“I feel the same fear that haunts the others. We are all afraid. But I also feel helpless because I recently completed my nursing course. Yet, I’m stuck at home instead of fighting this pandemic like all the doctors and nurses at the forefront. Since I don’t have my practitioner license yet, I’m unable to contribute to the fight. Had the lockdown started a week later in Nepal, I could have obtained my license and joined our medical frontliners. To be honest, that prospect too is nerve-wracking but I’ve always wanted to be a nurse and this is the kind of thing I signed up for. Taking care of people at their worst and inspiring hopes and smiles in them attracted me to this profession. During my internship in a regional hospital, I had to take care of an acute gastritis patient for about a week. I wasn’t there when he was discharged. But when I returned, other nurses told me that the patient asked for me so that he could personally thank me. I had the biggest smile that day. At times like this, I remember my motivations more clearly. As a result, this pandemic has only made me more determined.”