Hello fellow bloggers and the Ogallala Commons community! My name is Mercedez Hernandez and I will be starting my second internship with OC at the High Plains Food Bank in Amarillo, Texas on July 1st. Before I expand more upon my internship, I wanted to take a moment to give some background information on myself.
I am starting my third year as a Pre-Med/Health Sciences Major at West Texas A&M University this coming fall. After my graduation from WTAMU, I plan on attending medical school in the state of Texas (I wish I could tell you which one, but honestly I would be more than grateful to be accepted into any of them). As you may have noticed, I am not your typical Pre-Med/Biology major hoping to become a doctor. The reason I veered from the norm, can be attributed to my passion for nutrition and physical activity.
This passion was not discovered until I was a Junior in High School, when I had gained about 15 pounds after hanging up my cleats as a soccer player. Unhappy with myself, I decided I needed to make a change. I researched ways to become healthier, however I struggled with implementing the change. It was difficult to make a significant behavior change without the help of someone else, but with time, I finally became accustomed to making healthier choices and lost the weight. When I entered college, I decided to pursue a degree in Health Sciences in hopes of aiding future patients’ transition to “healthy.”
During my internship last summer at Hereford Regional Medical Center, I witnessed how fundamental nutrition and lifestyle choices are to a patient’s health, and observed the same struggle in others that I had experienced. My observations from shadowing Physicians furthered fueled my desire to become educated in Health and Nutrition.
Health is the foundation that sustains all other aspects of life. For this reason, I advocate for the improvement of the Health of our community, and am thrilled to be given an opportunity to work with the High Plains Food Bank. Teaching the youth at the Maverick’s Club gives me a chance to put into practice concepts I’ve learned in the classroom, while perhaps spreading some smiles along the way.
My experiences and observations with Ogallala Commons have played a significant role in shaping the way I approach medicine. Someday, my practice will be filled with holistic approaches of which utilizes psychology and the knowledge of nutrition, alongside the practice of medicine.
Tomorrow starts the first day of my internship, of which I look forward to sharing with all of you as the summer passes. Thank you for taking time out of your day to read my blog. God Bless.
