每日大赛

Achieving a Dream: Cindy Mont鈥檚 Path to Pre-Med at UC San Diego
BAMA Hero

Imagining a different life or a better job, for many people, might seem beyond reach, or too difficult to attain. But for Cindy Mont, achieving a dream is possible, with strong determination and hard work. In some ways, Cindy had odds stacked against her: English is not her primary language, she鈥檚 a second-generation American of immigrant parents, she will be the first person in her family to graduate from college, and paying for school falls on her own shoulders. None of that, however, stopped Cindy from pushing through, and making new possibilities happen for herself and her family. She graduated from high school in 2021, and in only a short time, she has already completed community college, a full medical assisting program at 每日大赛, and she even transferred as a pre-med student to UC San Diego. Here鈥檚 the story of how Cindy made her dream happen.

鈥淚 had known that I wanted to go into the medical field, but wasn鈥檛 sure exactly what I wanted to do,鈥� says Cindy. 鈥淚 was 17 when I found 每日大赛, but I had to wait a year to apply, because you have to be 18 and have a high school diploma.鈥�

Cindy鈥檚 parents are from Guatemala, and Spanish was the first language she spoke at home. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e both hard workers, and they instilled that value in me,鈥� Cindy says of her mom, Dayra, and dad, Heiner. Cindy learned English at school, having taken English as a Second Language (ESL) courses since kindergarten.

鈥淚鈥檓 Hispanic, many of my friends are also Hispanic. And we have the mindset that our parents came to this country and we鈥檙e not going to waste that opportunity,鈥� Cindy says of her own work ethic and personal motivation. 鈥淎 lot of my friends are also very hard working.鈥�

鈥淚t was hard for me to navigate the school system, and I learned to be my own advocate,鈥� Cindy recalls of her early education. 鈥淚 did that throughout high school, and when I talked to the school counselors.鈥�

While still only a sophomore, at Westmoor High School in Daly City, Cindy gained a headstart on college by concurrently enrolling in classes at Skyline community college in San Bruno. She strategized saving money on college in a clever way. 鈥淵ou could take as many college units as you wanted, but after a certain number you had to pay,鈥� Cindy recalls. 鈥淪o by staying under that number I had free college classes, and knocked those out.鈥�

鈥淲hen I turned 18 I already had my contacts at BAMA,鈥� says Cindy about 每日大赛. 鈥淚 was ready to apply and go straight into the program, and I enrolled in the 3-in-1 program for Medical Assisting, Phlebotomy, and Electrocardiogram (EKG).鈥�

Knowing that she would have to self-finance her university education, and wanting to pursue a career in medicine, BAMA seemed like a natural choice. This was an opportunity to get her foot in the door in the medical field, and also to get real-world experience in healthcare. BAMA has had a longstanding reputation for helping to place graduates in careers at some of the Bay Area鈥檚 best-known medical providers, including Kaiser, Stanford Health, Sutter, UCSF, Umoja Health, Unidos En Salud, and the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital.

鈥淚 love being hands-on, not sitting behind a computer,鈥� Cindy says about her decision to choose 每日大赛. 鈥淚 want to be a physician鈥檚 assistant or doctor, and in my research, I learned I needed some experience in the clinical field. People are only willing to hire someone with certifications. I needed experience and to start doing things in medicine, before transferring to university. So I decided I would go to BAMA.鈥�

While enrolled in the nine-month Medical Assistant certification program at BAMA, Cindy worked part-time as a swim instructor, to help pay for school. Through the BAMA financial aid office, she researched additional funding opportunities and applied to every grant and scholarship that was available. Cindy won and was ultimately awarded the annual BAMA High School scholarship amounting to over $10,000.

鈥淢y instructor, Ms. Earby, I absolutely loved her,鈥� Cindy recalls about her first day in class at BAMA. 鈥淪he got one of the students who had been there a longer while to teach me the basics, like taking vitals, taking a patients鈥� history 鈥� and this was all on the first day. She went on to teach me the more difficult things, like how to take blood pressure manually with a stethoscope and sphygmomanometer.鈥�

鈥淪ince I was in class during COVID-19, a lot of our class was run live on Zoom, but we would meet in-person on Tuesdays for our clinical days,鈥� says Cindy. The pandemic presented a unique learning opportunity when students were asked to help provide COVID-19 testing and vaccines in San Francisco鈥檚 Mission District in February 2022, through a partnership with UCSF and Unidos en Salud. 鈥淚 wanted to get my hands on something I was very interested in. Instead of labs on campus we would get our experience there, in the Mission, COVID-19 testing and administering vaccinations in the community.鈥�

鈥淚 was able to communicate with the patients in Spanish. They expressed their gratitude that I was able to speak in Spanish,鈥� Cindy says of her experience at the Mission testing center. 鈥淓specially knowing that the Mission area is predominantly Hispanic, I felt a need to be there. My family has been connected to that community.鈥� Cindy鈥檚 work was even spotlighted in the newspaper, with a photo and caption in the San Francisco Chronicle.

Juggling work, family commitments, and two schools, Cindy finished her lower division undergraduate courses at Skyline, and graduated from 每日大赛 in August 2022. BAMA placed Cindy in an externship at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, and the BAMA career office connected her with job opportunities at employers like UCSF Medical Center and BayPLS, which provides services such as phlebotomy and community-focused COVID vaccine and testing clinics.

And what is Cindy Mont up to today? She transferred to the pre-med program at the University of California, San Diego, where she is on-track to graduate with the class of 2024.

