San Diego College of Continuing Education helps former (and future) nurse find a way back to chosen career
Vanessa Munguia was three years into her career as a registered nurse in Guadalajara, Mexico, when she found out her husband, an engineer for a large tech company, was getting transferred to San Diego—1,500 miles north but another world away.
When the couple moved in 2022, she knew the nursing degree she’d earned in her home country wouldn’t allow her to work in a hospital right away, as proficiency in English is necessary to receive a nursing license in California.
“If I’m going to live here, I need to learn English,” she says of her thoughts upon coming to the United States. Nearing the age of 30, she realized going back to school would be necessary.
“I fell in love with that place. I was so well received. It doesn’t matter where you’re from. They make me feel like it’s my second home.”
Vanessa Munguia, San Diego College of Continuing Education Student and Certified Nursing Assistant
A friend suggested she seek assistance at the César E. Chávez Campus of the San Diego College of Continuing Education (SDCCE). Munguia visited the campus, where an assistant in the resident dean’s office helped her enroll in English as a second language courses in Fall 2022.
“I fell in love with that place,” Mungia says of SDCCE. “I was so well received. It doesn’t matter where you’re from. They make me feel like it’s my second home.”
The college was uniquely poised to help Munguia, as SDCCE is one of the 116 California Community Colleges (CCC) focusing on Vision 2030, a strategic plan overseen by the system’s Chancellor’s Office that is partly aimed at ensuring schools serve students with barriers so they can become academically and economically successful. In addition to improving equity in and access to education, Vision 2030 seeks to emphasize learning opportunities in fields experiencing shortages, including healthcare pathways aimed at streamlining coursework and certification to bolster that industry.
Mungia eventually enrolled in SDCCE’s tuition-free Certified Nursing Assistant Program and completed it in May 2024. She has since passed the exam and received her certification. Though nursing assistant is an entry-level position compared to what she was able to do in Mexico with her RN degree from the Universidad de Guadalajara, Mungia says she feels that working in that capacity will give her a chance to learn how healthcare is delivered in California.
“I want to get used to the way nurses work here,” she says, “like learning the different kinds of medical devices not available in Mexico.”
Mungia is now working at the school to help other CNA students complete the program, and continues to take advanced ESL classes and work on her English so she can continue on the path back to her former position. In addition to taking classes, she watches videos and reads books to advance her English skills.
Her previous nursing degree, work experience in Mexico and current role as a CNA will be useful as she completes her requirements in California. She knows it could take time to reach her goal of again becoming a nurse, and plans to continue even further to get an advanced degree to specialize in cardiac or pediatric care.
“I want to be the best nurse I can,” she says.
Mungia studies while she also takes care of her mother, who now lives with her and her husband. Despite all the challenges, she’s unwavering in her goals: “There’s nothing impossible as long as you want it,” she says.
For more information about healthcare pathways and other opportunities at San Diego College of Continuing Education, visit sdcce.edu. To learn more about the California Community Colleges Vision 2030, go to www.cccco.edu/About-Us/Vision-2030.
Written by M.S. Enkoji
| Regions | Classes & Topics |
|---|---|
| Southern California | Careers in Health Care |
