With her effervescent personality and lively banter, you’d think she’d be great at sales, getting you to buy something you really don’t need but learn that you just can’t live without.
But Yoselyn Peralta doesn’t want to sell you anything. She wants to keep you healthy. And to do that, she prefers working behind the scenes.
Last month, she reached out to her Guttman Biology professor, Dr. Karla Fuller (now dean of faculty). “I want to study cytotechnology. Would you write me a recommendation?” Yoselyn asked.
Signing up for the first cohort of Guttman’s science track within the Liberal Arts and Sciences major in 2017, she read Dr. Fuller’s faculty bio. “I remember she said something like, ‘Don’t limit yourself,’ and that stuck with me. I love walking into something new. I start with baby steps, and then once I start to feel comfortable, I say, ‘I want to do more!’”
So, she does. Upon graduating with an A.A.in June 2018, she took on a position as a Guttman Admissions and Access Peer Mentor and began fall classes at Lehman College where she earned an ABC-B.S. degree—that’s an interdisciplinary major in physical anthropology, biology and chemistry. Yoselyn graduated in December 2019 only to find that spring that the jobs for which she was qualified had all but disappeared due to the COVID pandemic. That’s when she decided to register for the Pharmacy Technician program at New York City College of Technology and passed the national certifying board exam in 2022.
Yoselyn started right away in retail pharmacy. Gaining experience at Walgreens, she began to look for more of a challenge, which she found working as a pharmacy tech at The Brooklyn Cancer Center. She worked long, though rewarding hours, which included conversing with many of the clinic’s patients during their treatments. Their mood was understandably heavy, but Yoselyn respected how they were feeling on any given day.
“Our job as healthcare providers is to make sure everyone gets the same exceptional treatment, because tomorrow is not guaranteed. We had a patient who always announced her arrival,” Yoselyn smiled wistfully. “And then… one day she stopped arriving to her appointments.”
Yoselyn took those hard lessons with her to New York-Presbyterian Hospital, where she works with a large team of pharmacy technicians. She is excited to expand her skills and duties, such as compounding IV medications including chemotherapy. Making a connection between what she prepares and who she prepares it for is vital to her.
Which brings this always-striving middle child to the next “something more”—cytotechnology. Cytotechnologists are trained laboratory professionals who help save lives by screening cells for cancer, pre-cancer and infectious diseases. Working alongside pathologists, cytotechnologists identify disease early on and monitor patients’ response to therapy. It’s still a long-term goal, but as Yoselyn notes, “I’ve spent a lot of time learning, and learning, and learning; I feel like a professional at learning!”
To ready herself for her next steps, Yoselyn re-took courses in anatomy and physiology and nutrition to boost her foundational knowledge and undergraduate GPA. Working with her fellow lab partners, the first-generation graduate found herself helping new Biology majors struggling to use the microscopes and other lab equipment. I told them to never stop learning. “Learning brings us to places we could never imagine being,” she said.
Her confidence and skill encouraged them. “I wasn’t walking into it blind—I already felt connected to the science, and it confirmed for me that I’m headed in the right path with cytotechnology. I know the cells I see in the microscope belong to someone, and I want to learn what can be done before cancer persists and grows.”
For now, as Yoselyn researches cytotechnology programs and scholarships, including tuition reimbursements available through her employer and her United Health Workers 199SEIU union, she continues her drive “to do more.” These days, that means “more time” with her family. She cherishes spending moments with them and sharing memories and meals in honor of her beloved uncle who passed away a year ago this month. For Yoselyn, sometimes “more” is better.
