Some people have the gift of knowing what they want to become when they grow up. Vanessa Martinez is one of those people.  As a young girl, Vanessa knew she wanted to become a nurse.  She was fortunate to have loved ones willing to support her goals.  Her parents encouraged her to follow her dreams, especially her dream of helping people.

Vanessa pursued her dream by becoming a certified nursing assistant.  After working for a year as a nurse aide, she knew she wanted to help people even more, so she joined the U.S. Navy in October 2004.  She was stationed at Naval Hospital Lemoore in Lemoore, CA and Naval Medical Administrative Unit in Monterey, CA.  While working as a Hospital Corpsman in the US Navy, she learned to give immunizations, draw blood, and counsel patients to improve their quality of life.  This experience helped her prepare for her nursing education later on.

One day, while she was researching the Internet for LPN schools, Ambria College of Nursing caught her attention.  “[Ambria College] has no wait list while most schools have a really long one.  It would take me years to get into their program,” she mentioned.

Vanessa also shared with us some of her favorite nursing classes, one of which was Anatomy & Physiology.  According to Vanessa, her instructor went out of his way to make sure the students understood the concepts and terms.  Another one of Vanessa’s favorite classes was Nursing Pharmacology.  She said that her instructor was always available to answer any of her questions, and she seemed reachable at almost any time.

Going to school full-time while having a spouse in the military and raising three children was not easy.  Yet, despite her hardships, Vanessa persevered.  She was determined to complete her training to become a licensed practical nurse.  No one could stop her - not even her difficult situation.  Last week, Vanessa finally achieved her dream.  She graduated from the LPN program from Ambria College of Nursing.
 

• If you could only eat one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be? Tempura fried sushi.
• What is your favorite thing to do when you have a day off? Spend time with my kids.
• If you could be any animal for 24 hours what would you be? A Bird, so that I can fly high. I can go anywhere I wanted to go, and see everything.
• If you were given a yacht, what would you name it? Fantastic 5 for each member of my family: my husband and I and our 3 kids.
• If you would be any flavor of ice cream, what would you be and why? Pralines n cream because you get sweet on the outside of the praline and salty on the outside and it is soooo good!
• If tomorrow you woke up blind, what would be the one thing you miss seeing the most? I would miss seeing my family, especially my children.
• If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go? I'd travel all over Europe: Italy, France, Spain, Germany, just everywhere.
• If a genie could grant you three wishes what would you wish for? 100 million bucks so I would help out my family and friends, private jet so I can fly any where I wanted to go and owner of the Chicago Bulls so I can watch Derrick Rose play
• If you could be on any reality T.V. show, what show would you choose to be on? Amazing Race because you get to travel all over or Real World
• If you had to wear a t-shirt with one word on it for the rest of your life, what word would you choose? Love
• If you could be any Disney character, who would you be? Mulan because she is tough and sweet
• If Hollywood made a movie about your life, who would you want to play the leading role? Rosario Dawson