“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” – Confucius
Not many of us can say we have found what Confucius would have described as “a perfect job.” Most people hold their jobs because they need to make ends meet; but can they honestly say that they love doing what they’re doing? Not very often and it’s because it is not their calling. Today, we will be talking about a woman who may be the most dedicated person I have ever known. She’s served in the nursing department for 47 years. Now retired, this amazing person tells us what it’s like to ‘choose a job you love and never have to work a day…’
Meet Mrs. Corazon Rosete: The Beautiful Life Celebration 2017 Awardee of Distinction in the field of Nursing Services.
Question: So, 46 years. What was it like to love a job for 46 years?
Cora: First, let me start with the facts: I am a registered nurse and I just retired, after 46 years of service at Kaiser Permanente. I started as a head nurse at a community hospital in Hollywood. That was my first job when I arrived in the U.S. in 1968. After that, I transferred to Kaiser in 1970, where they trained me to be to be a critical nurse for three months: one month for intensive care (ICU), another for critical care (CCU) then one month in open heart unit. They asked me to choose my specialty and I wanted to choose the open heart unit at the time but due to the shortage of successful open heart cases, they couldn’t train for that specialty. Instead, they transferred me to the coronary or intensive care unit, which is a combination of critical care patient, respiratory, medical and surgical.
That was my life for over four decades and I loved every single day of it. My only prayer every day was that I wouldn’t make a mistake that would kill a patient. It was not an easy job, I admit. In my first few months of working, I did not own a car so I took the bus to work and my sister would pick me up at midnight.
I loved being a nurse because I learned a lot, the salary was stable that it allowed me to support my family back in the Philippines, and I felt like a doctor! ICU nurses are trained to do their best when there’s a “code blue” in the event that the doctor is not around, it is our job to try and save the patient in the best way possible, the best way we can.
Q: What would you say most motivates you to do what you do?
Cora: Initially, my goal was to provide for my family and to help support my sisters too. We were not rich and my father would always remind me to love my job–whatever it may be. Secondly, I feel fulfilled in caring for emergency or ICU-patients. As a matter of fact, I helped save quite a few patients who suffered from heart attack. Being somehow responsible for the life of my patients kept me motivated, from caring for a newborn to a senior patient. I am overjoyed whenever I check a patient out of the critical care unit. The best part of my day is when my patients actually say, “I remember you, you took care of me when I was in ICU.”
Q. Who do you consider your greatest influence?
Cora: My Dad. He is a very religious man and what he may have lacked in his ability to earn for us (when he quit his job), he makes up for being so domesticated. He would do laundry, clean the house; he would pick up my dirty uniform at the dorm every Saturday, wash and iron it, then he would bring it back to me on Sunday so I have something clean to wear the next day. He would always tell me to think positive.
Q: What was your childhood like?
Cora: I grew up in the Philippines and like I said, we were very poor. There were 22 of us in the house because my father took in my cousins from the province so they could go to school in Manila. We would only get to eat spam and corned beef when it was a special occasion. And that was shared among all 22 of us. In ordinary days, we’d eat galunggong. It’s one galunggong per person. And it’s cooked in many different ways – sautéed, fried, stewed, name it!
When my Dad got ill, he had to quit his job. Since my mom didn’t work also, it was my sister who worked and supported us. I have six siblings. When my other sibling finished school, she supported the next one, then the next one supported the next sibling and the pattern continued until all of us graduated to get good jobs.
Q: For you, what is “A Beautiful Life?”
Cora: A Beautiful Life is having a job that gives you the capability to give back. Also, a beautiful life is being blessed with a wonderful husband. God gave me a husband who loved me dearly.
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Monet Lu is a Marikina-born, award-winning celebrity beauty stylist with his own chain of Monet Salon salons across Southern California and Las Vegas, Nevada. Ultimately, Monet is known as an all-around artiste who produces sold-out fashion and awards shows as well as unforgettable marketing campaigns. Monet is also the founder of the revolutionary all-natural beauty products such as Enlighten, your solution to discoloration . To contact Monet, please visit www.monetsalon.com or email him at [email protected]
