I volunteer with Kick for Nick every year in order to give back to my community. Each year I raise money at local soccer tournaments to buy soccer equipment, I also ask a lot of local clubs to donate old equipment. Kick for Nick sends the equipment I collected overseas to less fortunate areas where the American military is stationed. The soldiers then distribute the equipment to local children in order to build community relations and give those young children a means to express themselves with the beautiful game. I am so exalted when I receive pictures of the children playing with the equipment that I sent.

I was selected as one of seven undergraduate students to the inaugural year of the V-EXCEL Program at the Vanderbilt Ingram Cancer Center. Through this program I have the incredible opportunity to work as a research intern in the Hurley Lab at VICC with Dr. Paula Hurley as my mentor. In addition to working in the lab, through the program I will attend skill development meetings, “lunch and learn” sessions. I will also indulge in volunteer work and research presentations during my time in the V-EXCEL Program.

I worked in the Medical Center at Camp Scatico directly after being a camper there for 7 years. As an assistant, I had the job of dealing with the lower grade medical incidents such as cuts, bruises and fevers in which I would apply the correct medical care. Most importantly, I had the amazing opportunity to learn from the medical doctors that rotated each week. It was amazing to hear and see all of their different takes on medicine and how they went about solving problems in their unique ways. I also maintained a great relationship with the nurses over that time and learned a lot from all of the nurses as well.

I volunteered as a youth group cadet for the Yorktown Volunteer Ambulance Corps. We had weekly weeding in which we learned different techniques that we would need yo know when riding in the ambulance and administering emergency care to patients. Through these meetings, I became CPR, BLS and ALS certified. I learned how to dispatch the ambulances during my time and most importantly I spent over 6 months riding in the ambulance and administered emergency care to many patients.