Meet the Alumni: Itza M. Toro-Bishop
Program/Year
of graduation: Bachelor of Health Science in rehabilitative services,
1991; Master of Health Science in rehabilitation counseling, 1993
What I’m doing now: I am now working with the Department of Veteran Affairs/Vocational Rehabilitation & Counseling Division (also known as Chapter 31) in Orlando, Florida. I am in direct contact with disabled veterans who have en employment handicap, and are in need of vocational rehabilitation. I have been working with the federal government for a total of five and a half years. It is so very rewarding since we work with the most disabled of veterans who give so much in the name of freedom.
My favorite UF memory: I loved working practicums and getting to work in the field to apply my learning and desire to help so many populations of handicapped persons. I worked with the elderly, mentally handicapped, victims of domestic violence and low-income families. I realized that the people I worked with taught me much more about life and what is important, than I could have ever learned in school. My role model was Dr. Linda Shaw. She is so professional and she nurtures your learning with guidance and support. Dr. Shaw opened my eyes to catastrophic injuries and TBIs and the long-term impact these injuries have on a life and a family.
Best lesson learned at UF: I realized that a master’s degree is just the beginning in learning theory, but applying this to real life and real people is best learned by day-to-day work, communication and interaction. My professors taught me that I could make a career from what I have loved to do at heart since I was a little girl, which is to help the disadvantaged. I love going to work everyday and I am proud of my job, which is a part of how I am defined.
People would be surprised to know: That I love garage sales (like treasure hunting) and traveling. I am Puerto Rican and my first language is Spanish. I love going to the movies, especially foreign films.
Family: I am a wife to Scott (five years), my soul mate, and a mother to Isabella (three and a half years old) and Alexandra (seven months old). My life is full. My most important role is that of a mother. I am truly blessed. I have an older sister (by one year) who is my best friend and who lives with her family four blocks from us. I am very close to my parents, who recently bought a home five minutes from us and are the best grandparents my daughters could have ever wished for. I have close friends that I call family and whom I met while attending UF.
In the future I hope to: Be the best mom I can be. Continue to balance work, while being the best mom and wife I can strive to be. I plan on being the best role model for my daughters as my mother was to me. I was blessed with a mother who is in the same profession as I and whom I admire and idolize. My mom was always a leader and she moved mountains in the name of helping others. My dad is our rock and my hero and I hope to make him as proud of me as I am of him.
