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I immigrated to United States in March 1994. Can you believe that when I graduated from nursing school there were no jobs! I had worked as a waitress for 9 months as a registered nurse. When I finally got my first job as an RN, had plans of being in Texas for 1-2 years to get experience and going back to Canada. However, plans are made to be broken, and I have been living in Texas since 1994.

I started working at a Driscoll Children’s Hospital and soon realized that the area that suited my skill set and my personality type was the Emergency Department. This is where I found my passion. I stayed in the ED for 21 years and held every position from preceptor to director.

I complete my master’s in nursing in 2012 at Western Governors University. Shortly thereafter, I started at Texas A&M as an adjunct clinical assistant professor. After a few years I needed a change of pace and decided to become full time. On a more personal level, I just celebrated by 24th anniversary and have one child. Our family is a bit of a united Nations. My husband is Turkish, I am Dutch-Canadian, and my son was born in the United States. I am a first-generation graduate. My family loves to travel and we are often visiting family abroad. COVID 19 has made this more challenging.

One thing that many people don’t know about me is that I also own a bed and breakfast in Turkey. When my son was young, we lived in Turkey for the summer and ran the bed and breakfast. It was during this time that I took a deep interest in people living in poverty. When we traveled back to the United States, I made this interest to a new level and started doing volunteerism with families living in poverty. This is an area that I hold very dear. Currently I have been actively involved in Homeless Issues Partnership, the Point in Time Count and bringing a poverty simulation to undergraduate students