I immigrated to the U.S. in 1987 at the age of 31 on a working visa during the "Nursing Shortage". It was my first time out of my home country of the Philippines. I had studied nursing and worked in a small town hospital a few years post college, but I itched to go somewhere new. With a lot of hard work and luck, I passed the U.S. Licensure Exam on my first attempt so I escaped the threat of deportation.