At the age of 18, Andrea Chambers has her life pretty well mapped out, at least for the next 13 years.
The Walsh Jesuit senior will attend Washington University in St. Louis where she received a full ride and will major in cognitive neuroscience.
She then plans to join the Peace Corps Global Health Service Partnership, which provides medical care in underdeveloped countries.
After that will be medical school — she’s not yet sure where — followed by starting her practice, preferably at a children’s hospital in Akron, Cleveland or Cincinnati.
For those who know Chambers, these ambitious plans come as no surprise. They have watched her chart a similarly challenging path through high school, and excel despite personal adversity.
“Her work ethic, positive attitude, personality, family background, intelligence and determination make Andrea one of the most remarkable people I have met in my 34 years in education,” Michael Gladstone, a counselor at Walsh Jesuit, said in letter to the Beacon Journal nominating Chambers as a Star Student. “She has inspired me more than any other student I have ever counseled.”
Gladstone noted that Chambers hasn’t had it easy. Her parents are divorced and her father has struggled to hold down a job, at times living in his car. Chambers and her mother live in a small apartment across from Walsh Jesuit. Gladstone, however, said Chambers doesn’t dwell on her family’s financial hurdles and has “an incredible attitude about life and school.”
Chambers doesn’t shy away from discussing her family’s adversity. In fact, she thinks these challenges have helped to shape her into the person she is today. She said she has the ability to see the brighter side of situations and has become extremely close to her mother.
“If we are sad, we find little things to help cheer each other up,” she said in a recent interview.
Chambers achieved a 4.2 GPA while taking seven advanced placement and nine honors courses, along with participating in a long list of extracurricular and volunteer activities.
Chambers decided she wanted to be a doctor in third grade. She chose her neurology specialty in eighth grade after learning about Phineas Gage, an American railroad worker who survived an accident in which an iron rod went through his head.
“That really intrigued me,” she said.
Chambers got a firsthand view of life in the medical field this month by shadowing Colleen Johnson, a nurse at the Neuroscience Center at NNA (Neurology & Neuroscience Associates Inc.), a practice based in West Akron with five regional offices, for three weeks.
Johnson said Chambers has seen what it’s like to deal with easy-to-treat and difficult patients and to work in different medical offices. Johnson splits her time between the offices in Akron, Ravenna and Green.
Johnson said Chambers also has learned important lessons, such as “the procedure for going into the wrong patient’s room and trying to save face.” She has offered her advice, including: “Marry a nurse. We’re the best.”
Johnson said Chambers has done a good job and she thinks she has a bright future ahead of her. She’s impressed with how Chambers already is making plans for Washington University even though she hasn’t started there yet.
“It was a pleasure to work with her,” she said. “It’s fun to watch somebody young who knows what they’re doing. It’s refreshing.”
Chambers said she enjoyed shadowing Johnson and it solidified her desire to be a doctor.
“It made me experience what my life will be like in 13 years,” she said. “I want to come up with better treatment options for disorders like epilepsy and narcolepsy. There is the possibility of having an impact on the world.”
Stephanie Warsmith can be reached at 330-996-3705, swarsmith@thebeaconjournal.com and on Twitter: @swarsmithabj .