were selected to represent yourclass. So, you know,
(21:50):
congratulations on that. Andthrough, you know, through your
trials and tribulations andgetting to where you know, to
where you are, because noteveryone makes it right. You
know, we talked about thebattles of addiction. We've had
some, some previous studentaward winners
that, you know, they had to gothrough multiple
addictions and clinics likeFlorida, the California to come
(22:12):
back, and now they're crushingLockheed Martin and everything
else, and hopefully your messagegetting you up there and
connecting with person. And itdoesn't have to be necessarily
anorexia, right? It could bejust any mental awareness,
something like that. It's just,it all comes with, you know, you
like, have to, like, kind ofwant it, but people are there to
kind of like, help you. Butmeeting with your nurse now, and
you're gonna be a nursingstudent, you're gonna take that
(22:33):
story because, you know, I'msure there's gonna be a patient
somewhere along the lines thatyou're gonna be able to, kind of
like, make that otherconnection. And who knows. You
know what? I mean, it's likethat kind of like, throwing that
rock in the that rock in the inthe lake, right? And the ripples
kind of go, it's a big deal. Imean, anorexia is the most fatal
mental illness, is it? It is so,you know, it's important to me.
And,
you know, I actually had anexperience with one of my
(22:56):
clinicals where there was apatient who was in a, you know,
psychiatric care facility, andshe, you know, without revealing
too much, she was having troublewith other things, and they were
kind of not noticing some signsthat I was like, this is an
eating disorder, you know, justthe way it sounded. She sounded
just like me when she talked.And so I was able to kind of
(23:17):
interact with her in that, youknow, compassionate way. Instead
of, you know, everyone justbeing like, well, you need to do
this, and you need to do thisbecause there's a lot of that,
because they're trying to saveyour life. But sometimes that
promotes more resistance, youknow. And so it's a long like I
said, it's a long journey. Like,it's not overnight. You never
recover overnight from any ofit. It's not a right away thing.
(23:40):
And that's kind of how I endedup at rcbc, you know, I think I
was mentioning, you know, I wasbeing pushed to apply in like,
2019, pre pandemic, like, allthese got like, you should go to
NYU, you should apply toStanford, you should apply to
all these places. And I waslike, I can't even be thinking
about that, because I still haveappointments every single day
yourself, right? First Exactly.I'm like, I can't go, and I
(24:02):
would be so over. I know myself,I would have been so
overwhelmed. And it just wasn'tme. It's not me. I wanted to
meet. Like, part of why I loveSan Francisco and found myself
out there so much is because youmeet this whole group of people
from all different types oflife, like it's just teeming
with life there, and justeveryone's different and so much
(24:23):
diversity. And I feel like whenI go to, like a traditional
program, you know, it's kind oflike you meet all the people are
kind of in the same age range,generally, you know. And
depending on, like, theaffordability, you kind of get
all people from similarbackgrounds, you know. And not
that there's a problem withthat, obviously, but I knew for
what I wanted, I wanted to beable to step outside of my own
(24:45):
world and meet other people andsee other worlds. And I have
done that here, and I feel likeCommunity College, like that's
the best part of it. You meetall of those people, and you get
the jersey culture too. Oh mygosh, please. Yes, I'm used to
it, because my family is thatbut, yeah.
Gosh, I really totally differentpace of life than that West
Coast vibe. Absolutely, verydifferent. People will, like,
yell at you in the grocery storefor, like, taking a second too
(25:08):
long to, like, walk to thecheckout when they're behind
you. They're like, yeah, ifyou're not, you're not going,
I'm going, I'm like, northeast.And then I snap back, because
now I'm Jersey too. Oh my gosh,yeah, but yeah, that's how I
ended up at rcbc, because duringthe pandemic, I was like, well,
everything's on hold. Let mejust get started at a local
college and then transfer later,and then I never left. And I'm
(25:29):
so happy. So again, goes backto, like, I think things just,
there's certain plans that Idon't wanna say laid out, you
know, but there's just, that'sjust the way I believe, like,
things kind of happen for areason. Like, even when I first
went to school, I thought I wasgoing into a film and other
different types of media. And Iended up getting into radio
broadcasting because I wassupposed to go to a four year
school, and then differencesbetween me and my father
military. But then ended up herejust to, kind of like, make sure
(25:52):
I was on the path of, you know,even though I had the grades for
it and everything else, but fellin love with the radio program
changed my whole life around.And then just, you know, who
would have thought so thingshappened, and now I'm here
sharing that message, putting ittogether, like the radio
culture, into this podcaststuff, which I can continue to
talk to you about it, but Istill gotta get a manual back
here, so we're gonna, kind oflike, just get it, wrap it up.
(26:13):
But what's one thing, or maybesomething that you're going to
miss here, about rcbc? Oh
my
gosh. You know, I've beenthinking about this.
