Chapter 02 : Finding the Way to Nursing
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Description
Dr. Ecung begins this chapter by noting that when she began college (San Antonio College, transferring to Texas Woman’s University, BS in Nursing conferred in 1977) she believed she would focus on business. She talks about how ambitiously she approached her first jobs in high school and her success as a young employee. She then explains how a guidance counselor limited her sights for study in college to teaching and nursing because of her gender, though she notes that “he didn’t know he was doing me a favor.”
Identifier
EcungWB_C02
Publication Date
9-21-2016
City
Houston, Texas
Interview Session
Wenonah Ecung, PhD, Oral History Interview, September 21, 2016
Topics Covered
The Interview Subject's Story - Educational Path; Personal Background; Leadership; On Leadership; Character, Values, Beliefs, Talents; Experiences Related to Gender, Race, Ethnicity
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Disciplines
History of Science, Technology, and Medicine | Oncology | Oral History
Transcript
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD :
Okay. Now, tell me a bit about your educational experiences. What were the things you loved? How did you kind of say, oh yeah, these are the directions I'm drifting in.
Wenonah Ecung, PhD:
(inaudible), yeah.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD :
Yeah.
Wenonah Ecung, PhD:
Well, that is interesting, when we look at what's going on today. So I startedcollege-wise, I started at San Antonio College. It was abbreviated SAC. It was a two-year community college in San Antonio. And it was in preparation for me to take all the prerequisites to move to something, which I thought at the time was going to be business. Shortlywell, not shortly, about a year and a half into that, I met with my school counselor, a male. He advised me that as a female, I needed to consider nursing or becoming a teacher. And I didn't want to do either one. So I went home to discuss it with my mom. And being who she was, she said, "Well, he's the expert. If that's what he's telling you, then we need to choose." And we narrowed itI said, "Well, I really don't want to teach." She said, "Well, then, you'll have to be a nurse." And that is how I ended up in nursing. That is totally different from what's going on, and all the options that girls have before them today. But I do want to add, my counselor at the moment didn't know he was doing me a favor. But it actually turned out to be one of the best things that ever happened to me. Nursing turned out to be a scuffle board to launch from in terms of pretty much any direction I wanted to. So he really did me a favor without knowing it.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD :
What were some of the assumptions that you made about nursing at the time, that made you think, "No, I don't want to do that"?
Wenonah Ecung, PhD:
What I wanted to do was go into the Air Force. That, I know, was following the path of my father. My mother, being a mother, said, "Absolutely not." She felt she didn't want me in harm's way. So she, without discussion, took that option off the table. When he mentioned nursing or teaching, I, without realizing, I think I saw those as professions dominated by females, and I just thought I could do so much more. I could contribute so much more, something different. I think that was what initially turned me off about either being a teacher or a nurse.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD :
Whatnow, that's really cool that at that age, you felt, wow, I've got a lot inside me. What were some of your ambitions at the time?
Wenonah Ecung, PhD:
Well, I knew I wanted to go into business. I didn't know exactly what "business" meant, but I had had a couple of jobs prior to that. I worked atit was a grocery chain in San Antonio, and I don't know if it's still there, called "Handy Andy." Pretty muchwell, they had Handy Andy, and H-E-B. So it was a grocery chain, like H-E-B. I worked my way up there from being on the floor to the cashier to the office. So I knew there was something there in terms of me being somewhat business-astute. I had also worked forand I remember it to this dayFrank T. Drought Engineering Corporation. And that was a small engineering firm, where the owner, Frank Drought, whose daughter was going off to a university and they wanted someone to replace her in the office. But it was pretty much like a girl Friday, where you did everything. You were receptionist, you greeted visitors, but you also did payroll for the office. And so I just knew there was moreI felt there was more that I could do. I had been able to take over that entire office and produce for the family the way they wanted.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD :
How old were you at the time?
Wenonah Ecung, PhD:
ProbablyI graduated from high school a year early. So I was probably 16.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD :
Wow, that's amazing! So you had a lot of confidence.
Wenonah Ecung, PhD:
I did.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD :
Yeah. Did you have other kind of extracurricular activities? Or you pretty much worked?
Wenonah Ecung, PhD:
Well, when I was in high school, I was in the brigade. It was called the Card Brigade. And that was, instead of being a cheerleader, that was a section where if you were looking from an aerial view, you could look down and see that the cards were spelling out words. So that's what I was a part of. In college, no. I pretty much worked and I focused on school.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD :
So tell me about your experiences at the two-year school. And I turn my page over, this is San Antonio College.
