A life-changing experience
KERNERSVILLE — What do a surgeon, math teacher, pastor, veterinarian and pediatrician all have in common? A Bishop McGuinness High School senior shadowed each during the week of March 6-10 during the school’s Winterim program.
Jenna Haulk shadowed first- and second-grade teachers at Immaculate Heart of Mary School in High Point.(Photos provided by By Jenna Haulk, Chrisbel Alcantara-Varela and Julia Fergus)
A seminal experience established in 1974 at the high school, Winterim is a unique job-shadowing program designed to help students discover the path they may want to take in college and beyond. For a week in March, seniors follow professionals in two different fields as they go about their workday. This short winter term ends with a paper and brief presentation to faculty members and peers.
Many professionals in the community are graduates of Bishop McGuinness and are eager to support the Winterim program as mentors because they found it valuable and want to give back, said Dr. Jared Rashford, head of school at Bishop McGuinness. He also noted that the program is valuable because the majority of high school students don’t have the opportunity to job shadow at that age.
“Most often you have to wait until you get to college and you’re really serious about a profession, which is what my experience was,” Rashford said. “This gives our students some prior experience where we’re providing them the support and the structure for how to go about seeking a mentor. They learn these are some of the things you should be thinking about when you’re going to work alongside this person, so when they have these opportunities in college, they’ve already had an experience. It’s good preparation for seeking out mentors after their time at Bishop.”
For three days, senior Timothy Hackman shadowed Dr. Timothy Peters, a pediatrician specializing in infectious diseases at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. Dr. Peters is also an associate dean at Wake Forest Medical School.
Two of the days were spent at the hospital doing clinical rotations. Hackman said the patients they saw included children with leukemia and children with brain aneurysms.
“Seeing these patients was truly a painful experience as it hurt to see such young children so sick,” he said. “On my second day with Dr. Peters, we revisited the same patients we had seen the previous day and got to speak to the parents. The conversation Dr. Peters and I had with one parent will stick with me forever as the raw emotion that parent showed was genuinely heartbreaking.”
Yet something else also struck Hackman in that moment.
Giang Tran observed Carol Wiedwald’s geometry class at Our Lady of Grace School in Greensboro. “Dr. Peter’s empathy and optimism stood out to me even more during this conversation,” he said. “This taught me that showing empathy and optimism toward people even in the face of their greatest adversities can help them.”
On the third day, they went to Wake Forest Medical School, where Hackman went on a tour, worked on a project with Dr. Peters and researched medical schools.
Dr. Peters also helped Hackman create goals and markers for him to meet to be a suitable candidate for medical school.
Hackman also shadowed a pastor and said he appreciated the depth and range of his work as well but ultimately feels called to the medical field. He said his
Winterim experience helped him see that the Holy Spirit is leading him to medicine instead. “I believe my personality lends itself to patient interaction, and I have always loved to help people,” he added.
For the first half of Winterim, senior Chrisbel Alcantara-Varela shadowed bariatric surgeon Dr. James Dasher.
“I was able to go into the OR to watch some of his surgeries,” she said. “I was also able to interact with a couple of patients and saw how much a surgeon can impact someone’s life.”
Chrisbel Alcantara-Varela shadowed bariatric surgeon Dr. James Dasher. Charley Chappell shadowed a dermatologist and an anesthesiologist. She said the experience confirmed that she would like to study biochemistry in college and go to medical school.
“It challenged me to get out of my comfort zone and to put myself out there to potential mentors,” Chappell added.
Jenna Haulk spent part of her week at Immaculate Heart of Mary School in High Point. “I had the best experience at IHM shadowing their first- and second-grade teachers,” she said. “They were so welcoming and extremely encouraging to me. And of course, the best part was being with the kids!”
Carol Wiedwald, who teaches advanced math classes at Our Lady of Grace School, shared what it was like to be shadowed by senior Giang Tran, noting that
Tran’s questions made her pause and assess why she might do something a certain way.
“It was also a good reminder about the ‘whole person’ teaching we do at OLG,” she said. “Meaning, school is about curriculum, but that is only one piece. Teaching students how to handle frustration, disappointment, confidence, success and other life skills is at the top of the list.”
Winterim is one more way Catholic schools in the Diocese of Charlotte prepare students to reach their goals and live life to its fullest.
— Annie Ferguson