My name is Tamara Gonzalez, and I am a senior at Chinquapin Preparatory. I am seeking to major in pre-med or biomedical sciences and pursue a career as a pediatrician. At Chinquapin, we have a Junior and Senior Seminar class where we research a topic of interest and plan a project for junior and senior year related to our interest. 

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Since I am interested in becoming a pediatrician, I researched how kids, their families, and staff cope with a pediatric patient being hospitalized. In my research, I interviewed professors and professionals and learned about the career of a child life specialist. I had never heard of a child life specialist, but I was intrigued by how they help hospitalized kids cope. This career interested me and I thought I’d consider it as a career option.

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Throughout my junior and senior years, I have been volunteering at Casa El Buen Samaritano Clinic for my project. I regularly volunteer as a translator. During the fall semester, I also planned a community service to make cookies for children who are patients at the clinic and secured donations of gifts for the holidays. In the spring semester, I organized and hosted an event for high school students interested in the medical field. I invited a variety of medical professionals to come to a health professions fairs. This event allowed students to talk to professionals from different careers in the medical field so that students could explore what careers they are most interested in and make connections with people who could provide information on their job, advice, or even volunteer opportunities and workshops.