Some people know exactly where they are headed in life. Vrinkley Pruna, a West Coast University-Los Angeles nursing student, is one of those people.
“I have always wanted to be a nurse,” Pruna said. “My mom is a nurse practitioner and from a young age I would go with my mom to her OBGYN office, and knew I wanted to do what she was doing.”
Pruna first enrolled at Cal State Fullerton but when her family relocated, she decided to transfer to West Coast University-Los Angeles.
“My brother got his LVN at American Career College [an affiliate school] so I thought West Coast University would be a good place to go for my nursing degree,” Pruna, who is on track to graduate in 2017, said.
In addition to her nursing studies, Pruna is passionate about volunteering. She recently attended a semi-annual volunteer fair at West Coast University-Los Angeles in hopes of connecting with a volunteer position at Kaiser.
“Volunteering has been a big part of my life,” Pruna said. “My family and I go on missions every two years to the Philippines and we helped on a medical mission in 2014 that really had an impact on me.”
Pruna and her family participated in a mission that helped prison inmates with medical services.
“It was really challenging when I saw how badly these prisoners needed medical help, but it was rewarding when I saw how truly appreciative they were for the care we gave them,” she said.
Pruna has aspirations of working at Kaiser and said she hopes that by gaining more experience through her clinical rotations at West Coast University and additional volunteering, she will get as much experience as possible. She also recently became a junior coordinator for peer-assisted learning at West Coast University.
“I treated the volunteer fair as a professional experience and saw that there were a lot of opportunities for students to contribute,” Pruna shared.
At the career fair in June, Pruna connected with Kaiser and submitted her application to volunteer at their Mission Hills location, with patients in hospice care. She started volunteering in September and still plans to explore different areas to garner more clinical experience.
WCU provides career guidance and assistance but cannot guarantee employment. The views and opinions expressed are those of the individuals and do not necessarily reflect the beliefs or position of the school or of any instructor or student.
