Aster Gebregergis
Quick Facts
Age: 36
Pronouns: she/her
Major: Nursing, 2025
Notable: First-generation
Languages: Tigrinya, Amharic, Arabic
Transfer Institution: Renton Technical College, Associate in Arts
“Courtesy, excellent manners, respect for others, and the belief that everyone is valuable are characteristics that define a civil person. What we give is what we will get back from others.”
Service & Work:
Certified Nursing Assistant, Avamere Nursing and Rehabilitation, Burien, WA, March 2016–Present
Volunteer, Medhane Alem Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church
Awards & Honors:
Alfie Scholars, Cohort 8, 2023–2025
President’s List, Highline College, 2022–2023
President’s List, Seattle Central College, 2022–2023
President’s List, Renton Technical College, 2020–2023
Achievement Scholarship
Aster’s Story
I was born in Sudan but raised in Eritrea in a family of ten. I come from a low-income family. There were times when we struggled financially. My father worked as a farmer, and my mother was a dedicated housewife who devoted her time to caring for our entire family. Neither of my parents could receive a formal education. I am the first person in my family to have the opportunity for higher education. My father graciously took on the responsibility of being the sole provider for our entire family. Throughout my academic journey, I have consistently excelled in my studies, bringing immense joy and pride to my parents. However, my father's support reduced once I finished eighth grade. After completing eighth grade, my father encouraged me to consider alternative paths, such as marriage or employment, to contribute to our family's well-being. However, I respectfully declined as I wished to avoid the hardships my elder sister faced when she married young and encountered an abusive relationship.
My mother and aunt were tremendously supportive of my studies. They consistently offered words of encouragement, urging me not to give up, as they recognized the importance of education. Their unwavering passion, powerful desire, and relentless motivation were incredibly instrumental in helping me develop my dream. After eighth grade, I moved out and lived with my aunt. My aunt lived in a village 11 kilometers from my school town. I used to walk 11 kilometers to and from school every day, and I was fortunate to be one of the brightest students in my class. I used to be among the top performers in my class, which consisted of over sixty students.
My aunt died unexpectedly while giving birth to her child due to a lack of medical help shortly after I graduated from high school. Once my aunt died, I had no choice but to obey my father and quit my education to assist him in sustaining our family. I traveled to Gash Barka, a small town named Tokombia, where my father farms. There, I began assisting my father on the farm and selling fruits and vegetables on the streets. I worked for almost four years to assist my father in raising my younger siblings.
At the beginning of 2009, I left for Sudan in search of a safe place and a better life. I worked as a housekeeper at a bakery in Sudan, and the money I made barely met my daily expenses. After around 6 months, I met my current husband. We married there and had our first child in 2012. Life in Sudan was not what we had expected due to persistent religious discrimination and hostility, as well as the difficulty of obtaining an education. As a result, we decided to leave Sudan and seek refuge elsewhere.
We discovered a way to get to America. We walked through the bush, across rivers, and took a long bus ride to get here, which was hard and risky. We journeyed from Sudan to Mexico with our one-year-old child, passing through Brazil, Panama, Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Mexico. We did, however, arrive in the United States safely.
When we initially arrived in Seattle, we were homeless with our two-year-old son because we had no relatives to live with and no work authorization to help ourselves. We lived at a shelter in downtown Seattle called Mary's Place for about seven months. After seven months, we got a work permit and rented an apartment with the help of an organization named REWA.
From an early age, I aspired to pursue a career in the medical field. This inclination stems from my upbringing in a region afflicted by the dearth of medical professionals, which has resulted in the unfortunate loss of numerous close family members due to inadequate access to quality healthcare. So, I enrolled in the DT & T Nursing Assistant Training School, where I obtained my nurse assistant certificate and set out on a path to achieve my goal. I chose to work with patients as a nurse assistant before completing my nursing degree, and it provided me with the essential experience to pursue a career in nursing. Today, I am starting nursing school, happily married, and blessed with two boys and one girl.
Goals:
My long-term goal is to obtain a nursing bachelor's degree. I'm from a small town where there aren't many medical professionals. I witnessed many of my close relatives pass away as a result of not receiving medical care. I've also seen a lot of patients scream for help in the emergency room, but there weren't enough medical professionals there to respond quickly. I've always been passionate about nursing. I wanted to give my community access to high-quality medical care. I chose nursing for many reasons, including my passion for helping those who are most in need, my fulfillment of my desire to help others, my need for a dependable and adaptable job, and my need to be paid and receive benefits. I also chose nursing because it allows me to help people in their time of need and alleviates their pain, improving their quality of life.
On Civility:
Being civil, in my perspective, has always meant treating others with decency, respect, dignity, and compassion as well as treating everyone equally and accepting one another's thoughts and opinions, notwithstanding differences. Courtesy, excellent manners, respect for others, and the belief that everyone is valuable are characteristics that define a civil person. What we give is what we will get back from others. Civility serves as the framework for society as a whole. A courteous and civil workplace is linked to increased job satisfaction, equality, and general happiness. Additionally, respect encourages workers to take an active role in solving problems and to engage in their own personal growth. Additionally, respect in the workplace helps to strengthen the bonds between staff members and the clients they serve. In contrast, rudeness is harmful to people's physical, financial, and emotional health. Criminal activity, theft, accidents, injuries, and death are all motivated by disrespect. As a result, when individuals are impacted by incivility, the community suffers because individuals comprise the community. Employees who experience uncivil behavior at work are more likely to feel demotivated, undervalued, unnoticed, and unheard. These variables can result in resignation, sick leave, and an unsafe work environment. These variables also erode people's humanity. For these reasons, it is crucial to focus on increasing our civility and humanity, which will result in higher revenue and less turnover. Every person, society, and organization benefits from civility.
