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: Jessica Paprocki
- High school: Westside
- Year: Senior
What sparked your interest in science?
In middle school, I actually had a huge aspiration to become a lawyer. I thought about taking classes down that path, always asked my parents questions about the job itself, and even researched the colleges with the best pre-law programs. However, when I got to high school and took Honors Biology my freshman year, I quickly learned how interesting science was, and became very interested in that instead. When I took physiology as a sophomore, I then learned I was really interested in a career in health sciences, but I wasn’t exactly sure just what yet.
What are your career aspirations?
I really want to be a dentist when I am older. Growing up, I have always had the same dentist, who was and still is a very close friend of my dad. I always loved him and going to the dentist in general. The environment, the toys they had in there for kids, how nice everyone was. For my Intro to Health class junior year, I needed to job shadow someone in the health field, and my dentist was the very first person to pop in my mind. After nine hours of learning what he does every day, I quickly realized what I really want to be when I grow up.
Tell us your three favorite things about UNMC High School Alliance Experience.
- We get to leave school every day and go study at a place we actually want to go. Even though my school has a great environment and has great health classes, it is nice to go to an actual hospital every day and be taught by professionals.
- I get to learn about different medical fields. For example, last semester I learned about infectious diseases and what a microbiologist does. This semester, I am learning about anatomy and pharmacy — I really enjoy how different they are from each other, but they both spark an interest from me.
- All of the friends I have made this year. One of the best things about these new friends I have made is that we all share interests in the medical field, we all have good study habits in school, and we all get along. Friendships like these can truly last a lifetime.