It’s All About Perspective

WHAT: At Rotacare, even though I did not have one on one patient contact, I do sit next to the discharge nurses. After the nurses discharge a patient, the charts get handed to me to input into the computer system, so I have to sit next to them to get the charts. Sitting next to them allows me to listen in on the stories the patients tell the nurses and on the discharge process. I have heard many stories by many patients, many of them are similar, but one in particular stands out. The patient was a middle-aged woman by the name of Guadalupe. Her main complaint for visiting the clinic that night was some abdominal and back pain. The doctor was worried that the pain might be happening due to kidney failure, as the patient also suffered from type II diabetes, which is usually known to cause issues with the kidneys. However, because Rotacare does not have the proper equipment to fully diagnose these things, the patient was asked to go to a lab the next day to have some testing done. The hours of the laboratory and directions on how to get there were being explained to her when she said she could not get the labs done, as none of these hours worked for her. She explained that she worked all day and that she could not afford to miss work as her family, which consisted of a husband and three children, depended solely on her and the paychecks she brought in. Her and her family lived paycheck to paycheck. She did not have sick days to take as her job was under the table and her employer did not report her. This made me feel sad. How could someone work so many long hours and still must live paycheck to paycheck? Was it because she was not being paid a fair amount? I had so many questions I wished I could have ask her. I just wanted to help her. It concerned me that if she didn’t address this issue with her health, her condition might worsen. If she worsens and can no longer work, what will happen to her and her family?

A lot of people have similar struggles, but this one stuck out to me in particular because it was the first story I heard when I started Rotacare. I infer that many of the people who come into Rotacare have similar immigration stories and have similar struggles. Despite this, they all seem to be very hard working and they all seem to still keep afloat. I think that listening to these stories has changed my perspective on other people as well as inspired me to be more appreciate and determined to reach my goals.

SO WHAT: Clint Smith spoke about remaining silent in the face of injustice. Smith says, “we see the consequences of silence manifest themselves in the form of discrimination, violence, genocide, and war.” This can mean that when someone remains silent, that silence can turn into negative consequences. Remaining silent means that people are hiding and shying away from the truth. They lie to themselves and to others by keeping silent. Smith believes that in order to eliminate the consequences that silence creates, one person has to be willing to speak up, tell the truth and stop being silent. I agree with this and I think that it takes one person to create a positive change and make a positive difference. Just one.

The truth that I need to speak about the issues that impact my community partner is that these people are marginalized by stereotypes and are limited by their economic and political parameters. The truth to that is that these people do not fall into place with their stereotypes and they do not fall victim to their limitations. They are fighters and they are determined workers. They fight to survive and work hard to make ends meet. The real truth is that they are human beings living in the world. Despite their situations, history and ethnicities, they are still human beings, just like you and just like me.

NOW WHAT: I think that the most important thing I learned through this course that I wasn’t aware of when the semester began was that perspective matters. Also, everyone is human; people just have different stories that make them unique. Perspective is the most important thing I learned because changing your perspective allows you to see things in a new light. It allows you to learn about a person and the life situations they’ve overcome. A lot of people are judged by their ethnicity, but why does their ethnicity matter? It shouldn’t. The things that should matter are what those people have gone through, are currently going through and how you can help make their lives easier.

I think that this newfound knowledge will allow me to make deeper connections with my friends and colleagues around me. Changing my perspective will allow me to be more confident to express and open myself to others. I’ve always heard that when you give a part of yourself up to others, they will give a part of themselves up to you in return. Throughout the course and throughout my time at Rotacare, I have been able to give up parts of myself and receive parts of others. This act of giving has allowed me to become a more mature, open and humble woman.