|
Megan Thompson
S.T.R.I.V.E. Lakeland Graduate
In Washington DC
After graduating from Lakeland High School in
2001, Megan continued her education at the University of Idaho.
She quickly became active in community service and leadership programs,
and was selected for the Honors Program and the Model United Nations
Program (MUN). Megan continued to participate in the MUN program
each year, traveling to New York City every spring for the international
conference, where every university represents a country and students
simulate a session at the United Nations. Students prepare
position papers ahead of time and write resolutions during conference
sessions, with standards replicating the real UN process. Through
this experience Megan has met the real delegates to the UN from several
countries, including Romania, Guatemala, Costa Rica, and Norway.
During her last year with MUN Megan served as one of two head delegates
for the team, teaching the class during the fall semester.
Megan was actively involved with student government at the University of
Idaho, serving as the ASUI Civic Engagement Board Chair and the ASUI
Chief of Staff. She led workshops on integrating community service
and leadership for fellow students at several conferences.
Dedicated to service to others, Megan also completed a 300 hour
Americorps program which included volunteering with several community
organizations along with leading campus programs.
While local service is important to Megan, she also has her eye on the
national scene. During the summer of 2005, Megan lived in
Washington DC and worked as a legislative intern for Senator John F.
Kerry. She described this as an incredible experience that
furthered her passion for public service because she was able to see and
work with individuals that were working to solve real problems, and
Megan knew that was where she wanted to aim her career.
Upon graduating from the University of Idaho with a Bachelors of Public
Communication (Cum Laude), minor in Sociology, and an Honors
Certificate, Megan traveled to Australia for graduate school. She
completed a Masters of Social Change and Development and a graduate
certificate in Adult Education from the University of Wollongong.
Megan recently moved to Washington DC to pursue a career in public
policy, with a focus on domestic social issues such as health care,
education, and issues that significantly impact children.
Ryan MacDonald
S.T.R.I.V.E. Lakeland Graduate
At Mayo Clinic
I applied to 17 schools for medical
school and interviewed at four before I withdrew my application, turned
down the rest of the interviews, and accepted an appointment at Mayo.
Since arriving at Mayo I have been developing my research interests in
cardiovascular medicine and valvular heart disease. Also I've become
very interested in congenital heart disease. I had the opportunity to
write and help with several research studies varying in scope from case
reports, to retrospective chart reviews, to prospective studies of
thromboprophylaxis of implantable valves in swine.
In the third year of medical school we rotate through several clinical
"clerkships" including internal medicine, pediatrics, surgery, OB/Gyn,
Psychiatry, and Family med. These electives are very educational and
take place in both the inpatient and outpatient setting. In addition we
have a little bit of research and elective time. I was awarded a
scholarship through the American association of thoracic surgeons to
work for 8 weeks at the Mayo Division of Cardiovascular Surgery. This
was an exciting opportunity for me and I was able to scrub many open
heart surgery cases, including congenital heart cases.
Probably the biggest contribution to my elementary and high school
education was STRIVE. I’ve told you this before, but I think that STRIVE
really gave me a good group of friends who were similarly oriented
intellectually, and gave me the opportunity to work creatively with
them. When I approach problems, I don’t look at the problem, I look for
solutions, and solutions in many forms. STRIVE was all about finding
alternative solutions to problems and that has served me very well so
far in medicine.
back
Contact Beth
Brubaker at
bbrubaker@lakeland272.org for more info.
|