I really do miss, like, justcoming in. I like, I'm going to
miss it. I already do, like,even when I had my last lecture,
you know, now I'm just coming infor exams. I miss that coming
in, seeing all the students comein, and knowing we're all doing
(26:37):
it together, and like, havingthat support just around you,
even if it's not, you know, themost like, they're getting super
involved with, like, supportingyou in, you know, any tangible
way, just the presence of, like,being around a group of like
minded people who are all goingin a direction, and you're so
stressed, and you feel like, ohmy gosh, this is so
overwhelming. And, you know,they all feel it too. Yeah, all
(26:59):
the finals we were just talkingabout earlier, yes, and so I'm
going to miss being around that,you know, and having that, and
I'm sure I'll be able to findit, you know, as a nurse, I'm
sure my unit will have all thestressed nurses, and we're going
to be all in it together. Butum,
also just, um,
the community here was reallyspecial. I was honestly
surprised. I think a lot ofpeople really doubt Community
(27:23):
College, like, I've heard, like,COVID was talking about it, you
know, it, we hear like, oh,like, that's all you did. I'm
like, that's not all I did. It'swhat I did, you know, and it's
and I'm proud of it, and I'mglad that I did it, and I've
learned so much. I don't think Iwould be the person I am now had
I not come here, and I'm reallygrateful the people that I met
(27:43):
really matured me and helped megrow and find the meaning of
life in a lot of ways, you know?And so, yeah, I think I will
miss that. It's a message thatgets brought up a lot, and I
think a lot of people don'trealize until they get here, but
a lot of everyone else is, Idon't say loss, right, but
you're kind of busy. Said aboutit, trying to get yourself
right, or just what you knowfinancially, just couldn't
(28:05):
afford, or something like that.Everyone has different
circumstances, but it's kind oflike, you know, you're, we're
all going through it, andyou're, you're trying to find
out who you are, and this crazything called life, and then
there's all these outsidecircumstances like COVID or
other worldly things. I don'treally know. COVID, I couldn't
stay out in San Francisco, whichis crazy to think it's five
years ago now, right? So certainto see some of these memories
(28:26):
pop up and you're like, oh mygod, I forgot all about, you
know, doing that or whatever.But you know,
you know, just, it's great. I'mglad you got to, you know, and
it makes you appreciate thingseven more, too, so, but I'm glad
you got to take that away fromyou. So you obviously, you're at
nursing cohort. Is there anyspecific place you got next or
what do you? Oh my gosh. So, youknow, they encourage you to
(28:46):
start applying for jobs and allthat I've done a little bit.
So there have been in talks. Youknow, I've been in talks with
different places. For me,
it's funny, my friend that Imentioned from high school that
my one really close friend thatI did meet at that alternative
school out in SF. She actuallylives in New York City. She
works. She's graduating now withher fashion degree. Nice. Her
(29:07):
and I had similar, you know,journeys where we were both, you
know, in quotations, behindbecause of our mental health.
And
she is now graduating too. We'regraduating at the same time.
And, you know, she said, I wantyou to live like near me. And so
I'm like, maybe I'll go out toNorth Jersey, see what's what
experience it. You know, Ithat's a whole different culture
(29:28):
itself. Jersey, oh, yeah, wholedifferent thing, very different,
even just the sports teams. Isvery different.
Philly, through and through.Here, there you go. That's what
my dad would say, too good. He'sraising your right? Then yes.
All right, all right. So onefinal thought before we wrap
things up, though, and it's kindof like giving, as you say in
radio, a little teaser to youryour your message, your speech
(29:51):
that we're going to be hearingin its entirety coming up for
the commencement, which will beagain broadcasted live at the
YouTube our YouTube channel herefor rcbc, but you.
Uh, you know, maybe the personthat's not be able to see the
stream and stuff, what's oneinspirational message that you
can give to them looking to gothinking about going back to
school or even like fellowclassmates, or something like
that, just to
(30:14):
so I'm trying to,
you know, I put some messaginglike that in my speech, you
know, because that was somethingthat I thought about. It was
something that I'm like, thisis, you know, I want them to
feel like they can do it, youknow, because I didn't feel like
I could do it, and now I did it.So
the one takeaway, there will bepeople and places that will give
(30:36):
you a chance, not all places,maybe opportunity. You know, my
father always said he's like,you know, anyone can do
anything, but opportunity is notalways provided equally. But
rcbc will give you anopportunity. You know, a place
like rcbc will give you theopportunity and you can start.
You know
(30:57):
what I said in my speech? Andit's true, as long as there is
passion and you have a dream andyou can find a way, you can
always begin. You can do it. Youknow,
school is hard. I'll be honest,going back to school is
especially hard, you know, whenyou've been out of that whole
thing. I mean, even for me, Iwas a non traditional student. I
was not used to going to schoollike this at all. But humans are
(31:23):
amazing, and that we're verylike resilient, and we are able
to kind of pick up and learn,you know, we got those big
brains for a reason, and so youcan learn, you know, it may be
hard and it may be difficult,but if you have something you
want to do, and
you know, you have a dream like,honestly, you can just go for it
really. And it's great thatthere's places that are
(31:46):
affordable and resources likercbc, that's the one thing I was
gonna say too. I'm gonna missthat people like, may doubt
community college, but rcbc hastons of programs like student
life, all the things like, somuch. It's just like any other
college, it's college. You know,it's the same we actually have a
whole podcast based on clubshere at rcbc, telling me there's
a podcast. I was like, there's apodcast. We're live streaming
(32:08):
the graduation. What is goingon?
Awesome. We have a whole likething. I think it's great. And
so, like,
you can be part of that. Anyonecan be part of that. That's
like, that's my message. Like,don't no one should feel
embarrassed to start their dreamand to or find a new dream that
(32:30):
too, like, maybe something wasyour dream and now it's not. And
you're like, Hey, I'm going backto school. You can go back to
school. That's why I would saytoo, is, you know, you gotta do
what makes you happy, right? Somy father went to night school.
He had two kids, and he foundhis way through, and
now he's been so successful, youknow, yeah, so Well, proud of
you again. I was gonna go backand cut up the little party
(32:52):
talking about, you know, we'retalking about rcbc. We'll give
that to Greg, because that's apure testimony that he's gonna
eat up and love.
