Charmaine Mae Fortune

If there is one word that defines Charmaine Fortune’s journey, it’s “service.” Charmaine spent her teenage years in the Philippines dealing with something no teen should have to – caring for a terminally ill grandparent. The nurse who taught Charmaine how to do that inspired her to pursue the nursing profession, and enlisting in the U.S. Air Force was the first step.

Charmaine juggled her full-time job as a military medic in Georgia with her full-time pre-nursing studies at Florida State College at Jacksonville – driving across state lines to do so. Despite the challenges, she graduated on the dean’s list with her Associate of Arts degree, earned various military awards and volunteered for organizations such as the American Red Cross and Habitat for Humanity.

In 2015 Charmaine was one of the few selected for the Nurse Enlisted Commissioning Program and received a full scholarship to FIU’s Medic to Nurse program, which helps veterans and active duty personnel with military medical training earn a Bachelor of Nursing degree. Charmaine is graduating as a Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing member alongside her husband, Jean, who is also in the program.

Upon graduation, she will head to Texas to serve as a registered nurse and second lieutenant at San Antonio Military Medical Center. Eventually she hopes to earn her master’s degree specializing in women’s health.