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“When I graduated from high school and enrolled at Wesleyan University, I was drawn to both healthcare and languages. This led me to explore courses in Science & Society and Global Engagement. Through both personal experiences and my academic studies, I began to understand how healthcare intersects with broader cultural and social contexts. Now, as a graduate student at the Yale School of Nursing, I’ve witnessed this dynamic firsthand during my clinical rotations. Many of my patients spoke Spanish, and as soon as they realized I spoke the language too, they opened up more, shared their concerns, and asked questions with greater ease. This reinforced to me the importance of cultural competence, actively listening, understanding diverse perspectives, and adapting care to meet each patient’s unique needs and values. INTEMPO fostered this commitment to cultural competence. That’s something that I took with me. INTEMPO taught me the importance of advocating for your community– an understanding I carry with me in my nursing career. Often, patients are unaware of the resources available to them, and I am deeply committed to advocating for their access to the care and support they need. This is why I want to become a nurse practitioner: to empower patients, advocate for them, and ensure they receive the care they deserve.”

— Nataly Huyhua, INTEMPO board member and alumna, Wesleyan University alumna, and Yale School of Nursing student