At Woodland Regional High School, as a graduation requirement, seniors are required to complete a project. Many of the typical projects are making a scrapbook, creating a cookbook, or participating in an internship; however, some seniors like Abby Bunk choose a different path.
Bunk’s senior project is inspired by her curiosity about the medical field. Since she was a freshman, Bunk has known that she wanted to pursue a career within the medical field but with a vast variety of options, it was difficult to determine which was the best fit for her.
“Throughout high school, I had a strong interest in the medical field, but I never knew for which part,” said Bunk. “I wanted to run this panel to introduce students to careers they might not be aware of.”
During her junior year, Bunk partnered with her AP Biology teacher, Jill Blasi, to create a senior project that was related to biology and the medical field.
“One of the other project ideas we came up with was a STEM night for younger students,” said Bunk.
The Science National Honor Society ran an event in March called SAW (Saturday at Woodland) which was a STEM event hosted for middle school students.
“I’m glad that the SAW event ran,” said Bunk. “It was cool to see how another organization had similar ideas to me regarding increasing involvement of younger students in the STEM field.”
Bunk decided to host a medical panel because it was more feasible for her.
“I chose the medical panel because it could easily be worked on for 40 hours and wouldn’t require too much funding,” said Bunk.
To put this project into action, Bunk needed to find medical professionals who would present at the panel.
“I contacted about ten individuals and seven people responded “yes” saying they were willing to participate,” said Bunk.
To ensure the event ran smoothly, Bunk created questions and sent them to the participants. She asked each of them to prepare to answer three to six questions hoping for a variety of responses from the participants.
“I also asked for some background information from the participants,” said Bunk. “I used the information they gave me to create a handout for the event.”
While Bunk ensured that she had properly prepared for the event, for the medical panel to be a success, she needed students to attend.
“I hosted the panel after school so there was conflict with other activities,” said Bunk. “As the president of the Science National Honor Society, I made this event our monthly mandatory meeting as we have a present requirement in the bylaws.”
Bunk also advertised throughout the months leading up to the event. She created an Instagram account that had all the event details and made announcements during the school day to encourage other students to attend.
Bunk’s educational experiences in high school helped her determine her chosen major of biomedical engineering and hopes that this event helped do the same for her peers.
“I hope that students were able to not only learn about the different careers the medical field has to offer but that they could make a connection with the presenters,” said Bunk. “Some of the students who attended even reached out to the panelists asking to shadow them.”
Overall, Bunk hopes that this event inspired students to explore the different careers that the world has to offer.
“The presenters all discussed their personal challenges within their respective careers and how they overcame them,” said Bunk. “I hope students are inspired by their stories and pursue a career that they are passionate about.
