She came to P.E.I. a decade ago to work in a fish plant. Now she's an LPN.

Zheny Angeles had put her dream of a health-care career on hold for a long time, but on Monday she officially marked the end of a long journey, graduating from Holland College's licensed practical nursing program.

Angeles, who is 46, was in the class of 2023 at the college's Summerside campus.

She actually passed her accreditation exam earlier and had already been working shifts at Prince County Hospital, but she was "walking on clouds" when she put on the gown and walked across the stage to graduate.

"I had this dream and it came true. I did it!" she said. "I'm so thankful and grateful for all these blessings that have come my way."

Her husband Eleazar and son River were in the crowd watching her accept her diploma.

"It's a great thing that she pursued her dream," said Eleazar Angeles. "She is doing what she wants now."

From fish plant to classroom

Angeles is from the Philippines. She came to Prince Edward Island as a temporary foreign worker, and in 2013 started working on the lobster processing line at the Acadian Supreme Inc. plant in Wellington.

The plant sponsored her for permanent residency, which she said was life-changing.

"I had a chance. I said, 'OK, I'm going to pursue this, I'm going to go back again to school,'" she said.

Angeles said she has always wanted to help people: "Since I was a kid, I had this passion, compassion, of taking care of people, especially the elderly and children,"

'I stopped dreaming'

Angeles had been enrolled in a health-care program in her home country but had to drop out after her 23-year-old brother was killed in 2007. The death shook their whole family as they struggled to cope with his murder, she said.

"It affected our emotional well-being at that time. My Dad stopped working, my family struggled — we lost everything."

For about a year after losing her brother, she said she felt lost.

"I stopped dreaming. I didn't have any motivation."

After stopping her studies, she focused on helping her family, as strength gradually returned.

She eventually moved away from the Philippines, working in Taiwan at an electronics plant before choosing to come to Prince Edward Island.

'So full of gratefulness'

Angeles said talking to friends made her realize it would still be possible for her to go back to school here. She prepared by taking more English classes.

It wasn't easy at first and she struggled with some of the course work, but stuck with it.

She is thankful for all her classmates and her teachers did to support her along the way.

"They did really help me a lot," she said. "My heart and my mind [are] so full of gratefulness to them."

Instructor Jennifer Collins described Angeles as a resilient person.

"Zheny is very empathetic, kind, compassionate and dedicated," she said. "Her perseverance speaks for how well she will do in the health-care profession."

Still working at fish plant too

Finances were tight during her coursework, but Angeles was able to get student loans as well as some funding through Skills PEI, and she is still working at the fish plant when it's possible.

She wants to make some extra money in hopes of making it home for her parents' 50th wedding anniversary this summer. It would be her first visit since 2017.

Now that his wife is an LPN, Eleazar Angeles said their life will improve tremendously, with a higher income coming in.

"She's earning much more than me," he said, laughing. "Her achieving this is a big thing for us. It's giving us all our needs. We can have a good life in Canada."

Zheny Angeles said it feels both wonderful and amazing to have finished her education and be looking forward to more time with her family.

"Right now, I feel like I have freedom to choose," she said. "Sometimes I can't believe that I'm here."