Charminee Pastor is not the first in her family to pursue a career in the medical field. In fact, she decided to become a nurse because of her family’s influence as well as her want and need to help others and her community. Originally from Hawaii, Charminee applied to the nursing program at the University of Hawaii, but like most schools around the nation they had a very long wait list to get into the program. Not wanting to wait a few years to start her degree, she began to look elsewhere in hopes of finding a school that she could enroll in right away. Her cousin, Judee Pascual who is a former Ambria College of Nursing Honor Roll student, told her about the school and mentioned that there was no wait list and only a few pre-requisite courses she had to complete. Immediately, Ms. Pastor became very interested in learning more about the program so she sent an email requesting more information and received a reply from Jon Oliveros, the President of the school. “I thought it was cool how the president emailed me back in an instant and answered all of my questions.” She decided to move to Illinois and enroll at Ambria in hopes of becoming the best nurse possible.

Charminee mentioned that “great nurses must have the capacity to retain knowledge and that it is an obvious essential for nursing practice.” She has demonstrated this quality time and time again with her outstanding grades and ability to excel in and out of the classroom. She is currently working at Abbington Nursing Home in Roselle and hopes that after graduation she will complete her R.N. degree and work at a long term care facility, after taking a well-deserved vacation to Hawaii, of course. Along with being knowledgeable, Charminee believes that “without compassion, you will not be able to emphasize with your patients who need somebody to be there for them,” so to be a good nurse it is vital to be compassionate. Ms. Pastor stated that “in the medical field, nurses are asked to do more and more; always remember that patience helps in any situation.”

During her time at Ambria, Charminee has come to love the instructors as well as the hands-on experience she receives from clinical. Two of her favorite instructors have been Dr. Faiz, who teaches Anatomy and Physiology, and Priscilla Rivera, who teaches Adult Nursing. “Dr. Faiz has the ability to turn a hard-to-grasp concept into a more understandable and funny notion. Priscilla is very knowledgeable and pushes her students to always do better. I also enjoyed clinical because I’ve witnessed the tremendous impact that the nurses have had on the lives of the individuals and I am able to work with people of different cultures and backgrounds.” Charminee attributes her success thus far to her family for giving her the love and support that she has needed while in the program. She will be graduating in a few short months and wishes the Class of Spring 2011 “nothing but success and good health. Congratulations! We made it!”

• Favorite color: Grey
• Favorite food: Filipino food
• Favorite movie: 500 Days of Summer, The Notebook and Inception
• Favorite T.V. show: Anything on HGTV and the Travel Channel
• Hobbies: Photography, reading, music, travelling, and learning about World History and other cultures
• Favorite animal: Dogs
• Favorite holiday: Christmas
• If you were stranded on a deserted island, what 3 things would you take with you? “I would take a boat filled with food and drinks, a fishing pole which will allow me to catch fish which I can use as a food source and Bruno Mars so he can sing to me all day long.”
• If you won the lottery, what would you spend your money on? “I would use the money to further my education because I believe knowledge is a good investment that pays the best interest. The rest of the money will go to my family.”
• If you could have any superpower what would it be? “If I could control the invisibility so I could become invisible then visible again at will, I would travel the world by sneaking onto airplanes.”
• If you could trade places with one person for a week, who would it be? Bill Gates
• If Hollywood made a movie about your life, who would you want to play the leading role? Rachel McAdams