Hospitals and check ups. Nurses and doctors. Needles and medications. These are the things she looks forward to doing, but she’s getting the opportunity to do them almost everyday in a class at school.

“We only go to the college to get the required classroom time and skills lab time out of the way so that next semester we can go to the nursing home and actually start clinicals,” junior Megan Brown said. “During skills and class time, we have a set of skills we have to learn and have checked off. We have a book that we have to read and learn so that we get all the information for class time. We have tests and discussion just like a regular class, but this class is hands on. It’s teaching my classmates and I how to be nurses or to be whatever we chose to be in the medical field.”

Students in these classes, like Megan, work hard to make good grades and learn skills they need to pass. However, they enjoy a fun twist: hands on work in a field they love and plan to do one day as a job.

“The class I’m taking is called Practicum Health Science DC, but there is also a regular Practicum Health Science class that doesn’t allow you to get your certification,” Brown said. “When I got my choice sheet last year, it just seemed interesting to me. I chose the dual credit class since I already had a schedule full of college classes. This class is the only one that lets me off campus. My health science teacher last year, Mrs. Reed, helped me know what to expect, and helped me know that this was the class I actually wanted to take.”

Brown already had cultivated an interest in the field of health sciences before she knew she wanted to take this class. An extra push from a caring teacher and unique options that many other schools aren’t able to offer are just what she needed to follow her dream even further.

“It’s so fun learning how nurse aides do things,” Brown said. “Being in the class with people who also care to learn the same things makes it even better. I love that just by working with each other we can see that we are going to be great nurses.”

Surrounded by people who want to be in the class just as much as she does, they help to encourage each other to follow their passions and watch each other grow in this field everyday.

“When I get out of high school, I plan on getting the rest of my nursing school prerequisites out of the way so I can go straight into nursing school. This class allows me to get a feel for the life of a nurse, and I can kind of understand what to expect.”

Because of this class, Brown has made a plan for her future that has sprung from opportunities offered by this course. She knows what she wants and is excited to pursue it.

“This class is so important to me. Being able to take the first step in my career at the age of sixteen is amazing if you ask me, and I’m so proud that I can do this,” Brown said. “I’m thankful to every person who has lined me up to succeed in this. I’m also thankful that this school has this opportunity so that I can get a head start on life once I’m out of highschool. The opportunities are out there if you don’t ignore them.”