Sixty-five members of the UNMC High School Alliance are among the students taking classes at UNMC this academic year.
The students come from high schools around Omaha and take college-level classes to prepare for health careers.
Today we meet:
- Name: Ca’Ryn Christensen
- High School: Gretna High School
- Year: Senior
How did you learn about the UNMC High School Alliance?
My older sister, Macenzie Christensen, attended this program her senior year, and took the infectious disease and anatomy classes. She would come home and tell me all the interesting activities and labs she had done, and I became so intrigued. Health science has always been my strong suit, and I knew this program was something that had no equivalent in a normal high school.
What sparked your interest in science?
My mother works in health care, and from a young age she would tell us cool things about her work. At the time, she worked in a hospital setting. Then, my family discovered the show, “Untold Stories of the ER,” and from watching many episodes, I knew I wanted to work in health care. At Gretna High School, biology is a required class sophomore year. I learned the concepts in biology quickly and became interested in learning more about health science, so my junior year I chose to take college biology and genetics, along with the required chemistry class.
What are your career aspirations?
I am not fully certain what I want to be yet, but I would either like to be a pediatrician, pharmacist, or something in the ICU or NICU.
Tell us your three favorite things about UNMC High School Alliance so far.
- I enjoy every aspect of the program. From the first day, every single person I met was so gracious to me. I met some kind and intelligent people, from many different towns, and now they’re my friends. I enjoy that every single person attending has the same desires as me, to work in the medical field, and they all love learning about science as much as I do.
- Not only do I love the people, but I also love the class I am currently taking — infectious diseases. This class uses all the science knowledge I have previously received, and the class itself is really cool.
- We attend a lab every week in which we get to work hands-on with the topics we just learned in class. I also enjoy getting to talk with and learn from so many extremely educated professionals.