Growing Up With STEP by Camila Solis

I joined STEP as a junior in high school, excited to be amongst students with a similar interest in medicine and excited to know how much more my passion may grow. I had the highest of expectations and every single one of them was met during my time as a STEP scholar. I met so many professionals of different fields in medicine, their research, their steps to becoming a professional and most importantly their hardships. I began to resonate with some of their stories and my motivation grew, as I knew they were once in my shoes and made it.  It is possible to fail a hs/college course and still make it to your dream school, it is possible to take a break after high school and still be an A student in college, it is possible to take the time necessary for family matters and self care and still be interested in school but overall it is okay to keep exploring your career options for as long as it takes. STEP introduced me to small clinical practices like suturing, knowing how to approach a patient, performing CPR, detecting a stroke, but one of the most valuable things I got came from BASIS. Partnering with BASIS allowed me to grow so much as my mentor carried me through my application process to college. I learned how to polish my resume, how to write a professional email, how to network, how to edit my college essays close to perfection. These are so important to me as I know today the impact and difference it made amongst other applicants. SAT days weren't the most fun but definitely became more comfortable after prepping with NYU! I've met so many other students and mentors along my way and am very grateful to still have them in my life.

It was soon after the completion of my senior year that I began to look for more opportunities with STEP. Becoming an intern afterwards and being able to work with STEP leaders allowed me to put in practice the skills that I've been learning, but the biggest takeaway has been being able to share some of my knowledge with new STEP scholars and advising them. It is such a fulfilling feeling to help students of minority backgrounds, like myself, get through their high school classes, apply to college, introduce them to professionals and give them the tools necessary to network and ask questions, and allow them to be as curious as they want to figure out what their interest may be. I wish all current and future STEP scholars a great experience as well!! 

 

-Camila Solis