Name: Benjamin Ordaz

Title: BSN RN

favorite hobby: Running

School/Program: California State University, East Bay

Why did you choose your profession?: I initially wanted to be a firefighter and in my pursuit to become a firefighter, I decided I wanted to get my bachelor's degree. I was taking an Emergency Medical Technician course and during this training I realized how intrigued and passionate I was about medicine. I decided to study nursing because I would have been able to obtain my bachelor's degree, expand my scope of practice in medicine, and be able to continue to care for people who are ill and injured. 

Current Passion Project: Training for a marathon!

Who was/is your inspiration? My mother was a significant inspiration and motivator for me to pursue my bachelor's degree. Neither of my parents went to college and so my mother wanted myself and my siblings to receive a higher level of education. I really had no intentions on going to college until a couple years after I had graduated high school. With the constant encouragement from my mother, she helped me realized that a first generation Latino, like myself, anything is possible and nothing is unachievable. 

How do you get over the troubled times: Dealing with troubled times can be extremely difficult to handle as many of us know. Whenever I am stuck in a difficult situation and I can feel the anxiety start creeping up, I begin doing deep breathing exercises to slow my breathing and heart rate down. This also allows me to recenter my thoughts and focus. Then I write out a plan, like a to-do list, so I know what needs to get done and how it is going to be done. I have to be organized in mind to feel more confident in my abilities to get out of whatever stressful situation I am in. With every demanding situation I find myself in, I tell myself that this moment is only temporary and I will get through it!

Fun Fact: I served 6 years in the United States Army Reserves as an Operating Room Specialist also known as a Surgical Technologist.

Do you have any advice for others interested in entering your field? When I decided I was going to pursue nursing and began telling people about it, I was faced with so much discouragement and negativity. So many people who were nurses, in nursing school, and people who could not get into a nursing program were constantly telling me how challenging nursing school is. "There are so many tests." "There is so much studying." "You won't have a social life." And the list of quotes goes on. My advice to those who are pursuing nursing is to take what people tell you about nursing school with a grain of salt. Everyone has their own unique experience in nursing school. For me, nursing school was nowhere near as bad as what people had made it out to seem. Nursing school is challenging, however, it is still very doable to be successful in nursing school. You can thrive in nursing school with strong time management, staying organized, and never procrastinating assignments or studying. I was working 2 jobs, made time for friends and family, was a board member on my nursing cohort's board committee, volunteered and still managed to get Summa Cum Laude while in nursing school. I was able to accomplish this by managing my time wisely, staying organized by using a planner and calendar, and never procrastinated anything in school. This worked for me so it could work for you!

Any other message/ motivational quotes you'd like to share: "The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others." -Mahatama Gandhi