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Elena Davarashvili
RN to BS in Nursing
I believe that the networking factor was a dominant reason for me to immigrate to the USA. I moved to the USA to join my sister who moved here a few years before me to start college. My parents wanted a better education and job opportunity for me, and encouraged me to immigrate.
My immigration history began when I visited my older sister in 2008 and decided to stay with her. I met my husband shortly after moving in with her. Being a woman in a foreign country is challenging. I was lucky that I had somebody at the other side of the border waiting for me. I didn't flee the country because of persecutions like modern-day refugees fleeing Syria. My venture was a touristic journey and I always had a place to go back to in my own country, unlike my husbands family. They emigrated as asylum seekers from Georgia in the 1990’s when the Soviet Union collapsed. Georgia was part of the Union along with other counties like Ukraine.
NYC is truly a melting pot, especially with all the different accents. It was a reality check when I had to ask for directions in Manhattan; sometimes I couldn’t understand a word of directions given to me. There were no phones with navigation 10 years ago, so I always had a paper map. I always felt like I didn’t fit in and struggled with finding a decent job. Fortunately, my husband and I decided that I would study nursing, a decision I wanted to stick to. I had to study, translating every other word that I read. It took me 4.5 years instead of 2 years to finish my associate's degree compared to those students who speak English.
My inspiration keeps me motivated to complete my bachelor's degree with further intentions to do a master's. I feel that I have the ability to inspire and motivate people to become nurses based on my own personal example. I believe that nursing is a calling similar to teaching. I have the dedication and aspirations to help people, to educate them to be health conscious, and responsible for their health choices. I believe that these qualities are essential in nursing and every health practitioner should possess them.