VasiLisa’s Story: A Risk-Taker Discovers Her Passion

“I love exploring really, you can’t get anywhere without taking a risk once. Better to take the risk rather than to sit back.”

That’s the philosophy of VasiLisa, a student at George Washington High School who’s had three internships with DPS Career and College Success.

Her first big risk? Formerly home-schooled, VasiLisa made the decision to attend high school for the full experience. She was placed in the Career and College Success class at George Washington, where she deepened her passion for exploring and taking risks.

“At first I thought it was a gym class, but it’s actually a place where we get to do hands-on learning,” she said. “We did a unit on nursing, and how to take someone’s blood pressure and heart rate.

“We practiced with other people in our groups and it gave us a feel for how the job really is … In the second year, we got a mannequin with all the human bones and spent the whole year molding the muscles to the body.”

“We practiced with other people in our groups and it gave us a feel for how the job really is.”

Through Career and College Success, she discovered her second passion: working in healthcare.

With the support of her school’s assistant principal, VasiLisa applied to and participated in an internship at Presbyterian St. Luke’s Hospital, as well as two additional internships at nursing homes.

She described how the opportunity to work in a veterans’ nursing home helped shape her identity for caring for others.

“I met a resident from the Korean war,” she said. “We bonded together in the lunchroom where I listened to his stories. We made one another smile.”

Her advice for students considering Career and College Success? Take the risk.

“The experience taught me that if you put your mind to something, you can achieve,” she said, “but if you get stuck, people are there for me to help me get through it so I can accomplish what I want to.”

“The experience taught me that if you put your mind to something, you can achieve.”