Not many high school students can say they were a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) at 16. In fact, only one student in Illinois can, David Frausto.
Frausto is currently in his senior year at MC and high school has certainly been a journey for him. From juggling school work and studying to be a CNA it has been a stressful couple of years for him. He has struggled and worked hard, and come out better because of it.
In June of 2023, Frausto’s mother got sick and was sent to the ICU. It was through this experience that he realized what he wanted to do for the rest of his life.
“My mother unfortunately was in the ICU with a 10% survival rate,” he said. “She had sepsis and other health conditions to deal with. This was traumatic but the people that helped her were the certified nursing assistants. They really assured me of her survival. Therefore after this I told my mom I would like to become a CNA at the age of 16 because you are able to become one at 16.”
A CNA is a healthcare professional who provides basic care to patients under the supervision of a registered nurse (RN) or licensed practical nurse (LPN). CNAs work in a variety of healthcare settings, including hospitals, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and home health care.
In order to become one, Frausto attended classes at Triton College for six months. Keep in mind that he did this along with all of the schoolwork he had to do at MC. He then graduated from Triton College and passed his CNA exam, ultimately becoming the youngest CNA in the state of Illinois.
“I decided to start because my mother was sick and I wanted to help people that were similar to her,” said Frausto. “I don’t think anyone should go through any of what happened to my family so I try to help the people that go through it.”
He started officially working as a CNA last August and has since worked at Plymouth Place, Loyola University clinics, and a Walgreens pharmacy.
“I started this as a part time job but it felt like a full time job due to all of the crazy work hours such as everyday going to work after school and not having time to relax,” he said.
Frausto plans to attend college at St. Louis University and continue to work in the SLU hospital system. The journey so far has not been easy and it certainly won’t get easier in college.
“Balancing the workload is something that is very difficult to this day,” said Frausto. “I still can’t balance it too much. There are days that I come home from school and I tell my parents that I don’t want to go to work. But I still have to go to work.”
Putting his nose to the grindstone is something that Frausto has excelled at in this process. Sometimes there are no tricks or shortcuts, and working hard is the only option.
“Even through everything I had no help with classes and did all of the work by myself,” said Frausto. “I stood up late nights doing work for school and for my CNA classes. I would go through different textbooks to even look at what the disease was. There’s a lot of things that I learned that I will carry with me for the rest of my life.”
From a tragic event to a career, Frausto has certainly had an inspiring journey and will certainly continue to grow and learn as a CNA in the future.
“I have learned the importance of hard work, perseverance, dedication, discipline, and patience,” said Frausto.
