false 2009-02-27T06:01:22-08:00 <p>It was almost 9 years ago when I came to United States from the Philippines. I had nothing on my back except my clothes, twenty five pesos (equivalent to 50 cents) and&nbsp; my dream of a better future. Coming&nbsp;from a family of&nbsp; six, an island without electricity and a poverty stricken country, I have hoped that America is the land of milk and honey as I read in the books.&nbsp;Luckily, i have been educated as a physical therapist and I thought it will be easy for me. But I was so wrong. Being foreign-educated, it took&nbsp;&nbsp;9 painful months for me&nbsp;to have a head start in my career because the application is such a rigorous process.&nbsp;All this time,I&#39;ve been staying with my aunt&nbsp;who &nbsp;mistreats&nbsp;me. When she left for a vacation, she left me with only food in the refrigirator and&nbsp;$20 for&nbsp;3 months. I know I cannot live with only food and twenty dollars&nbsp; so I taught myself how to drive and speak English well to survive. I have landed myself to be a caregiver, babysitter&nbsp;and masseuse while reviewing for the PT license examination. As soon as i passed the exam and &nbsp;got my PT&nbsp;license, my aunt threw me out of the house with again just my clothes, very little money and no car. But this time, I did not tremble in fear for my future and embraced the challenge. I ended up accepting the first Physical Therapy job that was offered to me through agency. My first assignment was in a mental hospital where I have been kicked, cursed, almost biten and spitted up by my patients because of their condition. I have endured all of it and it did not bother me because I know that after all I have been through, I can do anything, I stayed with my agency for another five years, &nbsp;travelling every year, then working with three jobs to &nbsp;get enough experience in&nbsp; all field&nbsp;of physical therapy such as home health, hospital, skilled nursing and outpatient setting. All those years too, my desire to be successful kept on burning more intense than before.&nbsp;I thought myself&nbsp; accounting and business administration by reading books. Finally after another two years being an employee, I&nbsp;was blessed to be a partner of a successful physical therrapy center. And then another 2 years has passed, I am&nbsp;now &nbsp;transitioning into having my own company.</p><p>I know that the journey is stilI long but&nbsp;nothing will stop me&nbsp;now from achieving my dreams. &nbsp;I could have&nbsp;&nbsp;went&nbsp; back to the Philippines when I was mistreated and thrown out but I stayed because I believe that America is the land of milk and honey despite life&#39;s cruelty.</p><p>&nbsp;</p> a_OQa4vICqllvkab8P4pmk false false false true false 2009-02-27T06:01:25-08:00 0 true 0 false false false 1 Coming to America, The Land of Milk and Honey! 2010-02-09T11:33:57-08:00 coming-to-america-the-land-of-milk-and-honey dPz_gcvIyqllvkab8P4pmk cristinaking 653 0 dY1Ghod6ZhRBWr3AL8abBw