The story behind LectiGuide.

One of the reasons I chose respiratory therapy was because I lost my dad to COVID within 36 hours of finding out he had it. I remember talking to him on the phone while he was in the hospital. Amongst all the beeping sounds in the background, I could hear the fear in what little voice he had left to tell me he loved me.

In loving memory

In moments like that, having a skilled and empathetic healthcare provider makes a difference, not only in the patient's life but in their loved ones as well. I wanted to be one of the ones providing the skill, the patient care, and the bedside manner that so many feel is missing in healthcare today.

I failed my first semester of Respiratory Therapy school by 1%. Not because I wasn't smart enough, but because I was overwhelmed, working multiple jobs, dealing with life, and carrying grief.

I didn't give up. I didn't want to wait another year to start over, so I found another program and transferred. My first semester at the new school, I faced the same challenges. I pushed through and passed. At nearly 40 years old, not working while going through healthcare school is not an option.

Medical school is not set up for people who work full time, have families, and have responsibilities. So this time, I knew that part of my plan to succeed was to save time wherever I could, to study more efficiently without losing more of myself in the process.

I was sacrificing time with loved ones, sleep, and self-care. I felt like I was losing myself. And I wasn't alone in that. I lost half of my class because most of them did not make it, by 1% or less.

Going into my second semester, still exhausted and overwhelmed, I knew something had to give. There had to be a better way to study efficiently, retain information, and not lose myself in the process.

What I needed, I could not find in one place. Some things did not exist at all. What did exist was scattered across multiple platforms, often inaccurate, and priced out of reach for a student. So I decided, I am going to build what I need. What I know could help other people like me.

A tool that gets you over that 1% hump. A tool that saves time and mental energy because everything is in one place, literally guiding you through your lectures, through this journey. That is how I came up with the name LectiGuide.

I built it the way I studied for it, between shifts, overnight, during finals, during clinicals, working full time with a life, a family, and responsibilities. Every feature exists because at some point on this journey I realized I needed it.

I hope what I have built makes this journey easier and more achievable for those walking the same road.