Wenonah Ecung, PhD:
San Antonio College. Well, I think that was, like any young person, that was my first time going off to school. My mother was pretty strict. I didn't really get to date, so this was, like, freedom. (laughter) Even though at the end of the day, I would go home, not to a dorm. But I started out probably the first six months not focusing on my classes, and getting caught up in just what young college students do, like playing cards or hanging out and watching the soap operators. I remember Young and the Restless started for the very first time. And then I remember getting my grades and being on probation, and then having to have a discussion with my mom. And she's kind of one person you didn't want to hold those discussions with. So after that, I gave up playing cards and I gave up watching soap operas, and I focused on school. We charted a path of what was to come after the two years, and she made it clear that she felt having an Associate degree was pretty much not having a degree at all. So we charted the path in terms of where I was to go. And we chose Texas Woman's University. So from that point on, it was using what was required in their curriculum, me making sure I was taking those classes, so that I could transition there. And I did. Two years later, I transitioned to Denton, Texas. I'll never forget, my mom helped move me up. She cleaned the room, Cloroxed down everything, and then two weeks later I was called to their office and told that I could come to the Houston campus, that I didn't need to stay there. That I pretty much had everything except for one course, which was a physical education course. And we had agreement that I would take that from the University of Houston. So I went there
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD :
Now, what did that move represent? Is the Houston campus the flagship campus?
Wenonah Ecung, PhD:
Yes. In terms of nursing.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD :
I'm not from
Wenonah Ecung, PhD:
In terms of nursing.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD :
Okay. Okay.
Wenonah Ecung, PhD:
Yes. It meant that I was headed straight into the nursing program at that point on.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD :
Wow.
Wenonah Ecung, PhD:
Yeah.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD :
Now, after you'd kind of buckled down and was paying more attention to your classes and everything, what was evolving for you? How were you understanding your own abilities differently at that time? If you were, I mean sometimes people don't
Wenonah Ecung, PhD:
I'm not sureI think one thing we'd have to understand is, because of who my mom was and because of who my father was, I've alwaysI think I was always a pretty independent child. Not just independent, but reasonably assertive. I think that wasI think I was placed in situations to where it was expected. That was expected of me from my parents. So movingthe strongest emotion I had, moving from Denton to Houston was, I was somewhat a "mama's girl," if you would. So it had been very difficult for me to leave my younger sister, Tambela, and my mom and go to Denton. It seemed like I was just sort of beginning to settle in whenit was a happy occasion I was told I could come to Houston. But at the same time, I had just started to make friends. So it was like being behind, somewhat. Everybody in Houston had already had those two, three weeks ahead of time to meet people, and develop maybe some beginning friendships. Here I was just coming, I had never been to Houston before. It was like starting over again, having my mom coming up, having to leave her all over again. So that part was pretty scary. But it was something that my parent had instilled in me. I knew I could do it, I just had to push through the fear. And I remember standing at a bulletin board looking at a schedule, and this girl, young girl, coming up to me and saying, "You look lost." And I said, "I am." And she befriended me right at that time. Her name was Yolanda Franklin. And we just immediately became friends from there on. And she was in the nursing program. So it was kind of godsend.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD :
Yeah. Yeah, you had a life saver thrown to you at that very moment.
Wenonah Ecung, PhD:
Yes. At that.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD :
Well, I guess I wanted to ask you, again, going back to Denton, it sounds like maybe there was some confusion, or distraction from the academics. But it sounds like you were learning things about interpersonal interactions and social
Wenonah Ecung, PhD:
I was learning life skills. Yeah.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD :
So what were some of the things that you learned about yourself from that perspective?
Wenonah Ecung, PhD:
Well, I guess I learned that even though I was attached to my mom, I guess I learned at that point that I could survive with an extended umbilical cord; I can't say that it was detached, but with an extended umbilical cord. Because we stayed in touch pretty much every day, every other day. I do remember at some point it became weekly. But it was always at least weekly. So I guess I learned I could do things without her, I guess, I don't want to say "directing," but helping me navigate. I learned I could do it myself. But I don't think I was reallyI don't think being there two to three weeks, I was really there long enough to develop formal friendships. Although I remember one girlI don't even remember her name, thoughthat helped me pack up everything to come down to Houston. But I think that experience just helped me know that, yeah, you can do this. You can do it by yourself. You can do it. You can do this. I don't have any other way to put it. Yeah.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD :
Yeah, it's funny when that feeling comes over you, yeah, and you suddenly realize that. Yeah. So tell me about navigating Houston with Yolanda's friendship, thank goodness.
