Rolla High School’s halls hold about 1,400 students- a quarter of which are about to begin a new journey of a life beyond high school. Many of such students intend to pursue occupations along the medical track.
One RHS senior who is planning to study a unique career in medicine is Angela Richardson. She plans to obtain her medical degree and then serve in the U.S. Navy as a surgeon.
“I’m going to go to Mizzou and get my degree in biology with an emphasis in human biology and physiology, and then I want to go to med school and I’ll complete med school, get all the residency done and stuff like that, and then I want to enlist in the Navy to be a surgeon and travel in other countries to help people that way,” Richardson said.
Richardson’s desire to become a physician stemmed from her parents. Pursuing medicine has been a longtime dream of Richardson’s, but she only recently started wanting to join the Navy.
“I’ve always wanted to be like a nurse like my mom, because just hearing cool stories and helping people, and then my dad… the past couple of years, I’ve been learning more about [the] military and stuff and just hearing stories from my dad because he’s in the Marine Corps. And he’s always been really patriotic and just talked about that stuff. So, I personally feel like I need to serve my country in some way just because so many other people have sacrificed so much for us to have freedom,” Richardson said.
The military used to be perceived as a career with options limited to active combat, especially targeted to men, but Richardson realized that there are many more choices to think about.
“The military wasn’t ever something I’ve considered, and then more and more women have gone into the military and done more things. It’s more accessible, I think, and it’s not just soldiers going fighting. There’s a lot more you can do there,” Richardson said.
Despite the growing selection of military careers, they all have their downsides as well. As someone who may want to have kids in the future, Richardson will have to make tough decisions about family versus career.
“I think you definitely look at having families and stuff like that because in my plan right now, I’m not planning [on] getting married and having kids and things like that … I definitely think things like that [will] come along in the future. If I have kids earlier than I thought that I would, then I might not do as much time in the military because you’ll be separated from your family,” Richardson said.
That’s not the only effect Richardson believes that her gender will have on her career.
“I think as a woman, I’m more empathetic and open with emotion. So that’ll help me with being a doctor because I can relate to patients more, and then just helping other women because I know what things they’ve experienced,” Richardson said.
Another one of RHS’s seniors pursuing a career in the medical field is Victoria Olusanya. After graduation, Olusanya intends to become a cosmetic dermatologist or pursue another kind of aesthetic medicine. These careers usually take many years of schooling, but she wasn’t deterred when looking into education options.
“I got into a six year B.A./M.D. program at UMKC [University of Missouri- Kansas City]. So, instead of me finishing four years of undergrad and then taking the MCAT and shadowing hours, and then applying for med school, I just got into a combined medical program right out of high school,” Olusanya said.
Similar to Richardson, Olusanya’s eagerness to begin her journey as a physician stems in part from years of inspiration from her parents.
“Growing up, I was constantly surrounded by medicine… There were so many of those medicine magazines on tables, and I’d always see my parents walk out with their white coats,” Olusanya said.
Following her parents’ legacy isn’t the only thing that made Olusanya decide to go into the health science track. During her time in high school, she found a natural curiosity about chemistry and life studies.
“I found that I had an acute interest in the biological components of the human body and how they work together… my parents had a big influence on that…along with the classes that I’ve taken and me shadowing other physicians, including my dad,” Olusanya said.
Her parents’ influence wasn’t the only factor in Olusanya’s career choice. Though she knows that she’ll be helping people feel better about themselves, Olusanya also acknowledges the potential harmful effects that her future treatments in cosmetic dermatology may encourage.
“I feel like there’s two sides to every coin. So me pursuing something where women are feeling better about themselves…I’m also helping them live up to, I guess you’d say a bad standard, but they’re also feeling better while I’m doing it…We’d be targeting the unrealistic beauty standards that there are, but I’m also helping people feel comfortable in their own skin,” Olusanya said.
In the end, the heart of her (and the heart of future medical professionals’) motivation lies in her desire to help people who need it.
“My parents always taught me that you can’t just set a goal, you have to figure out why you want to do something and how you’re going to do it… they taught me that caring for other people is the best reward,” Olusanya said.