WELCOME
Get to know some interesting facts about me!
What I’ve Done
Ast. Manager,
S2 Express Grill
June 2020 - August 2022
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Customer Service
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Cashiered
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Received delivery orders
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Cleaned
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Organized
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Made sure team members were well-equipped
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Assured my team was respectful to each other and customers
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Restocked
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Issued receipts to customers as they left with their purchases
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Processed cash, debit, credit, and check transactions
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Counted the drawers
Cashier,
Mariano's Grocery
Store
October 2021 - February 2022
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Kept area clean
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Restocked
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Assured customer satisfaction
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Issued receipts to customers as they left with their purchases
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Scanned items for purchase
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Checked prices and quantities for accuracy
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Processed cash, debit, credit, and check transactions
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Assisted customers in the store
Career Plan
My career plan is to graduate with a bachelor’s in science at U of I. Then enroll in an accelerated BSN program and earn my bachelor’s in nursing science degree. Gain nursing experience while completing an MSN (Master of Science in Nursing) program at Rush University or UIC-Chicago because their program includes working in their hospitals, and they will sponsor your master’s degree. After this I will earn my advanced practice nursing licensure in practical nursing based on my state requirements to become a Nurse Practitioner. Lastly, I will either be working with nurse recruiters or looking on nursing job boards to find my first job.
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My motivation for choosing my career as a nurse practitioner was my mother. In 2015, she passed away from a disease, Deep Vein Thrombosis, which traveled to her lungs and had a life-changing effect on her mobility. She couldn’t do a lot of things on her own: use the restroom, feed herself, bathe herself, walk, etc. Because of this she became solely dependent upon the nurses and doctors of the hospital she was in, Northwestern. The healthcare at Northwestern, the best hospital in Chicago, was horrible. My mom was extremely sick, and she was put into the hands of people who was supposed to nurse her back to her strongest self. Though, this was not the case—I witnessed my mother lay in the bed waiting, begging nurses to come and feed her, take her to the bathroom, bathe her—and it was terrifying. One day, my mom’s nurse was feeding her breakfast, knowing my mom’s condition and that she couldn’t swallow large amounts of food because her throat was closing, she continued to feed her large amounts. She choked on her own blood because she was fed too much food at one time, she laid there lifeless, at the hands of a nurse. Viewing something like that changed my entire perspective of healthcare official’s. After that I wanted to be that person who cared about the well-being of their patients and making sure they return home to their loved ones. In addition, this has also helped to shape my ideal work environment being one that is honest, one that makes patients a priority, also one that assist all patients and meet their needs quickly.
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Although I am very passionate about achieving my career goal, some alternative careers I may consider is either becoming a police officer or a teacher. These two occupations carry the same morals as my future career as a NP does. All three of these carriers practice true presence, moral integrity, responsibility, honesty, and plenty more essential values. I would still be helping people in a way, still leaving an impact on them which may help them lean towards change—impacting those around them as well. These work environments will allow me to help lead people in the right direction, to help people see things in different perspectives. Between the two alternatives I would more than likely go down the path of being a police officer because just like being a NP, its more hands on. Also, being an officer allows you to make a difference in communities all around you. This career involves reducing crime, installing unity, and relationships with all different types of people. And this is what I want to be a part of!
GET TO KNOW ME
My Background
My name is Jadore Phillips-Lopez, and I am from Chicago, Il. My father was born and raised in Belize, whilst my mother, who is African American, was born in raised in Chicago. My “family” is mainly small, and it only consists of my dad and my 5 sisters. My mother passed away from a disease, Deep Vein Thrombosis, in April of 2015—since then she has been my “intrinsic motivation” to become successful, especially in the health field. In addition to that, another contributing factor of my desired career of becoming a nurse practitioner, would be the sucky health care provided to my mom when she was extremely sick. Watching something like that changed the way I viewed everything. I wanted to be that someone who cared about the well-being and health of their patients—making sure they make it out of the hospital and back to their loved ones.
