Thien Nguyen

Welcome to my journey

       I stood under the sun's heat of the midsummer day in a mountainous area in Vietnam; my sweat ran down my forehead. There was still a long line of people waiting, and I was exhausted, but that did not stop me from what I was doing. At that moment, I found the purpose of my life. It was my first medical ministry in 2013 when I was a business major in Vietnam who was still learning English as a second language.
       I was born and grew up in Vietnam with my single mother until 2014. My father passed away when I was five-years-old, so taking care of both my brother and me was impossible for my mom. Therefore, she allowed my aunt, who lived in France, to adopt my brother. I did not understand how many sacrifices my mother made to provide me the life that I did not deserve. I always felt like I was a victim of this life, so everyone should love me. Therefore, if I did not have what I wanted, that would be other people’s fault. I made the minimum effort on everything to pass classes and got into business school after high school. However, I wasted all my time and chose to be an average person.

       During that medical ministry in 2013, I recognized how much I love to give and help other people. I was taking a break at the clinic, and an old lady came up to me. She was a tiny lady with kyphosis; she pulled my sleeve and said, “Hey doctor, I am hurting. Can you help me?” I felt all the things that I had learned up to that point were useless; I could not help the lady in front of me. It felt like I saw someone drowning, but I did not know how to swim to save her. That helplessness became my motivation for change. I changed to be a better person, so I can give more and help more people. I used to feel like I am a victim, but many people out there are in worse situations than me.  
       I came to the U.S. in 2014; this is my second chance to change my life for the better. I studied harder and got into nursing school at the University of South Carolina. The first day that I saw a patient, I realized this is where I want to be; a healthcare professional who helps people when they are the most vulnerable. I learned so many things throughout nursing school to develop who I am now, a nurse with compassion and empathy for my patients. The older lady's question stuck in my head, inspiring my interest in caring for the geriatric population. Therefore, I explore the potential of research to improve the quality of life for older adults. I became an undergraduate research assistant for Dr. Cynthia Corbett at the College of Nursing. It was an unreplaceable memory for me that I had the opportunity to work with the older adults’ population, talk with them, laugh with them, and learn from them.
       I believe the geriatric population deserves more than what they are experiencing. Therefore, I encourage those of you who are reading this to please pay attention to your grandfather and grandmother and understand them better. We need more advocates for the geriatric population; we need more people to care for the elderly. We need more people to tell them that we appreciate what they did because if they weren’t there initially, we would not have what we have today. Older adults are facing multiple health problems, and they need to be seen and cared for.