At CavOILcade, they hail a queen
Published 8:04 am Thursday, January 18, 2018
Aisha Vaughn’s dream of becoming a neonatal nurse practitioner was birthed in her experiences — the earliest of which she can’t remember.
“I was born four months early; I was a premature infant,” the Sabine Pass High School senior told The Port Arthur News. “If it wasn’t for the neonatal staff I wouldn’t be here.”
But Vaughn, CavOILcade queen by virtue of her victory in competition Saturday night, is here, and that makes the world a better place.
The daughter of Quintella Williams-Batiste and Gerald Bastiste weathered the early challenges of her premature birth to blossom into an exceptional young woman determined to accomplish all she can in her chosen field.
What Vaughn can’t remember about her first months her mother remembers well.
“I held her in the palm of my hand when she was first born,” Williams-Batiste recollected this week. “We went from Park Place Hospital in Port Arthur to Memorial Hermann in Houston. She stayed there for five months … .”
What Williams-Batiste sees now is a bright light in her life, a joyful daughter who remains determined not only to survive, but to thrive.
“She’s a great kid that always has a smile on her face. She has a lot going for her,” Williams-Batiste said.
Part of what she has going for her is the encouragement and good example of family members like Williams-Batiste, who pushes her to try her best, and grandfather Allen Martin, whom Vaughn describes as a role model — “always there for me” — who encourages her every success.
Part of her intended success will come in her professional role, for which she hopes to first prepare either at Lamar University or at Prairie View A&M. But becoming a neonatal nurse practitioner — they are charged with the care of infants with challenges, usually those born premature or ill, within their first 28 days — is no easy road. Generally, neonatal nurse practitioners prepare for their careers by earning a bachelor’s and a registered nurse license, then working a few years in the field before adding some combination of either a master’s degree and certifications or both.
It requires core training in embryology, neonatal physiology, advanced neonatal assessment, pharmacology and more, in addition to clinical practicums. In other words, a lot.
But Vaughn is not averse to challenges and is not short on achievements. She’s an A-B student, on the principal’s council, a cheerleader and takes Advanced Placement courses. She volunteers with the Knights of Peter Claver and elsewhere.
And, she proves, she’s not unwilling to discuss the challenges of being a preemie and takes pride in being what her doctor calls “a miracle baby.”
Great things can come from small packages. Just ask Vaughn’s mom and the CavOILcade committee.