A teen in Milwaukee has made headlines after earning her nursing degree 6 months before graduating from High School.
Imunique Triplett, who is 17, completed the Licensed Practical Nursing Program which will allow her to follow a path into general nursing, teaching, or a related field. She is also the first student in the history of Milwaukee Public Schools (MPC) to complete the new M3 nursing program while still a High School student.
While the teen applied for the course 1 year before the pandemic began, she hit the front lines of a care home for elderly residents in the first wave of the virus, a huge responsibility.
Triplett says that she was previously not a high-achieving student and had been picked on as a youngster. However, after transferring schools in the fourth grade she became far more confident and no longer felt that she was ignored by teachers or regarded as a problem to be dealt with.
Triplett was the only student to complete the course before graduating high-school and one of the few students at all to complete the course that is funded by the public-school body. Many simply failed the course, chose a different career path, or simply realised that they did not like nursing.
The school system, says of the course:
"It's giving students the opportunity to try out a career before graduation in an environment with lower stakes."
While Triplett has applied to 20 universities, she has so far heard back from 11, and it looks likely she will be completing a higher degree in nursing at the New York State University, one of the most prestigious universities in the country.
She said at her graduation ceremony:
"I never thought I would be a person other people would look up to. It's a great, great feeling. It's wonderful that people feel that way about me. To think some of the adults look up to me is mind-blowing."
[Based on reporting by: Positive Outlooks]
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