Skip to content

Full Circle Noonie Rogozinski's Story on Nurses' Day

Full Circle: Finding and Giving Purpose By Noungning Rogozinski, RN This is a story of faith, purpose, and a path coming full circle. Before I became a nurse at Gaylord, I was born across the world in Lao. I was 6 years old and living in a small hut in a refugee camp in Thailand with my family of eight. I remember my parents worrying if we would ever leave the refugee camp and if there was going to be a future for us. We did not have much. I recall being barefoot and running to the ration line to claim food for my family. A Warm Blanket My parent’s prayers were answered when we got word that our family had a sponsor. Pastor Horvath (from the cover story) and his congregation sponsored my family to come to the United States. The flight was long and I remember getting off the plane with my family and seeing Pastor Horvath standing there with a group from his congregation to greet us. It was so cold and he reached out and wrapped a warm blanket around me. We arrived in April and I thought how strange and scary this place was. It was gray, cold, dark, there were no leaves on the trees, and everyone spoke a language that I did not understand.