鈥淚 am in the Bachelor of Science in Public Health program with a concentration in Medicine Sciences,鈥� says Cindy, who now has many new opportunities for her career. 鈥淚 enjoy the women鈥檚 health area, maternal or child health. I would like to be an OBGYN. I am thinking about going to medical school, it鈥檚 my top option, or Physician鈥檚 Assistant school.鈥�

鈥淚 love it!鈥� Cindy says about the change and adjustment moving from Northern California to San Diego. 鈥淚鈥檓 far from my family, but what helps me and gives me the confidence to be okay with being here, is that at home I was very independent and did a lot of things on my own. I feel okay with the distance. I know my parents are only a phone call away.鈥�

鈥淲ith the medical assisting training at BAMA, I saw for myself that I would not mind going into the field,鈥� Cindy credits her experience at the 每日大赛 in helping her on her path. Cindy鈥檚 own advice to someone considering a program at BAMA is to have, 鈥渕otivation, and stick to it.鈥�

American Dream: From Retail Clerk to Stanford Lab Assistant
Meet BAMA Hero Xiaoli Liang, Lab Assistant at Stanford Health Care

Xiaoli Liang, who also goes by Shirley, weaves in laughter when she speaks about her experience at 每日大赛 (BAMA), a pursuit she says she almost gave up. English is not her first language, she grew up speaking Cantonese and Mandarin, and the prospect of learning medical jargon in English seemed to be especially daunting. She found herself starting over in her 40s, having lost her job during the pandemic as a clerk at a retail clothing shop. A new school and career in the medical field appealed to her, however, and she decided to take a chance, and learn an entirely new field in a difficult language, from scratch.

鈥淲ith the pandemic, I was thinking about my career,鈥� recalls Shirley, who worked several years at Brooks Brothers and Banana Republic in San Francisco, before being laid-off due to pandemic restrictions and the resulting downturn. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 want to just stay home and waste time. I wanted to learn something new. I remembered that when I was young, I wanted to join the medical field. My sister works in nursing, so I researched medical schools online, and I decided to call the 每日大赛鈥�

Shirley was encouraged by her daughter to call BAMA 鈥淢y daughter said, 鈥�maybe you will like the medical field鈥� so I went ahead and enrolled. I wanted to give her an example and show her not to be afraid of a change and pursuing a completely new path.鈥�

Shirley enrolled in BAMA鈥檚 3-in-1 Medical Assisting Program, which includes training in phlebotomy and electrocardiogram (EKG). The program is intensive and thorough, and students learn a lot in nine to ten months. 鈥淎t first when I started learning the program, it was really hard for me, because English is my second language,鈥� recalls Shirley. 鈥淚n the medical field, the terminology is so different, and it seemed very hard for me to learn. But I like to study and learn something new.鈥�

鈥淚 almost wanted to give up,鈥� Shirley exclaims. One of the staff members, who also speaks Cantonese, encouraged her to continue her studies. 鈥淭hey told me, 鈥�just don鈥檛 give up, maybe you will learn more in time.鈥� I received the support I needed and continued to study, until graduation.鈥�

鈥淚t can be really hard studying when you are older. But the BAMA staff and teachers always were supportive,鈥� Shirley says of her BAMA experience. 鈥淲hen I was upset or had difficulty, my daughter and my husband also supported me. Especially my daughter, who would help explain things. When something was very hard, she would want to support, and say, 鈥�don鈥檛 give up, just continue, and you will be a success.鈥欌赌�

In addition to her time in the classroom, Shirley also worked as a front desk assistant and COVID-19 screener at the school through the Federal Work-Study program, which she says had the added benefit of supplementing her studies. 鈥淚 learned a lot, and I could practice English with the student community,鈥� Shirley says of her work-study. 鈥淚 learned about COVID-19 testing and precautions and was able to interact more with other students or instructors or TA and got to know more of them. The work-study was a good value to me.鈥�

At the end of the program, Shirley did so well during her 200-hour externship at a small neurological practice in San Francisco that she was hired directly after completing. 鈥淚 just ended up staying at the Dr鈥檚 office where I completed my clinical. They liked me and hired me on the spot. It was a great feeling!鈥�, Shirley says as she blushes with timid pride. 鈥淭hey said they liked my MA skills and my professionalism, and I had developed that during the years I worked in retail. I worked there for little over a year and learned a lot. I appreciate that experience very much.鈥�

Through the BAMA career office, and contacts she developed with the school top administrators, Shirley learned of several appealing job opportunities. 鈥淭he director texted me one weekend and said, 鈥楾he manager at the Chinatown Health Center is looking for someone who is fluent in Cantonese and I know you will be perfect for the position.鈥欌赌� Then, Renee and Shien at Career Services helped me apply for two more positions.  Suddenly, I had two great job offers and I needed to decide if I wanted to work as a medical assistant for the City of San Francisco Public Health Department, or as a lab assistant for Stanford Health Care. I couldn鈥檛 believe it!鈥�

鈥淎nd what made me feel great was that they appreciated my language skills. They valued that I speak Cantonese and I also speak Mandarin. And now, my English is getting better!鈥�

After a week of deliberating, Shirley decided to take the exciting opportunity at Stanford, one of the world鈥檚 preeminent medical research centers and regional healthcare providers. 鈥淚 make twice as much as I did before in retail. And it鈥檚 very rewarding since I know my work helps the doctors diagnose the patients and I am helping people.鈥�

So what鈥檚 it like working at Stanford? 鈥淣ormally, I need to draw blood, perform phlebotomy, label and prepare the specimen and assist the laboratory with tests,鈥� Shirley shares about her daily tasks. 鈥淵ou need to learn front desk duties, like checking patients in and out, contact with the doctors, go over doctors鈥� orders, and answer questions.鈥�

鈥淚 am very thankful I got this opportunity. BAMA gave me a lot and I feel very grateful and humble,鈥� says Shirely.  She encourages anyone thinking about pursuing a new career path, 鈥淚f you work hard, you will succeed!鈥