I joined Coppell ISD from Universal Academy in Flower Mound in sixth grade because my parents thought it would benefit my education. I joined the Health Science Career & Technical Course (CTE) endorsement in freshman year because my parents were both in the medical field, and I felt it would benefit my future. 

This year, I am one of the 10 people in Certified Pharmacy Technician practicum, a senior year course that ends in a professional certification. And I am a second year staffer and student life editor of The Sidekick, an award-winning student newspaper. 

I have plans to pursue a professional career in the healthcare field, yet I pursued a leadership position in a program that calls for my full attention so often.

I found myself asking this question during the course of my college application process. The answer came to me during the course of a story I was assigned to write. 

It was a news story that forced me to check Twitter and the local news every time there was a development on the COVID-19 booster shot situation. The thrill of posting the story and the rush of updating it every time new information came out got me hooked. 

I was the writer given with the task of compiling so much developing news into a digestible, user-friendly and informative article. 

How is that not healthcare? 

I have learned even in my introductory courses to health science the real value of communication. From physician to patient, physician to nurse or nurse to patient. And in the newsroom, from photographer to writer, photographer to designer, writer to editor or writer to reader. 

Crystal clear communication, replacing the jargon with simple effective language. 

That story was my epiphany, my moment when I realized, “maybe I really do want to pursue a medical career in a different way than I assumed I would before. Maybe I do want to start off in a career that was at the forefront of the pandemic, try covering the news from a different perspective.”

Follow Anette (@AnetteVarghese) and @CHSCampusNews on Twitter.