
Healthcare is for everyone
Aliya Freberg is a junior pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) in the University of Minnesota Twin Cities (Minneapolis) School of Nursing.
Here, Freberg talks about how she found her passion for nursing through her upbringing and an inspiring high-school mentor, her love of mentoring, and how the University of Minnesota has helped fuel her fight for equity in healthcare.
Growing up in a multicultural environment with a resilient single mother helped lay the foundation for Freberg’s own compassion—a critical trait for any effective healthcare worker.
I was brought up in a single-parent household, raised by my Black mother. My mom does X-ray (radiology). She also struggles with a lot of health issues. She has a severe autoimmune disorder called lupus. And so seeing her struggle with that my whole childhood until this day ... it does something in terms of compassion and empathy. And honestly, she's had terrible experiences in healthcare. I've seen her be her own social worker ... while being a full-time mother and a full-time employee trying to find resources to keep her family afloat. Our income was very low. The first house that we got was through Habitat for Humanity, and she found that and did that whole process all on her own. She's so resilient, and her character is to just keep going and pursuing the things that she knows would be a betterment for her family.

Freberg says she has always loved learning, but found her love for children through her own family experiences.
I was always academically motivated, what they might call "gifted". When they tested me I was able to get into kindergarten a year early. And then I skipped eighth grade. So I was 12 years old on the first day of ninth grade (and 16 as a freshman at the University of Minnesota). I just really love to learn. I love school. But then my mom had my baby sister when I was 8 years old, and that shifted a lot in my life. When she was born, I was already mature for my age, but it was another push. My mom would take care of my baby sister during the day, and when I would come back from school she'd hand me the baby and go off to her night shift at the clinic. That's how it was from about age 8 to 13. But I feel like helping raise my baby sister really ignited my passion for kids. I love, love kids. People see it as a bad thing that I had to mature so young, but I love babies, and I found a really natural gift for being with children.
At the University of Minnesota, Freberg found opportunities to further her passion for creating communities where everyone feels welcome.
An opportunity for a paid position at the University of Minnesota’s Center for Community Engaged Learning (CCEL) opened up my freshman year. That position was a really big blessing because I got to do what I loved and still get paid for it ... investing in University students who wanted to volunteer in the community to make sure that they were educated and well-rounded to go into our Twin Cities area and to serve without ignorance or bias.
I would connect them to organizations that tutored or did free childcare, food pantries and soup kitchens, immigrants who are trying to learn English and become citizens, or if they were interested in working with their hands, to Habitat for Humanity-all the different organizations that CCEL partners within the metro area for students to volunteer with.
Freberg has mentored students not only through CCEL, but through a School of Nursing affinity group for freshman nursing students of color. It was her own high-school mentor who put her on the path to nursing and mentorship.
In high school, I cared about being a Black student, and I cared that I had a place and a voice, and so I got involved. I plugged myself in. I did this program where I was mentored by a nurse who became a nurse educator. She really motivated me and helped me realize that this profession would be really good for me. And because of her mentorship, I applied to the U. And I applied to this nursing program. And here I am.
I didn't realize the value of mentorship until then. She just had so much wisdom, so much knowledge. And so she was at the point where she wanted to pour that into other students. I'd never seen that before. And she made it very clear that healthcare disparities start at the bedside.
Her passion helped me realize that as we learn things, it's not just for ourselves, but future generations. Because what good is it to dedicate yourself to something and then not teach others and share your wisdom?

"I want to be helping mothers through the most beautiful yet scary part of their lives. Because healthcare is for everyone. Healthcare should not differ because of who you are."
Aliya Freberg
Freberg's experiences at the University of Minnesota have given her more knowledge about issues of equity in healthcare, and ignited her passion to make a difference in the field.
I took my first nursing for families course [at the U] and it just sparked something in me. We were taught about birthing injustice, and it was the first time that I actually saw the statistics and saw the numbers and the reality and gravity of birthing injustice-about how stressful and how dangerous it is to be a Black woman in this country and give birth to your baby. And that lit a fire under my butt.
One of the most common issues is pain management. I was just in a lecture and we were talking about stroke, and that stroke is more likely to occur in Black Americans, and the mortality of Black Americans for stroke is higher than any other demographic or race. And that is because signs and symptoms are not taken seriously.
And it's the same for birthing mothers. Our pain is not taken as seriously as a white woman's. If we say that we need an epidural or we need a higher dosage, physicians are less likely to be serious about managing our pain. And on the more extreme side, mortality is higher. It's three times as likely for a Black baby to die in the process of being birthed versus a white baby.
So now I'm on the track after I get this degree to pursue becoming a midwife. I'm currently getting my doula certification, which is the route I want to take to eventually become a nurse practitioner of midwifery. I want to be catching babies. I want to be helping mothers through the most beautiful yet scary part of their lives. Because healthcare is for everyone. Healthcare should not differ because of who you are. But we need cultural understanding in this field to make sure that nobody is left out of the care that they deserve.
Starting points for change
Aliya Freberg is a recipient of the University of Minnesota's Scholarly Excellence in Equity and Diversity (SEED) Award.
Learn more about the University of Minnesota’s Center for Community Engaged Learning.
Learn more about the Bachelor of Science in Nursing program.