In 2021, I participated in a healthcare science program where I became certified as a medical office assistant. The first time I entered the classroom filled with anatomy posters, hospital beds, and CPR mannequin dolls, I knew I would enjoy my experience in the program; however, I never foresaw its significant impact on my life.

During this experience, my classmates chose me as one of the four team leaders to lead six members through medical procedures. Being selected as team leader became the highlight of my experience as I bonded with my classmates and learned the value of teamwork.

Often, my tasks involved demonstrating various assignments a medical assistant completes daily to my team members. These assignments ranged from filing patient forms electronically to providing medication to patients. Other times, our teacher taught more complex activities, such as giving CPR.

As I continued being a team leader, I volunteered my team to go to a high school to give the students and faculty simple checkups. Although this event was mainly meant to expose other students to our healthcare program, it was my favorite activity during my experience.

For weeks, my team and I held meetings where we chose to conduct vision tests and check the faculty's blood pressure, organized the setup of the checkups, and divided the group into different stations. When the big day arrived, we set up the stations and provided a brief presentation on our program before performing the examinations. In the end, the volunteering was a success! We had hundreds of people signing up and more who enjoyed our volunteering.

Ultimately, my experience in the program solidified my dream to be in healthcare. As I finished the program and used my medical office assistant certificate, I made sure to select the pre-medicine track when I entered the Univerisity of Georgia.