Nathalie Herrera Reyes

Philosophy Statement
In my career of public health, I would primarily like to serve the Hispanic/Latino
population. I would specifically like to focus on Mental health. Culture is a one of the main
issues when understanding mental health within the community. Growing up I experienced
firsthand the differences between my American and Latin culture. Sadly, the Latin community
ignores many serious issues to avoid the uncomfortable situations. It’s long overdue to create the
uncomfortable moments into learning interventions. I am ready to tackle the problem head on. I
believe the community is more accepting of someone who has experience with the culture.
Recently I have become very motivated to spread awareness to schools. Each class I have taken
in my public health career has taught me public school have not truly educated our children. Yes,
they might have the math basics, but life is more than just school. My original plan was to
become a nurse. I volunteered at St. Vincent medical and realize nursing was not for me. Its
possible because I was doing housekeeping work instead of interacting firsthand with doctors
and nurses. None the less, I found out about the public health program at University of North
Florida (UNF) and immediately fell in love it. The public health field is extremely broad in the
perspective of professional jobs. I'm currently one semester and an internship away from
receiving my Bachelor of Science in Health with a concentration in Public Health and a minor in
Health Education. When I first begin public health, I was unsure of the exact route I wanted to
take I specifically would like to focus on the psychology and educational aspect.
I was drawn to public health because I will be able to educate communities on how to
live a healthy life. Public health can play a big role in prevention if awareness is spread. Recently
life expectancy has been linked to the zip code of the patient. Lower income families are more
likely to die younger than a middle-class household. Most people oversea the importance of
public health. For example, if everyone were to concentrate on the overlapping dimensions of
wellness life would improve for all. Maximum wellness could be archive with a balance of
Social, Spiritual, Physical, Environmental, Intellect aspects. Public health educators ensure
ethical behavior by removing their moral principles and ensuring they remain professional by
following the code of ethics for health educational professionals. This is very important because
during our career of educators we are taught to encourage all to learn. Currently we are facing a
pandemic with COVID-19. We see prevention has limits, but we also have levels of prevention.
Sadly, the virus took us all by surprise, but the world is understanding how public health is
saving lives. Our work as Public health educators seems simple on the outside but with many
pieces to fix on the inside.
I am currently planning to enroll into The Air Force reserve for the next four years. I
hope to earn a job in the medical field. I plan on working towards my master’s degree in health
science and eventually my doctorates in medicine. Within the Air force would like to work has a
public health officer. I am interested in helping our military by promoting a healthy living on and
off base. When I was younger, I dreamed of creating a foundation to transport medical supplies
to third world countries. Now I plan to create an educational center to provide aid and
knowledge.