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One of the reasons I chose U of I is because they offered me the most money—my education was free. I chose my major, Interdisciplinary health sciences, because I thought that nursing would fall under that category, though come to find out U of I doesn’t even have a nursing program. Although, this school doesn’t have the major I desired, nursing, going down the path I am, with a great amount of focus and determination I can still achieve my dream of becoming a nurse practitioner in nearly the same amount of time.
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Being a member of I-LEAP, I expect to gain access to a lot of opportunities that aren’t offered to other students and specifically designed for me. This program allows me to have a variety of resources that is beneficial to me during current time and later in the future. There are two personal values I live by, “never give up” and “work hard”. These values are very important to me because these are two things you need whatever you do, and to be successful. These values impact my actions because it allowed me to create this mindset where I wouldn't even allow myself to fail, because I know what my goals and I also know that I set them high. Therefore, it will take some major studying and long nights, but I will never give it up because then I would be the only thing holding me back from my success.
Leadership
Organization is my strongest competency. It is important for a leader to be organized because they need to prioritize where their time should be spent the most. Leaders that aren’t organized spend too much time giving reactions to the wrong ideas within the organization. In addition, being organized helps you to stay clear of the consensus. This is a strength because it allows me to lead people properly. With this skill, I know what my goals are and the things I need to do to achieve them. Being organized can help me as a college student because it will help me stay clear of due dates, notes from previous lectures, and I would more than likely have a better understanding of what’s going on in the class and I could help those who lack the strength I excel in. This could help me as a community member because I would be able to establish the main goal and focus areas and come up with solutions faster. In my future career, being organized will help me to understand and bond with my patients more. I would be able to keep track of the things they want me to know, in addition to the ways they prefer to do certain things involving their health.
Personal/Self is the competency I want to improve because this is essential for a leader to have. Leaders need to be able to manage their actions in addition to maintaining a healthy, positive attitude. It is important to be able to make mistakes and learn from them, rather than letting them become barriers. I can be very hard on myself and tend to be upset when things don’t go as planned, but I am slowly learning that it is ok to make mistakes. This competency would help me as a college student, community member, and in my future career because it teaches you to use obstacles you face as motivation to keep pushing towards your goal. I will improve this competency by easing up on myself and begin focusing on learning from my mistakes rather than being upset over something that can’t be changed.
Community Service
Serving the community is important because it helps you to create bonds and a larger support system with those around you. In addition to those developing relationships, becoming active in the community can help reduce stress and depression. Just like everyone else, you are bound to face obstacles and hardships, and without a support system it can be very challenging to overcome. Therefore, these connections shared with the people you see every day can improve your mood and motivate you to find solutions to your obstacles.
I was involved in the community service, The Peacemakers Room, which aimed to provide the community with toiletries and other necessities they lacked. After being involved and seeing the difference my peers and I were making, completing service hours was no longer the goal. My goal became more than meeting the required hours on a sheet, I genuinely wanted to help people—and I did. I became a philanthropist. Although, I did initially do it for the experience, to say I volunteered, that is something that I would do again. Helping people who faced poverty in my community made me feel like a better person, and there is no better feeling than that! I came across all types of people, people I knew, people I didn’t, and people I would’ve never expected to step foot in that room. Everyone that entered the Peace Room came with positive vibes, and in return we offered them kindness inside and out of the Peace Room, clothes, shoes, toiletries, and other resources for more help. The people who used the resources in Peace Room were so grateful, that they assured us of their gratitude, they were so kind and so appreciative of our actions they would see us outside of the organization and greet us; if others were around, they would even brag about the ways the it helped them and the way it is so carefully organized.
The Peace Room showed me that it is always something you can do to help others who are less fortunate or in need. During this experience I was the best version of myself. Although, I wouldn’t want to pursue a career specifically like the Peace Room, my career of being a nurse practitioner includes being involved in the community, giving, and assisting those who need it. In addition, some personal qualities I learned while engaging In the Peace Room is leadership, listening, and being open-minded. I use these qualities more often now, especially because I am on my path to my career because it is essential that you help people on your way to success, teach them how to help people, listen to what others have to say—feedback, and being open to new ideas and ways of life In order to be a good leader, moreover a good person.
- Maya Angelou
"I did then what I knew how to do. Now that I know better, I do better."