Becoming a Kaiser Permanente Medical Assistant – Tyana Watson

On August 27th, BAMA celebrated with the 2022 class of graduates and their families in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. One of our graduates, Tyana Watson, delivered a graduation speech. Here is her speech in its entirety. Congratulations Class of 2022!

“Good afternoon. staff, family, friends, and graduates. It is an honor to be speaking with you here today. My name is Tyana Watson.

Congratulations, Graduates of the BAMA class of 2022. We made it! While I was very honored to be chosen as a graduate speaker. In all honesty, I will admit that writing this speech was harder than anything I’ve done in a while. The hard part about it is that I was told my graduation speech had to make you laugh first, then cry, then inspire you.

As I was thinking about what I would say In this speech and reflecting on my experience here at BAMA,  I can honestly say that I’m glad I choose this program. I’ve learned so much about myself in these past few months. BAMA has helped me grow and motivated me In so many ways, helping me understand that I can achieve anything I set my mind to. I just have to want it, and work for it. Growing and pushing me in ways I didn’t think I had in me and as a great role model for my son Reginald who is here with us today… HI BABY!

Being in this program has honestly been a blessing for me. It has definitely helped me grow as a person, a woman, and a mother. I will always truly be grateful for that. Growing up was not always peaches in cream for me, and I wasn’t always making the right decisions as I entered my adulthood, but who was? Nobody’s perfect! And, although I still have flaws and I still make mistakes sometimes, I learn from them and I move forward.

Being at this place in my life where I am accomplishing all the goals I have set for myself, has helped me know exactly what it is that I want my life to look like 5 years from now. Completing BAMA has opened a lot of opportunities for me. I can gladly say that I am currently an employee for one of the top hospitals in the U.S. — Kaiser Permanente! And it’s because of BAMA, hard work, and dedication that I made it this far in my academic career, so if you ask me that’s the biggest blessing. Moving forward in my career, I just want to continue to learn and grow in the medical field and take all that I have learned from BAMA with me in the near future. 

At this time, I would like to show my appreciation to all the staff that help me reach these goals. Mrs. Earby, Ms. Veronica, Mrs.Tracy, Ms.Raven, Dr.Israel, Zoe, Molly, the career services, and externship services you guys are so awesome. I truly appreciate you all for responding to any and all my concerns. & most importantly my support system: my loving Mother, My Sisters, & Friends & my dawg Portia for being an easy draw and a genuine loving classmate. Leaving here today, I want all my fellow classmates to know that …

BEHIND YOU, ALL YOUR MEMORIES. BEFORE YOU, ALL YOUR DREAMS. AROUND YOU, ALL WHO LOVE YOU. GO CONFIDENTLY IN THE DIRECTION OF YOUR DREAMS! LIVE THE LIFE YOU HAVE IMAGINED. I WANT YOU TO BELIEVE DEEP IN YOUR HEART THAT YOU’RE CAPABLE OF ACHIEVING ANYTHING YOU PUT YOUR MIND TO AND THAT YOU WILL NEVER LOSE

… Tyana Watson signing out class of 2022. Thank you!”