But no, you know, congrats. It'syou have an amazing story to
share. And I'm proud. I'm proudof you, just from, you know, the
little time that I got to meetyou and just over this past
month, but from the speech, fromthe beginning of speech, how you
wrote it, to where you'regetting ready to do it in front
(33:13):
of your class, and everythingelse you like, you have really
come through like, and that's,I'm glad to kind of like, pull
that out even a little bit too.But it was always there, and it
was, it was always you, and, youknow, so kudos. You know, any,
any final words, any Hi mom, orwhatever you want to say. You
know, some people say go birds,right? I don't know anything
(33:36):
about football. I can't. It'sall good, but,
but, the fact that I'm denyingsaying go verse, my sister is
gonna be so mad at me. Allright, go birds. So
thank you. I really appreciateYeah, no, we appreciate you too.
And you know, have fun. Enjoyit, and best of luck into your
next chapter, wherever it isthat you go. Okay, so much. I
(33:57):
appreciate it. Thank you, Emma.Thank you. Bye.
I welcome to the program. Pod, a national award
winning program on the rcbcPodcast Network which takes a
deep dive into the programsoffered at rcbc through
different perspectives ofstudents, faculty and employers.
Yes, another spring 2025commencement coverage special
here with your host and now twotime national award winner, not
to, you know, boast myself hereat J Varga with you, but just
(00:22):
getting that in and not bringingin another one of the other
victims here for our studentspeaker is going to be speaking
in front of her peers. EmmaMarett, Emma, how you doing? I'm
good, you know, yeah, justhanging in there, finals,
speaking, rehearsing, all thethings, trying to get you in.
Well, we actually, this year,you know, we were able to get
you guys going for almost acouple of weeks of practice.
(00:43):
Sometimes it's like the verylast minute rush, and then
everyone's and everyone's like,really stressing out about
finals and trying to get thespeech in hearing themselves for
the first time. And then it getsthat burden so but as we're kind
of going through it, and I'llask you in a second too, well.
Actually, let's ask how youfeeling about the speech so far.
You know, I started out kind of,like, not nervous, but I
(01:05):
definitely went very formal withit. I was, like, speaking as if
I was kind of like the Presidentof the United States. Let me
make this very, you know, clearcut. Just Congratulations,
everyone, and that's that. But,you know, I actually yes. You
sure did. You said, make it morepersonal. I was like, Well, why
would anyone want to hear aboutmy personal story and my life?
And then the more I was thinkingabout it, the more I kind of
(01:28):
thought, hey, that's kind of whyI ended up at rcbc. So why not
talk about it, you know? So thenI rewrote the whole thing. I
mean, I used some of the initialstuff, but I pretty much just
rewrote the whole thing andtried to inject as much of
myself into it as I could. And,you know, make it something that
would maybe speak to people. Andnow I feel, I feel pretty good
about it, and I'm, I'm happythat I was nervous about sharing
(01:51):
the message initially. Now I'm,I'm really excited that I'll get
to share it. Yeah, we are goingto, we are going to touch on
that because, again, I'mgetting, literally getting
goose. I was talking about itbecause I already got to
experience that story. So thelisteners right now here are the
program Potter. Are, you know,going to hear that message and
eventually hear the fullmessage, because we'll be
(02:12):
broadcasting live for the rcbc,you know, YouTube channel for
the live stream, as we do forall the commencements, so that,
yes, everyone can stream it, andyou have for your own personal
archives, and give it off towhoever, and you can go back and
relive it. But you know, youfeel an actual not just the
message itself. You feelcomfortable within your voice
and speaking to the, you know,to the big room, all that good
(02:34):
stuff. Because, I mean, that's,that's one thing I noticed. And
usually I'm the one that's kindof still not, I won't pick you
apart, right, but I'm here tocoach you up and and get your
your dialect down, or, like,those dramatic pauses and stuff,
and, like, in public speaking.But from what I've heard from
the first one, I didn't go tothe last two practices to today,
I was kind of, like, for thefirst time, like, I've got
(02:56):
nothing. I really, you know whatI mean, and, and my wife would
even say, that's no, you alwayshave some kind of, even if it's
a smart, you know, smartestcomment, or something, or
sarcastic comment. If want tokeep it clean, here at rcbc says
you always going to littlething. I'm like, hey, it's
constructive criticism. We gotthere. It's what, yeah, it's
what made me me and, you know,doing broadcasting and stuff
(03:18):
too. But you got to rewrite thatstory and share that so we're
going to kind of start to, youknow, get to know you, you know,
your experience here at rcbc,sharing some of that message
where it's going on. But youknow, when your speech first
starts, said, You know, you werea California girl, so, so how
did this, all you know,culminate? And you know, why did
you choose to first again,you're going to be the president
(03:40):
award winner, speaker for theHealth Sciences class, because
your major is nursing, nursingas a nurse, that's good stuff.
Yes, that's near and dear to myheart, my mother, my wife, too.
So, yes, so, so I love when Ilike, hear about other nurses.
I'm like, Yes, I have extrabias, extra bias for for your
whole field, and for every,obviously, everything you went
through, because you're going totalk about COVID too, a little
(04:02):
bit because of everything thatwent through with with COVID. So
your story, like, again, how yougot here, why? You know you
chose to do what you do. Andlet's hear Yeah. So my family,
like we had moved out during myteens, out to San Francisco, and
like I had lived in, I was movedout. Start with jersey. I moved
out of Jersey. I was born here,but I moved out by the time I
was two, so I really don'tremember anything about it. And
(04:24):
we were in Atlanta for a littlewhile, Atlanta Georgia, which
was very different, as well asthe South. And then we moved out
to San Francisco, and that'sreally where I kind of was
finding myself growing up andlike coming into my own. But for
me, it was obviouslychallenging, and not to
interrupt you, but your parentsmilitary or something. Oh, no.
