The The place I Dwell sequence goals to showcase our various metropolis and area by spotlighting its many vibrant neighborhoods. Every week a neighborhood resident invitations us over and lets us in on what makes their neighborhood particular. Have we been to your neighborhood but? Get in contact to share your story. In case your story is chosen and printed, you’ll obtain a $250 stipend.
Once I take into consideration the query, “The place do I stay?” I don’t simply take into consideration an handle. I take into consideration the neighborhood, tradition and experiences that form my on a regular basis life. Proper now, that place is the Medical Heart — a neighborhood that’s greater than only a cluster of hospitals and analysis amenities. For me, it represents the merging of my private targets, my id and the setting that conjures up me to pursue a future within the healthcare business.
I grew up in a suburb of Houston known as League Metropolis, the place my weekends have been full of operating errands and spending time with my family and friends. Being at dwelling feels acquainted and steady, however once I transferred from the College of Texas at San Antonio to St. Mary’s College, I knew I wished one thing extra than simply comfort — I wished immersion.
By shifting to the Medical Heart, I planted myself within the coronary heart of South Texas’s healthcare hub. Spanning almost 900 acres, the Medical Heart is the most important and most outstanding medical district within the area. Being surrounded by hospitals, analysis facilities and clinics is greater than only a setting, it’s a each day reminder of the sphere I’ve chosen and the lives I hope to affect.
My connection to healthcare began years in the past once I earned my CNA license in highschool. Working as a CNA at Mystic Park was my first actual introduction to what it means to take care of others. These shifts — lengthy, tiring but deeply rewarding — have been the primary steps right into a profession I now really feel known as to pursue. Shifting to the Medical Heart has solely deepened that sense of goal. I’m additionally honored to be one of many very first nursing college students at St. Mary’s College’s new BSN program. To me, dwelling right here looks like greater than a transfer throughout city; it looks like the beginning of a brand new period, each for me and my college.
However the place I stay is not only about my profession. It’s additionally concerning the folks, tradition and experiences that encompass me. Forsaking the suburbs for metropolis life has opened a world of alternatives to immerse myself in San Antonio’s traditions and occasions.
Each February, the San Antonio Rodeo fills the air with the scent of funnel muffins and the sound of stay nation music. Simply exterior the town, Helotes hosts its well-known Corn Pageant, the place households and associates collect to get pleasure from meals, parades and dancing.
On the fairgrounds, concert events usher in each rising and established stars, and Floore’s Nation Retailer has shortly grow to be one in every of my favourite venues. It’s there I’ve seen artists reminiscent of Braxton Keith, Koe Wetzel, Flatland Cavalry, the Josh Abbott Band, Wyatt Flores, and the Chad Cooke Band — musicians who carry the spirit of Texas nation music. For me, these concert events are greater than leisure; they’re a reminder that San Antonio blends custom and trendy tradition in a means that feels uniquely its personal.
I discover pleasure in strolling by way of the Tejas Rodeo Firm in Bulverde, visiting the San Antonio Botanical Backyard when it lights up for Christmas, or spending a day on the Humane Society to see the canines ready for brand spanking new houses. Each fall, Wurstfest in New Braunfels provides one other celebration to the combo, mixing Texas satisfaction with German custom. These experiences have helped me really feel grounded, reminding me that my dwelling will not be solely the place I research and work but additionally the place I discover.
An enormous a part of my journey in San Antonio has been formed by companionship too. I adopted my canine LoLo in Boerne final yr, and ever since, she’s been my fixed by way of my transition into maturity. Shifting to a brand new setting could be overwhelming, however LoLo has made it really feel like dwelling. Whether or not it’s strolling across the neighborhood or becoming a member of me on a fishing journey on the lake, she’s been my supply of consistency, loyalty and luxury.
Probably the most shocking issues about dwelling in San Antonio has been how welcoming persons are. I moved right here from Houston, however I by no means felt misplaced. Neighbors, classmates and even strangers are at all times open, curious and . That friendliness makes it straightforward to really feel like I really belong right here, although I’m nonetheless pretty new to the town.
So, once I say, “I stay within the Medical Heart,” it’s extra than simply geography. It’s an area that brings collectively my skilled targets, my private progress, and the tradition I get to embrace day by day. It’s the place I’m changing into not only a nurse but additionally an grownup studying find out how to stability duty with recreation. Dwelling right here has allowed me to immerse myself in San Antonio’s medical neighborhood, whereas additionally experiencing its festivals, music, meals and traditions.
The place I stay is a mirrored image of who I’m changing into. The Medical Heart is the place my ambitions in healthcare align with my love for Texas tradition and neighborhood. It’s a spot the place the power of the town meets the compassion of the medical discipline. It feels precisely like the place I’m meant to be proper now.
