¡Felicidades a Nicole Meono de James Madison University, nuestro Heritage Student Spotlight por el mes de febrero! En sus propias palabras:
Hello everyone! My name is Nicole Meono. I actually just graduated a few months ago from James Madison University where I studied Health Services Administration with minors in Medical Spanish and Business. I am currently working full time in health care while applying for master programs to do my MHA in the fall.
My mom is Salvadorian, my dad is from Guatemala and I was actually born in Costa Rica. My mom went to Universidad Centroamericana José Simeón Cañas in El Salvador and my dad went to La Universidad del Valle. Spanish was actually my first language so I have spoken it all my life and continued classes all throughout high school and minored Medical Spanish in college. My parents speak fluent English but always made us speak Spanish at home so we would never lose the language. My advice to other heritage students is: Keep practicing Spanish! I’m at my first job post graduation in health care and it is SO valuable to speak this language.
I really enjoy getting to speak to other people and learn more about them and their culture. Although Spanish is one language, so many different people with different backgrounds and cultures speak it and it’s so fascinating to learn new things about them!
I’ve benefited a lot by speaking Spanish, especially taking Medical Spanish courses because medical terminology is something that isn’t talked about often. I’ve been speaking Spanish my entire life and I didn’t even know half of the words I learned by the time I finished all the courses. It’s such a joy to help people get the healthcare they need when I translate them and help them feel more comfortable when going to the doctors office. Learning about Hispanic/Latino culture has also been such a big help in understanding other people’s fears and concerns when it comes to healthcare. It’s not something that is talked about often and I’m so thankful to my professor at JMU that taught me so much about different cultures because I truly put it to use every day and work with doctors and nurses to teach them as well.
I’d love to work as a healthcare consultant one day and work closely with healthcare administrators and providers to educate them on things that can benefit the community around us. Although I have more knowledge about Hispanic culture, I’d love to work with a team so that we can improve healthcare for all people.
Si usted es instructor/a de español como lengua de herencia, y quiere nominar a un estudiante, favor de entregar una solicitud a nuestro sitio web.