Just or something. My dad, it'spart of why my public speaking,
(04:46):
like I had to get so used to itis my dad is, was actually,
like, in business, CEO typething, like, very like, speaking
is what he does, speaking topeople and, you know, making
presentations. And so I wasalways around him, and I got
really used to the idea.
Of like, if you have somethingto say, you just say it, and you
should be confident about it,you know. So that's why we were
moving. He had different jobskind of around the country,
(05:09):
sure. So he got with this greatcompany out in San Francisco,
and we were out there for quitesome time. And for me, I did
mention that in my speech that Iwas homeschooled. I was
homeschooled, very soloeducation journey for me, I
really did not, I don't think Ididn't have friends in school
until senior year. I met, maybe,like a couple, like, I had a
(05:33):
group of people that werefloating around at my school
that I would hang out with alot, and you know, one of them
I'm still friends with to thisday, but overall, it was just
me, like, I was the only one,like, so when it came to coming
to rcbc, I was like, Oh my gosh.Like, how do I go to college? I
don't understand. Now I'm aroundall these other people, and I
have to sit in class with otherpeople and share my time and
(05:55):
socialize, yeah, socialize. AndI have to, like, raise my hand
to say something, like, I don'tunderstand. Like, think about
that. Yeah, yes, it's a bigbecause it actually happened.
And I think that some of myclassmates would think I was
being they're like, oh my gosh,she's so rude. She just starts
talking. But it's because Iwould sit in the front, because
I'm so used to, like, just beingthe only one there, yeah, and so
I don't raise your hand for yourmama, right? No, my mom, or,
(06:17):
like, my one on one teachers,when I was out in SF and the
alternative school, like it wasme and a teacher. And so you
could just say it was aconversation. And so I would
just start talking, then I lookbehind me and be like, Oh my
gosh, there's somebody that'slike, raising their hand, and I
just talked over them, whoops,I'm sorry. I'm not trying to be
rude. I'm just like, a dumbhomeschool kid. I'm sorry.
Anyway, I digress back to endingup in SF.
(06:41):
Yeah, it wasn't military. It wasmy dad just having the job, and,
you know, then that companysold. It was the pandemic, like,
happened right after all thathappened. So he, he's, like, he
was getting to the point of,like, wanting to retire and,
like, start his own kind ofbusiness, and not wanting to be
in, like, that formal positionanyway, sure. And, you know,
(07:01):
obviously my parents were theones supporting me, because I
was still quite young, and atthe time, I was not able to go
straight into college, like Iwas taking numerous, I say, a
gap year. I was numerous gapyears. You know, my child, I am
not, but I am the youngest.Okay, so I was the only one,
almost only child vibes, whichis what I am. So, team only
(07:22):
child. But no, the so the secondyoungest, I'm the youngest. The
second youngest is 14 yearsolder than me. So that's
basically, that's why you're indifferent classrooms, or
whatever it is, yes. Sobasically, an only child. I was
the only one left. They weresupporting me, and then company
sold. He's like, Okay, I'm stillworking with this, you know,
bigger company that I got kindof on board with, and he's like,
(07:45):
then all of a sudden, pandemichappened, big kind of changes
and shifts. And he said, Yeah,I'm not staying with this
company, and we're going to goback because, you know, we have
connections here, and we alreadyhad an apartment here. So they
said, We're going back duringthe pandemic. We're going to lay
low for a year, and then we'llfigure out what to do next. And
you can figure out, you know,what you're going to do with
(08:06):
college. And I had already beenhearing from, like, my high
school counselors, like, youshould apply, you know, to all
the big universities. Because,like, that's a brag. I had a
great GPA, and so they werelike, You need to go to all
these big schools, and I was inthe midst of just not focusing
at all on that future, like Iwas just trying to, we'll get
(08:29):
into it, I'm sure. But I wasjust trying to survive and, you
know, find my way and get intoit right now. Yeah. Well, are
you ready? Yeah, yeah. Well, andthat's what, that's what I'd
love, you know, again, I wasalready kind of, I got to hear
your story, but the listenerright now doesn't know it's kind
of coming. And these are thetypes of stories that I love
having on the show, becausethere's people that can relate,
(08:50):
and it's very important toshare, and I'm glad you are
sharing it. Yeah, there waslike, there's always fear about
it. I think I mentioned to youlike, it's something that is
taboo. It's kind of like I feellike, when people talk about it,
they kind of make it like I'veleft that behind, and I'm better
than all that now, and it's likefor me, I always said it. I said
this, let's just get it out ofthe way. I was diagnosed in my
(09:13):
teens with anorexia nervosa. Iwas very sick, I was very
underweight,
and I ended up in the hospital,and I was there for quite a few
weeks, um, just, you know,continuous heart monitor. And,
you know, I have to make surethat, as a health sciences
major, I don't say stuff thatother people won't understand,
(09:33):
because I'm like, I know whatall of it is, sure. Yeah, you
know, I was on the continuousheart monitor and the, you know,
tube in the nose, and all thefeedings and the drips and all
the things, and it was just sucha tough thing, because I went
from being at home and not beingwell, and then I was brought to
(09:55):
the emergency room, and that'show I ended up in the hospital.
And it was kind of surreal.
Well, like I was, I was 17 whenI finally got hospitalized. It
had been kind of an on and offthing, but really hit the the
low point when I was 17,
and then I had all these peoplecoming in, like, all the time,
(10:16):
you know, I felt like they werepushing me on this, like, Okay,
well now you're gonna go toresidential and you're gonna go
to partial hospitals. To partialhospitalization, and then you're
going to go to intensiveoutpatient and, like, it was all
set up to give us another stat,right? And, you know, these,
they're great people like, youknow, the doctors, I know that
they're focused on, you know, Ihave to, this is a medical case,
(10:38):
and I have to stabilize thisperson. I completely understand,
especially now that, you know,I'm going to be a nurse, like,
I've learned all about it.That's their job, you know. And
that's why, you know, the nurseshave to take our job with the
human part really seriously,like the holistic part. And I
learned that later, but at thetime, when I was a dumb kid, I
was like, You guys are just kindof throwing this all at me, and
I'm not, like, I'm not ready,like, I'm not interested in it.
