Byron Aprecio
2013 Graduate Scholarship Recipient
Loma Linda University | School of Nursing
My name is Byron Aprecio and I was born and raised in Loma Linda, Ca where I am currently a senior nurse anesthesia student at Loma Linda University. My beautiful wife, Monledy, is a part-time dental hygienist and we have a very energetic two-year old son, Isaac, along with tow pet chinchillas, Darla and Mr. Bubbles. My father is a senior research associate at the LLU School of Dentistry, my mother is a neuro-surgical trauma step-down nurse at the LLU Medical Center, my elder brother is a nurse anesthetist at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center where my second eldest brother works as an operating room nurse, and my little sister is a pert-time dental hygienist seeking re-admission into LLU School of Dentistry to become a dentist.
After graduating from Loma Linda Academy, I attended La Sierra University to complete my pre-requisites for nursing school. One year later, I was accepted into LLU’s School of Nursing where I served as my class’ spiritual vice president, served as a senator for the Association of Student Nurses and LLU’s Student Association, was inducted into the Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing and graduated with honors after receiving LLU’s Chancellor Award. By God’s grace, I was able to finish my Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree six months prior to graduating from nursing school and was able to attend the Amazing Facts Center of Evangelism in Rocklin, CA where I received specialized training in evangelistic ministry, a very strong passion of mine. Shortly thereafter, I was hired as a cardio-thoracic surgery intensive care unit nurse at LLU Medical Center where I worked as a floor nurse, preceptor, and relief team leader for almost five years.
Born into a Christian family and raised in a medical community such as Loma Linda, I have inherited and cultivated a passion for medical ministry. My first mission trip was in my junior year of nursing school where I served on a dental mission trip to Jamaica. In my senior year of nursing school I spent one month in Botswana, Africa working in Kanye Seventh-Day Adventist Hospital’s emergency and operating rooms where I was first exposed to a nurse anesthetist. The following three years I held four week-long evangelistic meetings in Florida, Arizona and Ukraine in conjunction with the Youth for Jesus and Amazing Facts ministries. In may of this year, I was privileged to accompany a team of LLU earn, nose, and throat surgeons on a mission trip to Honduras where a nurse anesthetist, three of my classmates, and I provided anesthesia for their surgeries. My life-long goal is to serve those in need, both near and abroad, as a medical missionary evangelist combining the healing art and science of nurse anesthesia with the healing power and ministry of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
