December 11 is one of those dates Rania Estefanous will always remember. It ranks right up there with her daughter's birthdays, her wedding day, and the day she arrived in America. On December 11 she completed her Nursing degree at Onondaga Community College. "This was my dream since I came to the United States. I can't believe my dream came true."
Estefanous immigrated to the U.S. from Egypt in 2005. Five years later she became an American citizen. She had earned a college degree in Egypt and was working as a dietician, but she realized it wasn't the career she wanted here.
In 2013, Estefanous started Nursing school but the timing wasn't right. "My daughters were very young. I had to choose between my career and my family, and I chose my family."
Nine years later she enrolled in OCC's Nursing program. This time, everything worked. "The self-study here fit my schedule. I could work at my own pace. I could fit everything in the way I wanted."
During her clinical in Obstetrics, she worked with women as they were delivering children. One of the women was so impressed with Estefanous, she reached out to OCC. "As far as we know, that has never happened before," said Lee Berg, MS, RNC-MNN who is a Professor in OCC's Nursing Department. "Rania was with the patient throughout her labor and birth, and made such a great connection that she later visited the patient." "I loved my patients and I felt like they loved me too," said Estefanous. "I loved doing what I was doing but I didn't expect to be recognized."
Estefanous is already working as an RN at SJH Cardiology Associates in Liverpool, and in her spare time she's studying for the National Council Licensure Examination, a nationwide exam that licenses successful students to practice nursing. "I'm so happy. This is like a dream come true after all of the hard work."
