South-Western Career Academy (SWCA) pre-nursing senior Jacquelin Rebollar Pedraza is one of many students in the district taking advantage of Work-Based Learning (WBL) opportunities available to students. WBL can either be a paid or unpaid position in the real world directly tied to their credentialing program at the SWCA.
As a student of pre-nursing instructor Mrs. Rebecca McNeil, Rebollar Pedraza has utilized the last two years on campus to hone her healthcare skills and prepare her for life after high school.
Rebollar Pedraza is currently placed at Grove City Methodist Hospital where she is gaining invaluable experience in the healthcare field. Ahead of that placement, it was her experience with Mrs. McNeil in the classroom and her clinical work at Meadowgrove Transitional Care with seniors that prepared her to go from the classroom to the hospital floor.
“Our lab is set up in a way where we practice with mannequins, but we do complete clinicals before we [engage with earning our] STNA,” said Rebollar Pedraza. “Working in a nursing home last year and answering all of those calls to work and, to actually do it by yourself, was really eye opening. Working in a nursing home, they depend on you and they are really grateful for what you do.”
From there, Rebollar Pedraza and many of her fellow pre-nursing SWCA classmates received an opportunity to apply and interview for WBL placements with OhioHealth.
“After we obtained our STNA, we were informed that OhioHealth wanted to do interviews with us,” said Rebollar Pedraza. OhioHealth has a wonderful program where they let you alternate between units and experience every unit. [With OhioHealth], they offered us college reimbursement and flexible hours which really motivated me to get into Work-Based Learning (WBL). “
Outside of her lab time at the South-Western Career Academy (SWCA), Rebollar Pedraza averages about 24 hours a week for her part-time job in healthcare. While juggling the balance of being a high school senior and a healthcare professional, she has found a home with her current placement at Grove City Methodist Hospital and their supportive team who help her with balancing her time.
“I never have really struggled to work,” said Rebollar Pedraza. “I even asked [my WBL coordinator] Mrs. Stith if she was okay with me working 24 hours a week and she was okay with it because I can manage the stress of it. It works out with my schedule pretty well and my management team at [the hospital]. They are amazing and check in on me to ask ‘how is school going?,’ ‘do you feel like we are working you too much?,’ but I like focusing on the collates -the patients. I do not really feel stressed.”
While opportunities have come to knock at her door in recent years to accelerate her path into the healthcare profession, for Rebollar Pedraza, she never forgets the patients she has helped and what they have taught her along the way.
“I feel like I am a very compassionate and empathetic person,” said Rebollar Pedraza. “It is a strength….with [end of life care patients in my previous experience] and you are just trying to help them out as much as you can. These are the same patients who also tell me ‘you are going to be a great nurse one day’ and they give me strength.”
In addition to her paid WBL experience, Rebollar Pedraza as well, as many of our OhioHealth pre-nursing students, are in a position to receive college support to the tune of $5,200 a year for tuition. At this time, Rebollar Pedraza has already been accepted into a number of college nursing programs as of December as she leans on her friends and family, instructor Mrs. McNeil, and WBL Coordinator Mrs. Stith for guidance on what lies ahead for her helping others after high school.
For more information on the South-Western Career Academy, visit: https://www.swcsdcareertech.com/
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