Christopher Lee Navarrette

When Christopher Lee Navarrette, a nursing student at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, missed his grandmother's funeral because he had exams and a huge paper due, members of his large, close family were hurt and appalled.

"I tried ad nauseam to explain it, but some of them just could not understand," said Navarrette, president of the student chapter of the National Association of Hispanic Nurses."Family is a wonderful thing, but when they don't understand what's going on, it can be a problem."

Navarrette has used his experience to support and encourage fellow Hispanic nursing students as a mentor in UT's "Juntos Podemos" (Together We Can) program.The program, which pairs experienced and beginning students of similar backgrounds, helps students feel that they are not isolated, that they have support from people who understand what they're going through.

For the Hispanic students he mentored, the most difficult part of school "was their interpersonal relationships with their families," Navarrette said."Half of them had their own children.They felt guilty about being away for so long from their families.It's a big challenge for Latino nursing students coming in."