North Park student Valeria Rom谩n, who will graduate with her Bachelor of Science in Nursing in December 2025, has spent ample time in hospitals, training to become a nurse.
In 2020, she partook in the Discovering Healthcare Careers internship at the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children鈥檚 Hospital of Chicago, where she shadowed doctors and nurses. That internship opened the door for many other internships in which she participated through the Mentorship & Workforce Development at Lurie Children鈥檚, including INSPIRE2 Student Nurse Mentoring Program, which connects nursing students from underrepresented racial and ethnic backgrounds with mentors.
But that鈥檚 not where Rom谩n鈥檚 story at Lurie Children鈥檚 began.
The daughter of Mexican immigrants, Rom谩n chose nursing as a career when she saw how kindly her parents were treated by the staff at Lurie Children鈥檚 when she was there as a patient herself.
鈥淲hat really caught my attention was the way every worker was kind and helpful to my parents, who are Hispanic and鈥攁t the time鈥攄idn鈥檛 speak much English,鈥� she said.
Currently, Rom谩n works as a student nurse assistant at Lurie Children鈥檚 and plans to work in pediatric nursing, where she hopes to inspire other Hispanic kids to pursue a medical career.
鈥淲hen children see doctors or nurses with their skin tone, it’s inspiring to them鈥攊t鈥檚 inspiring even to me now,鈥� she said.