I have a valid reason for my slight absence, ya girl got a new job (Praise Jesus!). I got a job at the children’s hospital working in the pediatric ICU as a clinical tech and I absolutely love it! It’s my first time working with kids and it has been amazing.
Now let me get into what I really want to say. I’ve been working in the healthcare field for almost 4 years now and starting my new job made me realize an insecurity I thought I had left behind. Have you ever felt like you had to be different when around some people or you were being judged? If so, then my friends you’re not alone. Now let’s back track to my first clinical semester, unlike most of my classmates, I didn’t have any direct patient care experience, so I was as novice as they came. (of course, in my mind I was Christina Hawthorne). After all the practice we had in skills lab now was the time to put that to use. It came time to do my head to toe assessment and it was like I went mute, I want to say it was nerves, but I doubt it. At the end of every shift we had a post conference meeting, this is where we would discuss our patient’s diagnosis and the care provided etc. It’s a learning opportunity as it allowed us to tap into the critical thinking area of our brain. My first post conference was a hot mess, it was all mumble jumble lol. I’d like to believe that part of it stems from me not having any patient care experience and the other was because I talk really fast and I have an accent, a nice island accent may I add. I’m not one who’s afraid to talk but in this instance, I was very afraid.
Since moving to the US, I became even more proud of where I’m from. I always get great joy when I’m asked, “where are you from ” and no I’m not Jamaican, I prefer to be asked where I’m from instead of assuming. When I realized my new-found shyness was affecting my performance in clinical, I knew I had to talk with my professor. I explained to her that I felt like my accent was getting in the way of me reaching my full potential. My professor told me “first of all I could listen to you talk all day, you have a beautiful accent” she told me to use that to my advantage as it’s the perfect way to build rapport with people and more so patients. The moment she told me that it was smooth sailing thereafter.
Now I’ve mastered code switching don’t get me wrong. You may be wondering” what’s so unique about having an accent?” Living in a country that is considered the “melting pot” of the world people develop insecurities like myself that you didn’t know you have until you’ve been in a similar situation.
I thought I was done with this until I started my new job, I found myself going back to the same shyness when it came to talking. Everyone in my unit from my director, nurses, techs and the cleaners are all fascinated with my accent. The minute I realized I was becoming insecure again about my accent and talking I just thought about how unique it is as well as it being an opportunity to teach someone about where I’m from the next time they would ask.
I say all of this to say, it doesn’t matter what you think others may perceive as being weird or different, it’s important to embrace your uniqueness and use it to your advantage. No two persons are the same, we are all unique in our own way and should be proud and stand tall in who we are.
Have you felt out of place or felt indifferent to others? What did you do to overcome that? I would love to hear. Feel free to share your experience below in the comment section.
Lol I feel out of place all the time. Just gotta accept that I’m different and my interests and everybody else’s aren’t the same. That’s why I’m always known as the quiet one 😄
Nothing is wrong with being different, we’re all unique. Glad to know I’m not the only one who feels out of place at times lol
Honey, I’m fabulous! They’re the different ones 😀
In all seriousness, this reminds me of a situation back in 2009 when I was in college. I learned to use it to my advantage and people connected with me more
Yesss I’m fabulous lol. I’ve found that having an accent does help with connecting to people more, once I get over my shyness it’s usually smooth sailing from there.
Thank you for sharing your experience! It’s so inspiring to see you use your uniqueness and heritage to your advantage, especially in a time when cultural differences are being suppressed. Personally, I think I would feel more open with a Healthcare Provider with an accent. I was brought up in the states but I remember how much my mother who could barely speak English coming here struggled with the language but found solace with other foreigners of different nationalities who were understanding of her lack of vocabulary. Accents truly are beautiful. I’m glad that you are embracing yours! 🙂
Thank you! Now that you said it I think I would be much more comfortable with someone who has a foreign accent as well, this is not to say I won’t feel comfortable with let’s say someone who was born and raised here but I believe that I’d find comfort knowing I won’t be judged because they would know what it’s like. Accents are indeed beautiful. Thanks for reading! 💕
Welcome back hun. So happy for you!!!! Just be you so true we are all unique and different. I never us to know patois at one point, I spoke like an American and when I was at school I felt out of place because I spoke so different and everyone was speaking in a way I didn’t understand and then instead of making fun of me they taught me to speak patois so I do understand what you mean.
Thanks for reading hun! It’s so amazing to hear that you didn’t know how to truly speak patois but also so comforting knowing that people didn’t bully you but rather they taught you. We are unique in our own way.
Great blog Tanya. This experience reminded me of my being in college and being ask to speak infront of others and realizing you have an accent. It can be very intimidating but like you said its all about embracing your uniqueness
It really can be intimidating and you only realize it in situations like that. We just have to embrace how unique we are. Thanks for reading!