Gabriela Valdiglesias

UConn School of Nursing

I was born in Lima, Peru, and raised in West Hartford, Connecticut.

I have previously worked with an immigrants’ right organization and a reproductive justice organization. These two organizations comprised many people of color who understood that life could be hard in the United States. Both organizations also valued community, and sought for their members to understand each other; inclusivity and diversity were crucial to accomplishing their goals. While working for them, I learned that to advocate for marginalized groups’ rights, it is important to consider the opinions of others, to keep an open mind, and to desire to learn from different perspectives.

When I found out about the Urban Service Track/AHEC Scholars (UST/AS) Program, I was intrigued by the program’s core ethos of supporting underserved communities through community healthcare. A nurse’s duty is to serve everyone, to set aside differences and help make health care a right for all. A patient’s identity should neither entail they receive lower quality health care, nor should it create obstacles to that health care. As a future nurse, the work of helping underserved communities during my education will expand my understanding of the struggles that people go through to receive health care, and push me to advocate for marginalized communities. The healthcare field is not easy to navigate, especially for people from underserved communities; advocates thus play a crucial, intermediary role.