Photo By Capt. Brian McFarland | VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (January 30, 2020) Petty Officer Emeriejoy Toylo stands tall beach...... read more read more
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Photos and story by Mass Communication Specialist Chief Todd A. Macdonald
NRD Richmond Public Affairs
RICHMOND, Va. - Born and raised in the Philippine province of Ozamiz City, Navy Recruiting District (NRD) Richmond Recruiter Petty Officer Emerie Joy Toylo always had her sights set on moving to America to become a registered nurse. Little did she know of the journey awaiting her. As the famous Robert Burns saying goes, “the best laid plans of mice and men, oft times do go awry.” She was in for one heck of a roller coaster ride.
Having earned her Bachelors of Science Degree in Nursing from Misamis University in Manila, Toylo earned a scholarship to Rasmussen College to attain her Master of Science Degree. With bags packed, and leaving her five-year-old son with her parents, she flew into Chicago’s O’Hare Airport from Manila. Going through customs in the airport, she found out her sponsor cancelled their sponsorship. This meant Toylo would not be granted a visa and would have to return to the Philippines. There was one problem; she did not have enough money for a return ticket.
With no money and no cell phone, Toylo spent a few days living in the airport trying to figure out what to do.
“I didn’t want to let my family back in Manila know what was going on,” Toylo said. “That would have just worried them.”
She said her attitude has always been positive and goal oriented, no matter what situation she was in, Toylo would say to herself, ‘suck it up buttercup’ and not feel sorry for herself.
Toylo recalled the day an “angel arrived to her rescue.” Her name was Genia Del Castillo, and she worked for Homeland Security at the Airport. Castillo immediately related to Toylo because she too was from the Philippines.
Toylo said, Del Castillo, asked her what she was doing there and when Toylo told her the situation, without hesitation, Del Castillo said she would sponsor her and Toylo could live with her until she got things sorted out.
Toylo hugged Del Castillo who replied with, “Anak,” meaning “my daughter” in Tagalog the national language of the Philippines. Toylo recalls tears streaming down both of their faces as they realized their connection and friendship to come.
“For the next few months, I cleaned people’s homes and baby sat,” said Toylo.
Then she met a friend of someone who was in the Navy stationed at Great Lakes.
She had never considered joining the military, but Toylo was in desperate need for a regular paying job.
“I was having a tough time scraping up enough money to go to college,” she said. “I needed something fast, so I went to the Navy recruiter in Chicago.”
Toylo walked into the recruiting office in the beginning of February and shipped to boot camp two weeks later as an Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Equipment) also referred to as an ABE.
When asked if she thought about being a Hospital Corpsman, given her background in nursing, Toylo said she was offered that job but she would have had to wait a long time to ship out to the Navy.
“It really didn’t matter to me what my job was, I just wanted to be in the Navy and be in there as soon as possible to provide for my family,” she said. “ABE shipped in two weeks, so I took it.”
Toylo’s mom always preached to her, “Gold will always shine. No matter what it is you are doing, do it to your utmost best and you too will shine.” That is just what Toylo set out to do.
The bumpy road was not quite over. In boot camp, she had a freak accident where she broke her left leg.
Sitting in the hospital wearing a cast, Toylo was given the option to get out of the Navy and go back to the Philippines, or to stay at boot camp another three months.
“I told them, I came here to be in the Navy. I am going to complete what I set out to do. I’m staying.”
Again, not fearing of disappointing her family, Toylo never told her parents about her intentions of joining the Navy.
“I wanted to wait until it was a for sure thing before I told them,” she said. “When I called my mom and let her know, she broke down in tears. She was so proud.”
Now six years in the Navy, Toylo served five of them on the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) before reporting to NRD Richmond one year ago.
In her time on the ship, she received her U.S. citizenship, got her mother, father, and son their U.S. citizenships and earned a Master’s Degree in Nursing. All this while serving her new country full time and acting as the ship’s CPR instructor, ensuring the whole crew was CPR qualified.
“I am finally at a stage in my life where I can say I am living a comfortable life because the Navy took care of me and my family,” she said. “I am very humbled by all the experiences the Navy has provided for me and am forever grateful.”
Toylo said she chose recruiting duty because she wanted to change people’s lives the way the Navy has changed hers.
“I am very serious about my position as a recruiter. I am able to give young people the opportunity for experiences they never thought they would have and providing a stepping stone to better their career,” she said.
Toylo said she wanted to change people’s lives in the way the Navy has changed hers.
In the last year as a recruiter, Toylo has made the most of recruiting duty by getting qualified both as an advanced recruiter and as a leading petty officer, in addition to earning Junior Sailor of the Quarter and Junior Sailor of the Year for NRD Richmond.
When asked what the most rewarding parts of being a recruiter has been, Toylo said first and foremost, defending the country and making the military strong as well as having the opportunity to be a spokesperson for the Navy.
“The fact that I am actually changing the lives of my recruits by providing better opportunities is very rewarding, especially for the younger generation who don’t know what they want to do after graduation,” she said.
Toylo added being able to train applicants on how to present themselves professionally and then seeing them finally wear the Navy uniform gives her a huge sense of pride.
Toylo said her short-term goal is to earn a promotion to first class petty officer, and her long-term goal is to earn another Master’s Degree in the medical field before she retires from the Navy.
“The Navy taught me how to get out of my comfort zone and to challenge myself to thrive,” she said. “At the same time it taught me to remain humble even throughout my accomplishments.”
Navy Recruiting Command consists of a command headquarters, two Navy Recruiting Regions, 15 Navy Recruiting Districts and 11 Navy Talent Acquisition Groups that serve more than 815 recruiting stations across the world. Their combined goal is to attract the highest quality candidates to assure the ongoing success of America’s Navy.
For more news from Commander, Navy Recruiting Command, go to http://www.cnrc.navy.mil. Follow Navy Recruiting on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NavyRecruiting), Twitter (@USNRecruiter) and Instagram (@USNRecruiter).
| Date Taken: | 02.07.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 02.07.2020 13:20 |
| Story ID: | 362172 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 593 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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