This is a picture of me during the spring of my junior year in high school. For one of my classes, we had to complete a job shadow. One of my softball coaches, who was a trauma nurse at Nationwide Children’s Hospital at the time, offered to let me job shadow her. This was especially exciting for me for several reasons. At the time, I was a volunteer at Nationwide, but I was not allowed to work in the ER because I was a minor. I wanted (and still want) to become a nurse, so job shadowing someone with my dream job at such a great hospital was a great opportunity. While we were there, I checked up on patients, examined babies with respiratory issues, watched a young woman get over sixty sutures, took patients to get an X-ray, watched hospital workers and police deal with a troubled patient, and examined several MRI and CT scan results. I also talked with several other nurses, doctors, and medics. Later, my coach allowed me to give her an IV. Both of us were surprised because many experienced professionals still have trouble inserting IVs, so it’s not often that someone does it correctly on their first try. I was slightly intimidated because I didn’t want to mess up (or ruin her pitching hand), but I actually had no difficulty doing it. The experience as a whole made me even more determined and excited to become a nurse and has now made me want to become a trauma nurse.