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Shayleen Ponace

Shayleen Ponace

Shayleen would like to become a nurse. Or perhaps a doctor.

"I like staying on my feet, staying busy. So I was thinking of Emergency Department nursing," she says. "Nurses are in charge of a group of patients, so my job would be to make them feel better."

But she is also attracted to the idea of becoming a pediatrician. Shayleen got a close-up look at both career possibilities through MCEP.

"Going to HSC was amazing," she says. "I followed the vascular access team around and watched them put IVs into patients. I got to follow nurses and health-care aides. I saw a brain tumour at the MRI; I could see all the vessels around the tumour, and that was so interesting," she says.

Shayleen has also stepped up her performance in the last year and a half. "One day she got a 79 in math, and immediately wanted to know how to make up for that," says Stacie Jaworski. "She's really interested in health care, and is thinking about working up north."

"I want to encourage all of my little cousins and siblings to finish school and do something with their lives. I want to be a positive role model for all of them. Going to university will show them that if I can do it, they can do it," says Shayleen. "As much as they encourage me, I want to encourage them. I want to help people feel better because when they're sick and I help them, it feels good to know that they can think, 'Thanks to Shayleen, I'm feeling great. If it wasn't for her by my side, I would still be sick.' It's a good feeling inside when you know that you are making people feel better."

"Growing up in northern Manitoba, I know there are not that many health-care professionals in those communities. I would like to make a difference in people's lives up there, especially for the people who cannot leave their reservations and need help."

Back to "The Class of 2012"

	About Wave Wave is published six times a year by the Winnipeg Health Region in cooperation with the Winnipeg Free Press. It is available at newsstands, hospitals and clinics throughout Winnipeg, as well as McNally Robinson Books. Read the July / August 2012 issue of Wave