Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Charleigh, back left, and the group of people who assister her during a mock cardiac arrest drill at the University of Maryland's Shock Trauma Center.
Charleigh, left, and the friends she made while at NYLF. " We called ourselves a dysfunctional family because we live all across the United States," said Charleigh.
Many of you might remember a story I wrote back in February called, "Grabbing life by the horns at the age of 15," about Charleigh Cornett and her quest to become a surgeon and the fundraising involved for the summer program she wished to attend.
Since summer is over and a new school year just begun I thought it might be a good time to catch up with one of my favorite people in Odessa and see just how her summer went.
Charleigh's whirlwind of a summer began not with a camping trip or a day by the pool. No, her summer began in San Antonio, Texas alongside her fellow FBLA chapter for a week of conference competition. Although her team didn't make it to the finals, that is not to say they didn't have fun, somehow finding the time to go tubing down one of the area rivers, visit Six Flags and eat tons of Dippin' Dots ice cream. She also made some really good friends and was able to catch up with some old friends she'd made the year before.
"My favorite part of that trip was the dance-off in the windows," said Charleigh.
When I asked her what she meant by a dance-off in the window she said, "Our hotel rooms faced the lobby and some of them faced each other, so some of the boys in our chapter had a dance-off kind of thing against another chapter that was across the way," was her reply. "It was so funny, and it was great entertainment after a long day."
After FBLA in San Antonio, Charleigh was off to Baltimore, Md. for a 10-day stay at Johns Hopkins University to attend Envision EMI's NYLF (National Youth Leadership Forum): Advanced Medicine & Health Care Program.
Despite being rained on, Charleigh also visited many medical facilities including a tour of the University of Maryland's Shock & Trauma Center.
While she was there, Charleigh got to become great friends with the other students participating in the program. She also got to know Resusci-Anne and Resusci-Andy (the CPR training manikins) very well, when she became certified in Stop the Bleed*, CPR and use of an AED (automated external defibrillator).
After Baltimore, she was off to Washington, D.C. "I was able to tour all the historical sites that are important in our history, and I got to see the White House! This was one of my favorite parts of summer," says Charleigh. "After all this traveling I came home and went straight to volleyball camps."
"At the end of the day I was super excited to be back home and in my own bed, but I am very thankful to have gotten to have these experiences," Charleigh adds. "I still want to be a cardio-thoracic surgeon. This just made me want to do surgery even more."
*Stop the Bleed is a national awareness campaign and call to action. Stop the Bleed is intended to cultivate grassroots efforts that encourage bystanders to become trained, equipped, and empowered to help in a bleeding emergency before professional help arrives.
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