Senior Yessenia Soto-Rosselle has served at PLNU’s annual Festival of Health for the past three years. This free, community event is sponsored by the School of Nursing and held in San Diego’s City Heights neighborhood at Mid City Church of the Nazarene, which is also home to PLNU’s Health Promotion Center.
As part of the senior leadership team for the School of Nursing this year, I was privileged to help plan this year’s Festival of Health, which brings the community together to learn, play, and interact.
The student-run health information booths are an important part of the event. Students share their knowledge about important health topics with community members. Topics covered included physical and mental health, safety, nutrition, exercise, and hygiene.
Many families are drawn to the event because of all the opportunities for their children to play. There were piñatas, bounce houses, and a crafts table.
Involving the kids is so important to engaging the people of the neighborhood and serving them.
Nursing students also performed free basic health assessments.
As for me, one of my duties was conducting tours of the Health Promotion Center where I guided visitors through the facility and explained our services. My other role was to serve as a translator. I served as a liaison between students and our Spanish speaking visitors. Overall, I probably translated for more than 30 people. One conversation with a gentleman from the community really struck a chord with me as he spoke of how our students have become like family to him because of our involvement in the community. It is moments like this that remind me why I chose to go into nursing!
By Yessenia Soto-Roselle