(10:59):
And when it comes to like amental health situation, whether
it be eating disorder in mycase, or addiction,
whatever it may be, it's youhave to be the one to choose. No
one can really make you do it.They can drag you through all of
it as much as they want, butuntil you choose it, it's not
gonna happen. And so that waskind of my story. It started,
(11:23):
but I it took me a lot of yearsgetting through all those things
and having a meeting a lot ofdifferent people, you know,
people who were also patients,you know, had anorexia, and
being around them, and seeingpeople at different stages of
their journeys, and meetingother people outside of that as
well, that kind of made methink, okay, like, I do want
(11:45):
something different. And I wouldsay I didn't actually really get
that full realization, like Iwas going through the motions. I
didn't really get that fullrealization of, like, I want
more, I'm going to do more. Iwant to live and I want to like
this is taking up too much of mytime, and yes, it may be
(12:08):
something that I carry forever,but I'm going to make it so much
of a background thing that Ihave to have something else to
live for. And I've done thatnow. It didn't happen until 2022
and that was kind of right, as Iwas really getting into the flow
at rcbc, sure, but I'm always abig believer of things happen
for a reason, good or bad,right? And because of where you
(12:30):
were in that hospital and andmade a connection to one special
person, right? And, and youcouldn't you say it in your
speech, whatever,
you know, can you shareelaborate on that for those that
aren't listening to the stream.So I was there, and I'm sure
this was a matter ofcircumstance too. It was a
pediatric unit, because at thetime I was peds, I was young.
(12:50):
It's kind of crazy to thinkabout, but I was a child, and
I guess the unit didn't have,like, a lot of people on it,
like there weren't a lot ofpatients, and so I think this
one nurse, like that was kind ofthe benefit she for whatever
reason, like she really was theonly one. She was consistently
there, and she was night shift,and that was always the time
(13:13):
when I felt the worst because,like I was so like to be candid
about anorexia, it hurts, likeyour body hurts. You're not
comfortable ever. It's cold,you're aching, whether you're
moving, sitting still, itdoesn't matter, just constant
pain, and I would feel it themost at night. I don't know what
that was about, and it wouldjust be so hard for me to sleep.
(13:35):
And so she was night shift, andshe would just come in and she
would just talk to me like Iremember, we had a whole
conversation about just DisneyWorld and, like, what
attractions we liked, and, oh,what restaurants do you like to
go to when you, you know, go.And obviously, I was like, I
don't go to restaurants, but,you know, now I do. So that's
(13:56):
cool. She's out there. I do now.
There we go. But um, and so shewould talk to me about my hair.
I had colorful hair at the time,and,
you know, she would just talk tome like a human, you know, like,
of course, we would talk about,okay, this medication you're
gonna take this or I'm gonna dothis feeding. And, like, you
(14:16):
can't, you know, she hadboundaries for me, obviously,
but I felt like she really justbecause she knew that I had to
be there for a long time. Shereally made me feel like I could
be safe in that space. And like,not just there were moments when
it would be like the doctors andall the residents coming in, and
it would just be like eightpeople staring me down, and I
(14:38):
just felt totally like I'm juston display for all these people.
And they're, they're going awayand talking about me, like, oh,
this kid that did this toherself, and she's, you know,
crazy or whatever. Like, I'msure they don't talk about it
like that, but, yeah, but inyour head, in my head, when I
was that young, that's what Ithought, you know, when I was
that age, I thought they're alljudging me, and this sucks. And
(14:59):
I.
Hate being here, and I just wantto leave, and then having to
kind of manage my parents beingreally upset, you know,
especially my mom and becauseshe stayed with me the whole
time I was there, and I couldn'thelp her. I mean, I really
couldn't, because the way that Icould have made it better would
be to just get better, and Icouldn't do it at that moment.
(15:20):
So she was there reallysupporting my mom, like I
remember one time I woke up
in the middle of the night and Iheard something like outside the
door, and it was my mom. She wascrying, and I don't know what I
couldn't hear what they weretalking about, but I just
remember hearing that nursespeaking to her, just very
(15:42):
gently and just being with her,really I mean, it was just her,
being with her and being with metoo, like just being a presence,
like a solid presence, that wassuch a big deal. And I just
thought she was the best. Imean, I really did. I thought
she was amazing, becauseeverybody else had to do that
medical part, and she did too,but she made it a priority to
(16:04):
spend that time where she couldwith me. And I know that's
obviously now I'm a nursingstudent. I know it's not always
possible to, like, stand in apatient's room forever and, you
know, engage them and make themfeel human, but all those little
bits, all those little moments,count, like even just those 15
minute conversations she wouldhave with me the little extra
time she would stay before sheleft. Her shift, you know, made
(16:26):
such a difference to me, becauseI was there for a long time, and
it gets really lonely and justit feels like hopeless, and she
just made me feel like, oh mygosh, I have a whole life and
existence out of all this. Andthat was cool. That was, like,
the first time that it came tomy brain. Light bulb going off.
