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After an intensive five weeks this summer, Chambers Academy senior Baeda McClellan’s hard work has paid off and she is one step closer to her dream career. McClellan will start her senior year officially certified as a Nursing Assistant.

“I really enjoyed it. Honestly, it was stressful. It was so much information in like five weeks,” she said.

McClellan spent her summer studying patient care skills and doing clinicals at Arbor Springs, a nursing home in Opelika.

SUSCC’s Nursing Assistants programs prepares students to perform basic patient care under the supervision of an RN, LPN, physician or dentist. Nursing assistants often work in acute care hospitals, nursing homes, long-term care facilities and home care settings.

At the end of the program, SUSCC students can test to certify as a Certified Nursing Assistant through the Nurse Aide Competency Evaluation Program (NACEP).

“I remember the first day, [my teacher]  said, ‘this is a hard class if you’re in the medical field, but if you’re not, this is even harder,’” McClellan remembered. “But the people were really nice. It was a good class to take, I would recommend it.”

“I kind of wanted to work my way up so I can get some experience in the medical field,” she said.

After high school, McClellan hopes to continue her training after high school through a program with SUSCC and Auburn to received a BSN. Her goal is to become a neonatal nurse, and she has not been idle in striving toward that. McClellan said she has been taking dual enrollment classes since 10th grade.

McClellan’s favorite part of the program was going to clinicals at the nursing home.

“There’s nice old residents that were sweet, I enjoyed it,” she said. “I got like sort of an idea of what would I would be doing [in the field].”

Many of her classmates, McClellan said, were already working in the medical field and she learned a lot from them about what to expect.

“I know this one girl was a surgical tech, and this one other girl worked in radiology,” she said. “They said that CNAs mostly know more than like everyone else about the patient, since they’re always with the patient.”

McClellan said her passion for the medical field comes from growing up with her grandparents and helping to take care of them.

“That probably just made me want to help people,” she said.

In addition to her Southern Union classes, McClellan has been on the cheer team at Chambers Academy since she was in fourth grade. The connections she has built on the team are her favorite part.

“I think it’s fun,” she said. “On a Friday night, it’s different being out there than being in the crowd.”

“When I used to go to Valley, we had a band, and I loved dancing to the band,” she added.