Learning to play your deck of cards

Escrito por: Emely Gonzalez 🇸🇻

Headshot of Franshesca Orellana Castellanos. (Sanya Wason)

Franshesca Orellana Castellanos was raised in a single-mother household, with cultural origins in Guatemala. Growing up, Orellana Castellanos was faced with many responsibilities in her household, which helped shape her purpose and guide her to where she was meant to be.

Orellana Castellanos became a caregiver to her mother at a young age. After her mother went for a hysterectomy procedure, her mother began to feel unwell, leading to multiple doctor visits with different medical professionals. These visits eventually resulted in the discovery of a rare infection.

As time passed, the infection worsened, placing her mother in a condition where she was unable to complete basic daily tasks. Because of this, Orellana Castellanos and her brother had to step up and take on the responsibilities their mother had managed for years as the head of the household.

Orellana Castellanos played a significant role in caring for her mother, particularly in supporting her financially by assisting with her mother’s nanny job and ensuring she took her medication. 

 “There’s such a beauty in being able to take care of people and knowing that you can bring a sense of relief into their lives,” she said. “But there was the other aspect of ‘why did this all happen?’ Could this have been prevented? Why did it take four doctors to finally realize and actually believe her?”

Her passion for advocating for those who cannot advocate for themselves stemmed from her experience with her mother, initiating her interest in the medical field.

After being a part of a health professional program in high school, she enrolled at the University of Maryland, where she majored in biological sciences with a specialization in physiology and neurobiology, along with a minor in human development.

While at the university, she became a recipient of the Maryland Promise Scholarship Program. Additionally, she participated in different types of research development, served as a teaching assistant for general chemistry, and volunteered at a women’s health clinic. 

She noticed that a large percentage of Latinas visited these clinics and were often disadvantaged when it came to understanding their situations due to the need for translators and the lack thereof.

“There is such a language disparity in the healthcare field, and it’s causing a cycle of mistrust in the Latino community and medical professionals,” she said. “If there’s this language barrier, they’re not able to feel comfortable. They’re not able to say everything they need to say. Perhaps they’re not being properly heard or understood, and then resulting in them not getting the proper treatment that they need.”

Despite having opportunities to explore her passions, she also experienced a sense of guilt, questioning why she was there. In a conversation with her brother about this feeling, she shared, “Everyone in life is dealt a deck of cards. We all have different cards with different paths and opportunities—you just need to play your own deck of cards.” 

While juggling three jobs, 17 credits a semester, and her own health, Orellana Castellanos often asked herself, “Am I capable of doing this?” and “Do I really want this?” However, she always returned to her original purpose, reflecting on the initial cards she played to reach her current position. 

“It’s not for me, it’s for everybody. It’s for my family, it’s for our community, it’s for the change I know I can make,” she said.

Orellana Castellanos was raised with the belief that if something is wrong, one should take action and be the change. That is exactly how she plans to play the cards she has been dealt.