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Emily Perez: Mission Possible

March 31, 2015

By combining aspects of ASU’s nursing program and Honors Program, Emily Perez has had a life-changing experience, strengthened her goals for the future and helped some people along the way.

A junior nursing major from Hutto, northeast of Austin, Perez was initially attracted to ASU’s nationally recognized nursing program and then learned of the many opportunities available through its groundbreaking Honors Program. She parlayed her membership in those programs into a summer 2014 nursing mission trip to Guatemala through the Cross Cultural Solutions organization. 



“I really enjoy service,” Perez said. “In high school, I did a lot of stuff through my church that was helping in underserved communities. So I was interested in a service opportunity and I really wanted to go abroad. This trip offered me the opportunity to go to Guatemala and it also included the nursing aspects that would be beneficial to both my career and personal interests. It was a great experience, and I’m really glad I ended up there.” 

For a month last summer, Perez performed nursing and other health care-related duties at an assisted-living nursing home in Guatemala City for elderly women who either had no families or their families could not afford to care for them. 



“I was there every morning Monday through Friday,” Perez said. “I would get them ready for their daily activities, help them to the bathroom and make sure they made it to their meals on time. If they were sick, I would notify the doctor about their condition. So I was really an advocate for them.” 

“I spent most of the time on the Dependent Hall,” she continued. “These were women who were in wheelchairs or who were not mentally stable. In Guatemala, they don’t differentiate between patients with mental health issues and those with physical disabilities. If they are disabled in any way, they were on the Dependent Hall.” 

Though fluent in Texan Spanish, there was still a bit of a language barrier for Perez when she first arrived at the nursing home. 

“For both nursing and life in general, it was a great experience to learn how to better communicate with people.”

Emily Perez

“It’s hard to go from English to Spanish when you are so used to English,” Perez said. “By about two weeks into my trip, my head hurt. But finally it just clicked, and it got so much easier to understand and communicate. After that I felt a lot more confident.” 

“For both nursing and life in general, it was a great experience to learn how to better communicate with people,” she added. “Being present and just listening, even if you don’t completely understand, you can’t underestimate the power of that. I learned a lot about human interaction, and that was probably the best part of it all.” 

Emily at the Mayan ruins in Tikal, Guatemala. Emily at the Mayan ruins in Tikal, Guatemala.

Another good part of her Guatemala experience was all the fun things she got to do in her down time, like visit the ancient ruins in nearby Tikal. 

“That was awesome,” Perez said. “It was beautiful. In the middle of the jungle there is just this big plot of ancient Mayan ruins that they are still uncovering. We got to go through there, and I got to go through the jungle in the early morning to watch the sunrise, which was also beautiful. I learned a lot about the history of the area, and that was very interesting.” 

“I got to go to a macadamia nut farm,” she added. “I also got to go to several museums in Guatemala City to learn even more about their history.” 

In April, Perez will make a presentation about her Guatemala trip at the 2015 Great Plains Honors Council Conference at South Padre Island. She previously gave a presentation on community service at a National Collegiate Honors Council Conference—and at ASU, she is an Honors Program mentor and historian of the Honors Student Association. 

Scheduled to graduate in May of 2016, Perez is aiming for a nursing career in pediatric oncology and also plans to make more nursing mission trips abroad in the future.