(16:46):
Yeah, that was the first time.And it takes multiple light
bulbs when it comes to, youknow, eating disorder,
addiction, anything absolutelylike that, multiple light bulb
moments. But that was the firstone. That was the first one, so
I'm really grateful to her forthat. I still remember her. I
remember her name. I won't sayit because HIPAA and all that,
but I remember, I get it, andnow, now we get to like this,
like the, was it the hot wingsmeme, whatever it's like. Now,
(17:09):
look at us now, right? We'rePaul Rudd's right there. So look
at us now, because here you are,a nursing student going to be
speaking from your class for thepresident award winner. You know
what made you decide that youwanted, you know, you wanted, to
go speak in front of your class?So initially, I got the email,
and at first, like that, I wasable to apply, and I was like,
(17:32):
Who wants to hear from me? LikeI am not again, awkward,
homeschooled, like kid, like Ihave my close people, and I'm
very much like talkative. I loveto talk, but, you know, I don't
feel like that. I was like, am Iparticularly close to, like, the
whole class? I don't know, likeall these people, I don't think
so. Who would want to hear fromme, right? And then I mentioned
(17:52):
it in passing, like we wereabout to start one of our
lectures, like a critical carelecture. I mentioned it, oh my
gosh. I got this email, like,and they were like, What do you
mean? Why are you not applyingfor it? You should, like, you
could talk to a brick wall,like, you're great. You would be
the best person to do it, youknow. And, you know, the nursing
students, obviously, they take alot of pride in nursing. They're
(18:15):
like, we need a nursing studentto represent. Oh, you're a fun
bunch. Yeah, I always say I wasjoking with Nicole, you know,
doing the stem stuff, usually onthe introverted side. And I and
President CEO got to try andmake some jokes during
commencement. Try to get onefired up health sciences fired
up as soon as they get out ofthe car, you know. So it's not
so true. It's, you know what?It's funny. Like, I feel like
the nursing cohort is that. Butmore than us, the dental hygiene
(18:37):
cohort this year, they are likesomething else, yeah, oh my
gosh. I love it. I love it.Brings energy, yeah? Brings
energy to the to the field. Theywere great, but, um, yeah, it
was really them that kind ofpushed me to do it. And I will
be completely honest, I wassuper last minute. So putting my
application in, literally theday of the day it was due, I was
(18:58):
reaching out to the director ofmy program, Dr Shannon Williams,
who I love. She's been such aninspiration to me. And I was
like, Can you write me a letterof recommendation? I, you know,
I need at least one fromfaculty. And you're someone that
I really, you know, haveconfidence would write, you
know, a letter that representsme well. And you know, if they
read it and determine that I'm agood fit for the interview, then
(19:20):
that's good, because I reallytrust her with that information
and about me, because I feellike she really knows me. And
then I asked one of my peers whohad encouraged me to even apply,
I said, Will you write me aletter of recommendation? And it
was funny, because during myinterview with the faculty who
were going to be choosing, youknow, who was going to be
speaking, they said, why did youchoose to ask a peer for a
(19:41):
letter of recommendation,usually it's two faculty
letters. You did, one fromfaculty and one from peer. What
was the rationale behind thatdecision? And I said, I'm like,
Well, I'm speaking for my peers.I mean, yes, I'm speaking for
the school and for faculty.Absolutely, that's half of it,
but the other half is, this isthe.
Men of the graduating class. Soif they don't want me speaking
(20:03):
for them, if they don't thinkthat I am someone who can
represent them or who can sharea good message, then there's no
point in me getting up there andbeing the one to do it like the
student. Speaker should besomeone who's speaking for the
students. And it was kind oflike what shaped my speech too?
Because initially that's why Iwent so impersonal. Because I
(20:24):
was like, I'm speaking for thestudents. I can't just make this
all about me. And it wasn'tuntil I talked to you guys that
I realized talking about me istalking, yeah, credit all right.
Greg's more. Greg's more aboutgetting, more about getting the
time and everything else goingon I want to get, I want that
story development or just, like,just you, like, this is your
(20:44):
story. But like, I was tryingto, and that's why I had, like,
a proud dad moment when I'mhearing you going through your
speech and stuff, because it issharing that experience with
your with your peers, yeah? Andthat's when I kind of thought, I
was like, yeah, it is that stuffthat connects people to each
other. And one of the otherspeakers who's going to be
speaking for the liberal artsand humanities program Emmanuel
he was sharing, like in his, youknow, preliminary speech, the
(21:06):
power of human connection. Andpart of human connection is that
we're not all the same, and ifwe were all the same, there
would only be one human onEarth, right? But we all have
something to bring to eachother, so part of connecting
with others is sharing yourself.And you know, it's not like some
narcissistic thing to be like,Hey, this is my story, and this
is what I did, and I believe youcan all do it too. So I kind of
(21:28):
had to figure that out. And youwere the one who encouraged me
to be like to share thatmessage. Pat shoulder. There you
go.
Pat shoulder. No, but, butlistening to your story, your
message, obviously, your workethic and the fact you chose a
peer, it's, it's a pretty easyreason why I see that, why you
were selected to represent yourclass. So, you know,
(21:50):
congratulations on that. Andthrough, you know, through your
trials and tribulations andgetting to where you know, to
where you are, because noteveryone makes it right. You
know, we talked about thebattles of addiction. We've had
some, some previous studentaward winners
that, you know, they had to gothrough multiple
addictions and clinics likeFlorida, the California to come
(22:12):
back, and now they're crushingLockheed Martin and everything
else, and hopefully your messagegetting you up there and
connecting with person. And itdoesn't have to be necessarily
anorexia, right? It could bejust any mental awareness,
something like that. It's just,it all comes with, you know, you
like, have to, like, kind ofwant it, but people are there to
kind of like, help you. Butmeeting with your nurse now, and
you're gonna be a nursingstudent, you're gonna take that
(22:33):
story because, you know, I'msure there's gonna be a patient
somewhere along the lines thatyou're gonna be able to, kind of
like, make that otherconnection. And who knows. You
know what? I mean, it's likethat kind of like, throwing that
rock in the that rock in the inthe lake, right? And the ripples
kind of go, it's a big deal. Imean, anorexia is the most fatal
mental illness, is it? It is so,you know, it's important to me.
