Meet HealthX Fellow Valerie "Ilariana" Campos: "My 'why' is my mom"

Gaining exposure to the healthcare field while in high school

Valerie "Ilariana" Campos, a senior from De Anza High School in Richmond, California, joined the HealthX Fellowship to make professional connections, build her skills and resume, and get closer to her dream of becoming a nurse.

"I am trying to become a pediatric intensive care unit nurse. My 'why' is my mom," Ilariana shared. "My mom is my biggest inspiration for everything that I do. She always pushed me to be my best. She would come home from her school of trying to become a nurse and I just fell in love with it. I fell in love with what she taught me, how driven, how smart, and how focused she was. My mom is my biggest inspiration for everything."

"Other than my mom, I really just want to give back to kids who are in desperate need because I was in and out of doctors and hospitals, and I really just want to be there for kids and support them and their families," she shared.

‍

‍

Gaining professional connections and confidence through HealthX

Ilariana went into the HealthX Fellowship as the only person from De Anza High School. Stepping outside her comfort zone, she shared "Something new that I've learned is to not be afraid to put myself out there and to really just go after what I want. I've gained quite a lot of confidence being in this fellowship. I was actually the only person out of my school that got picked. I knew nobody."

"I really had to put myself out there and make connections with new people. And I'm very shy. So, I think that it was good exposure for me to talk with my peers, meet them, and actually get to know them," shared Ilariana.

"My favorite part about HealthX has definitely been meeting new people and making new connections because I know we're all here for the same reason and that is to grow."

‍

‍