La Shawna Clark

Student

“Whatever area of medicine I go into, I want to make sure it involves a lot of patient contact. Speaking Spanish is going to be a great help with that.”

Her approach to medical school was a non-traditional route: one that would take her to Mexico for a summer through SMC. “I plan on taking Spanish 3 in Mexico because it’s the best place to study the language,” says La Shawna Clark. “I have an awesome Spanish teacher – Professor Erickson – and learning this language has become a passion for me.” La Shawna admits to a little worry about the expenses of travel. But she also explains that being bilingual has already paid dividends in her medical work.

“I’ve been working in a hospital as birth clerk for the past year, and often the doctors would have to call the housekeepers in to interpret,” explains La Shawna. “I’d already studied Spanish in high school, so I was able to help out in some tense situations. I’d love to go on to graduate school to study the language,” she continues. “But my absolute focus is on becoming a doctor. And that means medical school.” Faced with all those years of study, La Shawna has had to make some tough choices regarding money.

“I was in honors and advanced placement programs throughout high school and actually spent a year at Bellman, a black women’s college in Atlanta,” she says. “It was very ‘Ivy League,’ and I enjoyed being surrounded by other black women all focused on the goal of education. But my mom and dad gave me good advice about all the financial problems I could rack up. So I realized that SMC was a good alternative to going into debt. And I’m very happy about the choice I made to study here,” she says.

“This school gives me great preparation in the sciences. But it also enforces for me what a good time in life being a student really can be.”

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