As the class of 2026 prepares to graduate, a few set their sights on studying medicine and healthcare in college. Sacred Heart Greenwich seniors, Arianna Chin, Lexi Parsons, and Grace Villar reflected on the paths they have taken to discover and curate their interests in the medical and healthcare fields and how the opportunities they had during their time at Sacred Heart helped to develop their passions. As these three seniors get ready to pursue their medical paths at their respective colleges, they express how Sacred Heart has played a central role in supporting their journey to the healthcare industry.
Arianna will attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, this fall and will major in brain and cognitive sciences. She plans to take various science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses to further her medical knowledge. Arianna hopes to take part in undergraduate research, medicine-related clubs, and volunteering or interning at local hospitals. Additionally, she will continue to play soccer at the Division III (DIII) level at MIT for the next four years. Arianna realized she wanted to pursue a career in the medical field in eighth grade when she did her capstone project on brain tumors. She is interested in learning more about how the brain works, specifically regarding neural communication and disorders. She reflected on volunteer opportunities she took to learn more about her interest in neuroscience.
“In the summers before sophomore and junior year, I volunteered in the Neurology Department at the Westchester Medical Center under the head of the department,” Arianna said. “I encountered various neurosurgeons and neurologists, and hearing about their jobs and specialties further grew my passion to pursue neuroscience. Additionally, I co-wrote a research paper on the neuroscience of music, which opened up my perspectives on how music affects the brain and can be used as therapeutic treatment for certain neurologic disorders. Lastly, I took Neuroscience Honors at Sacred Heart this year to learn more about the basics of neuroscience.”
Lexi will attend Boston College (BC) in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, where she will pursue a nursing degree. She plans to graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and continue to become a registered nurse. Lexi is excited to take part in clinical rotations throughout her time at BC and get hands-on experience working in a professional setting. She hopes to grow her connections with local hospitals and other nursing establishments in Massachusetts throughout her time in college to prepare her to begin working as a nurse. Lexi’s interest in nursing is a recent development, as she discovered this passion during her junior year. She described how her passions have developed through the experiences Sacred Heart provided.
“I would consider my experience attending the Lourdes Pilgrimage through Sacred Heart to be a very impactful experience on me in regard to nursing,” Lexi said. “During Lourdes, I was able to achieve my passion of forming relationships with those who are struggling and being able to care for them personally, whether that was helping them with daily tasks like eating or being a source of comfort in a new place. For me, Lourdes solidified my desire and passion to pursue nursing by teaching me that caring for others is so much more than just procedures and medicine, rather, it is compassion that can truly heal patients.”
Lexi also took advantage of the wide variety of science classes offered at Sacred Heart. She took courses such as Anatomy and Physiology Honors and Advanced Placement (AP) Biology to help prepare her for a career in medicine. Lexi described how she developed a passion for healthcare through her own experiences.
“I unexpectedly underwent two knee surgeries within eight months of each other at the start of high school, and through my hospital experiences, countless doctor visits, and rehabilitations, I had the opportunities to interact with different health professions to see what interested me or didn’t,” Lexi said. “Through my experience, I was able to observe and interact with professionals to look towards as examples of the kind of person I want to be in the medical field as well as how I could make a difference. Nursing stood out to me, as I have always loved caring for others. The idea of being a support system and having the opportunity to form relationships through the care of patients in an environment like a hospital, where so much of their experience is “cold” or impersonal, stood out to me.”
Grace will attend the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, next year. She plans to major in biology and hopes to minor in philosophy or history. Grace also plans to participate in the clinical hours at UNC. During her time at Sacred Heart, Grace took AP Biology and AP Chemistry to help develop her medical understanding and prepare her for her path at UNC. Getting to take biology in high school was very beneficial for Grace, and it helped her solidify her choice to major in biology. Grace shares how medicine has been a passion of hers for a very long time.
“One of my friends, Scarlett James, is a stage four T-cell lymphoma survivor and, after her battle with cancer, her family started the Scarlett Fund,” Grace said. “I met Scarlett right as she was finishing treatment, so I have grown up alongside the fund, and pediatric cancer is a cause that has been very important to me for a very long time. I have worked with the Scarlett Fund as a student ambassador and was also a member of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Student Board for about eight years, and participating in both of those really solidified my passion for this cause. I also did the ONSF mini-med internship freshman year and an externship at Stamford Hospital this past summer as well as an externship at an endoscopy center my sophomore summer. All of those experiences also helped to really confirm the fact that I wanted to go into the medical field.”
Featured Image by Ruby Boeding ’28
