While doing the Manila Folder activity, I learned that my partner enjoys to play video games, so much so that what takes away his joy is losing said game. Their initial response to my design was normal, I told him what I was making and he watched as I made it so he wasn’t “surprised.” Designing something for someone felt normal, I didn’t notice anything different than other activities, but what was successful in my design was my use of green sticky notes to make the background of the XBOX logo. What I would improve on is better use of the paper-clips, I didn’t know what to do with them or how to incorporate them into my piece. As for me, having someone design something for me felt the same, all I really talked about was that I like the beach and swimming, so there wasn’t much variety in what to produce based off my vague list of interests.

Drew is a successful physicians assistant, working in the pediatric unit at Stanford. He is originally from the Bay Area, in California, and studied at UC Irvine and received his masters from USC. He enjoys traveling to places like Mexico and Spain with his family, as well as visiting his Mom, in her house he bought her, in Hawaii. Drew enjoys enduring on unique adventures; alongside his black lab puppy, he still loves going to the beach, on hikes, and anywhere with a good view. He spends the majority of his free time at home, though. Spending time with his kids, and binge watching Netflix documentaries about the Earth, like the old time “Planet Earth II.” His family is the most important thing to him, his Mom constantly coming to visit to check in on her grandchildren and her son. Drew loves to help people, which serves as his motivation to get through the emotionally draining work as a physicians assistant.

When I think of a passion, I think of something that someone enjoys so much that it takes up the majority of their time. When I think of “my” passion, it’s hard to think of something that I love so much that takes up the majority of my time. Thinking deeper, I realized that my passion lies in my future. As my last year of high school rapidly comes to its end, I’ve began getting more and more eager to start my studies to achieve my bachelors of science in nursing (BSN); eventually to become a Nurse Practitioner (NP) or a Physicians Assistant (PA). Both occupations are pretty similar, both require 6-7 years of college, both get paid around the same, and both even perform similar jobs: see patients, diagnose (PA only), treat, and ensure that their patient receive the best care possible. My passion for helping people has always been apparent– whether by means of emotional or physical help– but its taken me until my senior year to realize what I want to do with this passion.

As a high school student, its obviously challenging for me to experience the tedious work a NP or PA has to do; because of this, I have made sure I’ve taken the classes relating to nursing: AP Biology, Physiology and Human Anatomy, to name a couple. These classes, although challenging, helped me decide that being a nurse is what I want to be doing for the rest of my life. My passion for these topics allowed me to realize just how much I want to pursue my career as a NP or PA. This desire is what serves as my motivation for all the challenging work and studying I will have to do; this strong passion is what will make it all worth it.