The same way students who want a future working with animals get certified, the ones who’d like to work with people in hospitals, nursing homes, or clinics can also get certified.
The CNA program: Certified Nurse Aide Training, provided by the Social Services academy, guides students in the right direction to helping people on a daily basis.
The steps to becoming certified require the student to take Intro to Science freshman year, Health Science 1 sophomore year, CNA junior year, and the choice of Pharmacy Tech, Phlebotomy, or EMT your senior year.
Although students get certified junior year, they must continue on with the planned courses.
“I got certified last year and I’m currently working at Southwood Care Center,” senior Linda Mai said.
Like many others in the program, Mai’s goal is to someday become a doctor.
“My dream has always been to become a doctor,” Mai said. “I love helping people and seeing how grateful they are in the end.”
Students who are interested in a medical field should look into the CNA program.
“The training is not hard it’s mostly just common sense,” senior Julio Cesar Hernandez said. “All students have to do is pay for the scrubs, which isn’t bad at all.”
For students who enjoy working with other people and finding out new and different ways to help them, the CNA program should be a consideration according to current students.
“I’m really interested in nursing because it is a very promising field of study,” Hernandez said. “There will always be a need for nurses and doctors so you can’t go wrong with this career.”
Hernandez did not continue with the CNA this year, nevertheless; he will go on to college and continue to study medicine.
“I will be attending Texas State University this fall and hope to learn more about the medicine field,” Hernandez said.
Mai plans on enrolling at University of Texas and studying Kinesiology, the scientific study of human movement.
“Both my sisters are at UT,” Mai said. “I plan on keeping the tradition alive and graduating with a masters degree in Kinesiology.”