Wenonah Ecung, PhD:
Yeah. Well, that was interesting. I did have a car. I had my first new car back in 1977, I think it was. At that time, my momI remember her saying to me, "For every dollar you save, I'll match, and that will be your down payment. Your goal has to be if you can't afford the car in three years to pay it off, you can't afford the car." So that became my goal. I remember driving back. It was a yellow Vega. It was lemon yellow, as a matter of fact, because I wanted canary pink, and they weren't making pink cars at the time. Anyway, I drove back, I drove to Houston in that car. And I got here, and I was terrified of the traffic. And literally, the car was parked for three months, until one day I was so homesick, I literally found the courage to get in the car, get on the freeway, and drive home to San Antonio. But prior to that, I hadn't been home for three months. But that was a turning point for me. Again, it was like knowing, oh my God, you really can do this. And you can do it by yourself. And you can enjoy doing it by yourself. I think that was the big revelation there, pushing through the Houston traffic and embracing it, and getting out in it and driving. Also, the mandate was, I would come here to take the PE course. And so when I went over to the University of Houston, it was large to me. Texas Woman's was small, here in Houston, at least. I remember being somewhat fearful, not knowing how to navigate that campus. But doing itand I ended up enrolling in racquetball and had a great time with that. Houston was special to me, because we had special professors. The classes were reasonably small. I think it was 25. We started out with more, but it dwindled down to 25. But for whatever reason, the professors took an interest in me. It was not an easy school. But I was always proud to be at that school, because I came to understand the rivalry between Texas Woman's School of Nursing and the University of Texas School of Nursing. And I came to appreciate that we had always doneour graduating seniors had always done better on the nursing board than they had. So I've always been a competitive person, so that was appealing to me.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD :
Now, I'm going to
Wenonah Ecung, PhD:
And I'm sure I'm jumping all over the place.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD :
No, no, no, that's fine. No.
Wenonah Ecung, PhD:
Okay. (laughter)
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD :
So just so I'm clear, you were at Texas Woman's?
Wenonah Ecung, PhD:
Mm-hmm. [affirmative]
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD :
And, in fact, you were also there for your master's?
Wenonah Ecung, PhD:
Yes.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD :
Right. So I'm just unclear, did you take classes at the UT School of Nursing, or
Wenonah Ecung, PhD:
No. No, no.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD :
Okay, so this wasall right. Okay.
Wenonah Ecung, PhD:
Went to University of Houston to take the PE classes.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD :
The PE.
Wenonah Ecung, PhD:
But all my other classes were taken at Texas Woman's University.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD :
So tell me about your experiences there academically. How were youkind of your understanding of nursing and yourself in this profession growing at that time?
Wenonah Ecung, PhD:
Mm-hmm. Pretty much with the exception of going off to school, the community college for the very first time, I've always been a very good student. Our household, when my mom and dad were together, was one of study. At 5:00 when he would enterit was a very strict home. When he would enter, all chatter would stop. He was king of the kingdom, if you will. And at that point, it was dinner, and it was study time, whether you were studying what you had for school, or he was studying what he was going to try and promote within the Air Force the next time. So going off, that was my goal. I was the first to go to college. And my goal was to make my mom proud, because of the sacrifices she was making. So I was what you would call a bookworm. I studied. But I also enjoyed it. And I enjoyedTexas Woman's University wasI don"™t know if they would have said it back then, but it was very Socratic in its method that it used. You had to be prepared, because your professors were going to ask you question after question after question after question, which again, has turned out to be, I know from my PhD program, which was one of the best things, because I'm not afraid of questionsI kind of got lost. What did you ask me? (laughs)
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD :
No, no, you're not lost at all. No, I was talking about your experience there academically.
Wenonah Ecung, PhD:
Okay. Right. So I excelled academically.
Recommended Citation
Ecung, Wenonah B. PhD and Rosolowski, Tacey A. PhD, "Chapter 02 : Finding the Way to Nursing" (2016). Interview Chapters. 690.
https://openworks.mdanderson.org/mchv_interviewchapters/690
Conditions Governing Access
Open
