Odalys Alva

OAKLAND TECHNICAL HIGH SCHOOL | HEAL, HIGHLAND HOSPITAL

I was born here in Oakland, at Highland. It’s very exhilarating, knowing that this is where I was born and now going back to the Maternal Child Health department.

I was able to help with a natural childbirth with a woman who had a little bit of trouble with the language, and I was able to translate and help her with it. The midwife gave me a lot of hands-on experience, which was very exciting. I was there for the whole birth, and I was there afterward helping with the baby.

This experience gave me the push to be a midwife. I always knew I wanted to work with kids, but this exact moment, when I saw life being brought into the world, I was like, “This is what I want to do. This is my calling.”

My plan is to do community college and then transfer to UC Irvine, being my dream school, for nursing. After that I plan on doing a master’s program at UCSF to get my license in midwifery.

HealthPATH will definitely be helpful in reaching my goals. I have people at this hospital that are willing to help. It’s an experience I wouldn’t have gotten any other place. At least that’s how I look at it.