And,
you know, I actually had anexperience with one of my
(22:56):
clinicals where there was apatient who was in a, you know,
psychiatric care facility, andshe, you know, without revealing
too much, she was having troublewith other things, and they were
kind of not noticing some signsthat I was like, this is an
eating disorder, you know, justthe way it sounded. She sounded
just like me when she talked.And so I was able to kind of
(23:17):
interact with her in that, youknow, compassionate way. Instead
of, you know, everyone justbeing like, well, you need to do
this, and you need to do thisbecause there's a lot of that,
because they're trying to saveyour life. But sometimes that
promotes more resistance, youknow. And so it's a long like I
said, it's a long journey. Like,it's not overnight. You never
recover overnight from any ofit. It's not a right away thing.
(23:40):
And that's kind of how I endedup at rcbc, you know, I think I
was mentioning, you know, I wasbeing pushed to apply in like,
2019, pre pandemic, like, allthese got like, you should go to
NYU, you should apply toStanford, you should apply to
all these places. And I waslike, I can't even be thinking
about that, because I still haveappointments every single day
yourself, right? First Exactly.I'm like, I can't go, and I
(24:02):
would be so over. I know myself,I would have been so
overwhelmed. And it just wasn'tme. It's not me. I wanted to
meet. Like, part of why I loveSan Francisco and found myself
out there so much is because youmeet this whole group of people
from all different types oflife, like it's just teeming
with life there, and justeveryone's different and so much
(24:23):
diversity. And I feel like whenI go to, like a traditional
program, you know, it's kind oflike you meet all the people are
kind of in the same age range,generally, you know. And
depending on, like, theaffordability, you kind of get
all people from similarbackgrounds, you know. And not
that there's a problem withthat, obviously, but I knew for
what I wanted, I wanted to beable to step outside of my own
(24:45):
world and meet other people andsee other worlds. And I have
done that here, and I feel likeCommunity College, like that's
the best part of it. You meetall of those people, and you get
the jersey culture too. Oh mygosh, please. Yes, I'm used to
it, because my family is thatbut, yeah.
Gosh, I really totally differentpace of life than that West
Coast vibe. Absolutely, verydifferent. People will, like,
yell at you in the grocery storefor, like, taking a second too
(25:08):
long to, like, walk to thecheckout when they're behind
you. They're like, yeah, ifyou're not, you're not going,
I'm going, I'm like, northeast.And then I snap back, because
now I'm Jersey too. Oh my gosh,yeah, but yeah, that's how I
ended up at rcbc, because duringthe pandemic, I was like, well,
everything's on hold. Let mejust get started at a local
college and then transfer later,and then I never left. And I'm
(25:29):
so happy. So again, goes backto, like, I think things just,
there's certain plans that Idon't wanna say laid out, you
know, but there's just, that'sjust the way I believe, like,
things kind of happen for areason. Like, even when I first
went to school, I thought I wasgoing into a film and other
different types of media. And Iended up getting into radio
broadcasting because I wassupposed to go to a four year
school, and then differencesbetween me and my father
military. But then ended up herejust to, kind of like, make sure
(25:52):
I was on the path of, you know,even though I had the grades for
it and everything else, but fellin love with the radio program
changed my whole life around.And then just, you know, who
would have thought so thingshappened, and now I'm here
sharing that message, putting ittogether, like the radio
culture, into this podcaststuff, which I can continue to
talk to you about it, but Istill gotta get a manual back
here, so we're gonna, kind oflike, just get it, wrap it up.
(26:13):
But what's one thing, or maybesomething that you're going to
miss here, about rcbc? Oh
my
gosh. You know, I've beenthinking about this.
I really do miss, like, justcoming in. I like, I'm going to
miss it. I already do, like,even when I had my last lecture,
you know, now I'm just coming infor exams. I miss that coming
in, seeing all the students comein, and knowing we're all doing
(26:37):
it together, and like, havingthat support just around you,
even if it's not, you know, themost like, they're getting super
involved with, like, supportingyou in, you know, any tangible
way, just the presence of, like,being around a group of like
minded people who are all goingin a direction, and you're so
stressed, and you feel like, ohmy gosh, this is so
overwhelming. And, you know,they all feel it too. Yeah, all
(26:59):
the finals we were just talkingabout earlier, yes, and so I'm
going to miss being around that,you know, and having that, and
I'm sure I'll be able to findit, you know, as a nurse, I'm
sure my unit will have all thestressed nurses, and we're going
to be all in it together. Butum,
also just, um,
the community here was reallyspecial. I was honestly
surprised. I think a lot ofpeople really doubt Community
(27:23):
College, like, I've heard, like,COVID was talking about it, you
know, it, we hear like, oh,like, that's all you did. I'm
like, that's not all I did. It'swhat I did, you know, and it's
and I'm proud of it, and I'mglad that I did it, and I've
learned so much. I don't think Iwould be the person I am now had
I not come here, and I'm reallygrateful the people that I met
(27:43):
really matured me and helped megrow and find the meaning of
life in a lot of ways, you know?And so, yeah, I think I will
miss that. It's a message thatgets brought up a lot, and I
think a lot of people don'trealize until they get here, but
a lot of everyone else is, Idon't say loss, right, but
you're kind of busy. Said aboutit, trying to get yourself
right, or just what you knowfinancially, just couldn't
(28:05):
afford, or something like that.Everyone has different
circumstances, but it's kind oflike, you know, you're, we're
all going through it, andyou're, you're trying to find
out who you are, and this crazything called life, and then
there's all these outsidecircumstances like COVID or
other worldly things. I don'treally know. COVID, I couldn't
stay out in San Francisco, whichis crazy to think it's five
years ago now, right? So certainto see some of these memories
(28:26):
pop up and you're like, oh mygod, I forgot all about, you
know, doing that or whatever.But you know,
you know, just, it's great. I'mglad you got to, you know, and
it makes you appreciate thingseven more, too, so, but I'm glad
you got to take that away fromyou. So you obviously, you're at
nursing cohort. Is there anyspecific place you got next or
what do you? Oh my gosh. So, youknow, they encourage you to
(28:46):
start applying for jobs and allthat I've done a little bit.
