Blog 1: About Me

Hi, my name is Stephanie Filiberto. I'm a second semester freshman at LaGuardia Community College. I'm currently going to LaGuardia for my A.A.S. for Paramedic now, but when I'm done with that I plan to transfer to either Stony Brook University or Touro College and apply to Physician's Assistant school.

I actually do not live in the city, I live in the middle of Suffolk County on Long Island. A lot of people ask me why I am going to school so far away. Well, the main reason is because LaGuardia is the only school in the area that offers a degree for paramedic, while every other school just offers a certificate. The other reason is that I just wanted to try something different. Last year I went to Suffolk County Community College and it was absolutely terrible. Because I was an incoming student and had last pick at classes, I literally had a class 7 days a week. So between school, EMT class, work, and volunteering I overloaded from the stress and needless to say I didn't finish the semester there.

I have been an EMT for about a year and a half now. It is not only my job but I also volunteer as an EMT. Volunteering is what actually got me started in Emergency Medical Services. I was really interested in becoming an EMT all through out high school. A friend who is in another ambulance company told me that if I volunteer for a fire department or ambulance company that they would pay for my EMT class. So, as soon as I turned 18 I joined South Country Ambulance Company. I'm part of the Friday night duty crew where I am required to stay there every Friday night from 7pm-5am Saturday morning. I also work part time with a private ambulance company called Emergency Ambulance Service. Since I joined South Country, EMS has become a huge part of my life. Not only do you learn how so save someone, but the people you work with become a second family; much closer than friends from a regular job. A lot of times we have to go to calls where it could potentially be life threatening to ourselves just to save someone we don't even know.

Between school, work, and volunteering I find that I hardly have any time to see my friends and family. Sometimes I even have to work overnights and holidays. Even though I do have goals, with everything thats going on in my busy life right now I just try to take it one day at a time and see where life takes me.