Senior Nathaly Arana is everything her parents want her to be. She’s taken almost every science class at the school, her progress reports are rows of A’s and her teachers describe her as productive and outgoing.

The science department even elected her as the top science graduate at the senior awards yesterday.

But under all that, she is just a girl who’s drowning in work, desperate for her parent’s validation. Desperate to be a good mentor to her younger brother. 

Desperate to be the person everyone expects her to be.

So she turns to science.

“I like doing stuff that I understand; and that’s the one thing I understand,” Arana said. “It does stress me out sometimes, but it makes my parents happy and proud. They just want me to do good in life and not be a failure, I get it.”

Her parents were born in Mexico; her mom immigrated to the U.S. in 1999 and her dad in 2002, hoping to find success for themselves, and future family. Arana was their first child. Growing up, her parents instilled expectations of success early.

By first grade, her school invited her into the gifted and talented program; there she was exposed to STEM, which Arana loved, and her parents loved her in.

But Arana realized that while she enjoyed the science, what she loved most was her parents’ praise. She sought it throughout high school too. 

“If I don’t get an A, I feel like I’m gonna fail my parents, like I’m gonna fail my dad,” Arana said. “It’s the guiltiness of (imagining them) saying ‘I thought you were better than this, I taught you to be a good person, and you’re over here not doing it.’ Like when I got my first B (in OnRamps Algebra II), I was more upset with myself for letting my parents down.”

Though Arana wants to ignore it, that pressure builds up, and when her dad confronted her about that B, her composure burst.

“I told them ‘I tried my best to get an A, but it’s a college class; it’s hard, but this is my best effort,’” Arana said. “So I was super stressed and they were really on top of me. They said that they ‘know people who are good but one little thing messed them up, and then they aren’t the same and that they’re scared that might happen to me, but they understand.’”

A path unseen

Over spring break of 2020, physical stress began to stack with her mental stress and medical clinics became a common hangout. 

Her menstrual cycle was extending longer than normal, so much so that she was anemic. Doctors suggested it was polycystic ovary syndrome, meaning she was losing too much blood.

Unexpectedly passing out became a near everyday ordeal.

“I could have never expected; it was out of nowhere,” Arana said. “My iron was low. I had no Vitamin D. I was literally slowing down. Then I experienced a lot of doctors and nurses (while receiving treatment) and for some reason the nurses were always the nicest people ever while the doctors were so cold.”

Nurses were the first to greet Arana with a smile whenever she was in a medical environment. She said she always felt more comfortable with nurses than any doctor. Arana was unaware at the time, but those nurse interactions subtly shaped her.

Finding that path

When her parents asked her what she wanted to be, she first said anesthesiologist; consequently, she filled her junior schedule with medical classes, but her chemistry teacher Carlos Morales saw something else in her.

“She had a unique drive to be ranked really high,” Morales said. “(Medical classes) probably would have been great for her, but it was apparent that she just wanted to be in the STEM field in general, which is why I suggested that she take more dual-credit and AP classes. It has the same content with more variety.”

Her junior year she took every science class her schedule would fit: AP Physics, AP Chemistry and dual-credit Anatomy and Physiology. Additionally though, she juggled choir, a relationship and serving as a class representative, the work was getting to her.

“I was tired, so much homework, just so much work in general,” Arana said. “I thought I couldn’t do it anymore,” Arana said. “(Looking back), those classes shaped who I was, made me the person I am, and I’d do it again.”

Taking those college classes paid off, when the school released class ranks, Arana was fifth. However, as the year progressed, so did her career doubts.

Better late than never

Following junior year – her busiest ever – the idea of 13-14 years of college for her degree intimidated her. Reflecting on her past, Arana had a change of heart.

“I want to be able to have freedom,” Arana said. “Doctors spend most of their life studying just to become one. I want to enjoy life; I don’t want to be stuck in a hole. I don’t want to drain myself, so I switched to nursing, since it’s only three to four years.”

Texas Woman’s University in Denton accepted Arana for medical biology, but that was before she changed her mind. After a lengthy application process and to her relief, the university approved switching majors. Now, she dreams of opening her own clinic as a nurse practitioner.

“I want to build my own connections and relationships with my patients,” Arana said. “I want my patients to know they can trust me and be comfortable around me. I hope I’m known for my caring and trusting bond with them.”

Arana intends to spend a year at the Denton campus for the introductory classes, before moving to the TWU Institute of Health Sciences in Houston.

“I’m so grateful to have this opportunity,” Arana said. “I’m nervous to leave (my parents); I’ve always been at their side, but I’m also excited to enter a form of adulthood. Even though they expect alot from me, my parents were and are still my biggest supporters and inspiration.”