So there have been in talks. Youknow, I've been in talks with
different places. For me,
it's funny, my friend that Imentioned from high school that
my one really close friend thatI did meet at that alternative
school out in SF. She actuallylives in New York City. She
works. She's graduating now withher fashion degree. Nice. Her
(29:07):
and I had similar, you know,journeys where we were both, you
know, in quotations, behindbecause of our mental health.
And
she is now graduating too. We'regraduating at the same time.
And, you know, she said, I wantyou to live like near me. And so
I'm like, maybe I'll go out toNorth Jersey, see what's what
experience it. You know, Ithat's a whole different culture
(29:28):
itself. Jersey, oh, yeah, wholedifferent thing, very different,
even just the sports teams. Isvery different.
Philly, through and through.Here, there you go. That's what
my dad would say, too good. He'sraising your right? Then yes.
All right, all right. So onefinal thought before we wrap
things up, though, and it's kindof like giving, as you say in
radio, a little teaser to youryour your message, your speech
(29:51):
that we're going to be hearingin its entirety coming up for
the commencement, which will beagain broadcasted live at the
YouTube our YouTube channel herefor rcbc, but you.
Uh, you know, maybe the personthat's not be able to see the
stream and stuff, what's oneinspirational message that you
can give to them looking to gothinking about going back to
school or even like fellowclassmates, or something like
that, just to
(30:14):
so I'm trying to,
you know, I put some messaginglike that in my speech, you
know, because that was somethingthat I thought about. It was
something that I'm like, thisis, you know, I want them to
feel like they can do it, youknow, because I didn't feel like
I could do it, and now I did it.So
the one takeaway, there will bepeople and places that will give
(30:36):
you a chance, not all places,maybe opportunity. You know, my
father always said he's like,you know, anyone can do
anything, but opportunity is notalways provided equally. But
rcbc will give you anopportunity. You know, a place
like rcbc will give you theopportunity and you can start.
You know
(30:57):
what I said in my speech? Andit's true, as long as there is
passion and you have a dream andyou can find a way, you can
always begin. You can do it. Youknow,
school is hard. I'll be honest,going back to school is
especially hard, you know, whenyou've been out of that whole
thing. I mean, even for me, Iwas a non traditional student. I
was not used to going to schoollike this at all. But humans are
(31:23):
amazing, and that we're verylike resilient, and we are able
to kind of pick up and learn,you know, we got those big
brains for a reason, and so youcan learn, you know, it may be
hard and it may be difficult,but if you have something you
want to do, and
you know, you have a dream like,honestly, you can just go for it
really. And it's great thatthere's places that are
(31:46):
affordable and resources likercbc, that's the one thing I was
gonna say too. I'm gonna missthat people like, may doubt
community college, but rcbc hastons of programs like student
life, all the things like, somuch. It's just like any other
college, it's college. You know,it's the same we actually have a
whole podcast based on clubshere at rcbc, telling me there's
a podcast. I was like, there's apodcast. We're live streaming
(32:08):
the graduation. What is goingon?
Awesome. We have a whole likething. I think it's great. And
so, like,
you can be part of that. Anyonecan be part of that. That's
like, that's my message. Like,don't no one should feel
embarrassed to start their dreamand to or find a new dream that
(32:30):
too, like, maybe something wasyour dream and now it's not. And
you're like, Hey, I'm going backto school. You can go back to
school. That's why I would saytoo, is, you know, you gotta do
what makes you happy, right? Somy father went to night school.
He had two kids, and he foundhis way through, and
now he's been so successful, youknow, yeah, so Well, proud of
you again. I was gonna go backand cut up the little party
(32:52):
talking about, you know, we'retalking about rcbc. We'll give
that to Greg, because that's apure testimony that he's gonna
eat up and love.
But no, you know, congrats. It'syou have an amazing story to
share. And I'm proud. I'm proudof you, just from, you know, the
little time that I got to meetyou and just over this past
month, but from the speech, fromthe beginning of speech, how you
wrote it, to where you'regetting ready to do it in front
(33:13):
of your class, and everythingelse you like, you have really
come through like, and that's,I'm glad to kind of like, pull
that out even a little bit too.But it was always there, and it
was, it was always you, and, youknow, so kudos. You know, any,
any final words, any Hi mom, orwhatever you want to say. You
know, some people say go birds,right? I don't know anything
(33:36):
about football. I can't. It'sall good, but,
but, the fact that I'm denyingsaying go verse, my sister is
gonna be so mad at me. Allright, go birds. So
thank you. I really appreciateYeah, no, we appreciate you too.
And you know, have fun. Enjoyit, and best of luck into your
next chapter, wherever it isthat you go. Okay, so much. I
(33:57):
appreciate it. Thank you, Emma.Thank you. Bye.
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