Globe Miami Times Connecting you to the Pulse of Globe Miami
Finding students who are so serious about their education that they work around obstacles and do the best they can, despite them, isn’t always easy. But Patrick Tarango is one such student.
As a 15-year-old high school sophomore, he decided to take CVIT’s Nursing Assistant program.
“At first, I wanted to try the program just to see if I liked it and could learn something new,” he says. “I ended up really liking it, so I’ve stuck with it ever since.”
Patrick went to high school in the morning and attended college classes in the afternoon. While his class schedule didn’t allow much time to hang out with friends, he says it was all worth it in the long run.
He finished the program when he was 16 with one of the highest grades in the class and became a licensed nursing assistant. He immediately got a job at Haven Health, where he worked for about 18 months.
He left in March 2020 and took a job as a pharmacy tech at Fry’s.
Patrick is currently studying to take his state board exam so he can obtain a pharmacy tech license. “I’m really doing it for the experience, because when I go to nursing school, I’ll know all my meds and things like that. So it’ll really help me get ahead.”
Patrick says when people hear he’s going to nursing school, they sometimes think he’s doing it for the money. “That not it,” he says. “You really have to like people and enjoy caring for them.”
“If you think you should do it for the money, it’s definitely not for you. The mental stress of it (can take a toll on someone), so money shouldn’t be the reason someone goes into it. For myself, people would never have thought I would’ve gone down this career path, but now it’s all I want to do.”
Cheryl Hentz is a freelance journalist with nearly 40 years in both print and broadcast journalism. She is a Cheesehead from Wisconsin and getting to know the Globe Miami area and its people through her freelance work with the Globe Miami Times. Someday soon, she hopes to settle in AZ for her semi-retirement years. In her free time, she volunteers with several dog rescue groups, shelters, and animal welfare organizations.
