Georginne Mercado

Georginne Mercado

Many say that the definition of a hero is too difficult to come upon and, unfortunately, some people may never know a hero. I, however, am well aware of my personal career hero, without whom I would be lost. When thinking of when I became aware of my hero, it’s not easy to put a finger on when exactly that was. My hero has always been a part of my life and always an excellent example of someone to look up to. Georginne Mercado, my great aunt, has several attributes which include being admirable, funny, hardworking, and loving to name only a few. Georginne is always willing to do what she can to help others and for that, specifically, she is my personal career hero.

Georginne Mercado, also referred to as Georgie or Toodles, is very successful in her career. Her occupation is Injury Prevention Coordinator for the Trauma Center at Mission Hospital. In order to be in this position, a person needs to have a high school diploma, a preferred 5 years or more experience in a hospital setting, and a preferred A.A. or 3 years of college. The average salary range is anywhere from 36-50k annually. When asking Georginne the outlook for her career, she replied, “It’s a solid career and versatile enough [with] economic hardship, [that] one or more aspects of the job would always be needed.”

In her school years, Georginne described herself as "insecure and not sure where to fit in.” But now, she is a very well respected individual and knows how to control a crowd. She gained these traits through her work at the hospital. Her grades were below average during her high school years because of her lack of confidence. However, in junior high, her grades were above average and, as a student, she excelled. After she finished junior high and high school, she furthered her learning and enrolled in Saddleback College. There, she majored in Media Graphics. She became interested in her present occupation through an ROP program. Her sister, Geraldine Chadesh, is the person she claims helped her get into the profession. She began training in 1990. To be able to have that job, she trained for 10 years at Mission Hospital. She had her education down as well after attending Saddleback College and, in my eyes, was ready to fully commit to her job at the hospital. Georginne became successful. She knew that she was successful because she liked her job and on top of that was getting paid for something that she enjoyed doing. After she was fully trained and proved more than capable of doing the job, she began her road to success in an occupation which she personally enjoyed.

In her career, Georginne contributes so much to helping others. She is always up for a new challenge. She also helps her peers and family through hard times. She is the leader of a good cause club called South County Safe Rides. This club’s purpose is to keep drunk teenage drivers off the streets and, more importantly, to save lives. Georginne is very involved in it and has been for a total of 19 years. She is beyond devoted to it and dedicates her time to go talk about it at schools and sometimes even makes city council presentations. Georginne also helps put on a mock crash at selected schools every year. The mock crash is basically a set-up car accident that is performed for the student body and portrays what happens to the kids that caused the accident, their injuries, and all the suffering they go through just from one wrong decision. In her career, Georginne is offered opportunities to help others and I know that every one that she is given, she takes a hold of because helping people is one of the things she does best.

It will be very difficult to amount to the person that my great aunt is today. However, I will try my hardest. In order to be as hardworking as she is, I need to learn how to set goals for myself and how to get things done before waiting till the last minute to get started. I can very easily achieve this if I just work to the best of my abilities and set a goal as to what grades I want to achieve in school. I learned very early that the things you do in your younger years will affect the person that you are in the future. With that in mind, during high school, I want to participate in a few clubs, and ASB my junior year. I want to start my career off with volunteer jobs. I hope to become a volunteer at Mission Hospital and learn how to communicate more easily with people. Once I have had worked a little and gotten more experience with others, I want to go to college and major in Psychology. I want to graduate with a PhD. After leaving college, I hope to start my career as a Child Psychologist.

A true definition of the word hero may be too hard to figure out. In my eyes, it is someone who tries their best yet still strives to do more and, in their own way, changes the world. Georginne is a true hero, for she has taught me to go for whatever I want in life and to make the most out of it. No dream is ever too big, and I can achieve my wildest goals if I put my mind to it.