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Death’s mystery is chosen niche
"I'm grateful to the hospital for letting me work there," the Palo Verde High School senior said. Her niche in life is to study the mysteries surrounding a person's death, McDonald believes. Through her own research and a Professional Internship Program co-sponsored by the University of Arizona and her school, McDonald decided St. Joseph's was the place for her. McDonald knows the hospital field is calling to her, but has not decided what to do once she gets there. She's narrowed it down to two choices: a a medical examiner, who works for a government agency to examine bodies and perform autopsies or a pathologist, who examines samples from surgeries to find the cause and nature of a disease. To McDonald, a person’s cause of death is like an intricate puzzle. She wants to study the way people die and also help them cope with the loss of a family member. “Someday I want to see an autopsy performed,” McDonald said excitedly. She has seen them conducted on the Internet, but she is hoping to see the real thing. Along with interning at St. Joseph’s, McDonald is taking summer courses at Pima Community College to knock out her introductory math and English courses before heading for the University of Arizona. McDonald has decided to study three fields in college — chemistry, math and physics. A heavy load is nothing new for McDonald. She’s been playing the piano for 12 years and was the National Honor Society’s secretary at Palo Verde High for two years. She balances her lab internship with her job at the Nature Conservancy. In 1993, McDonald became the first female altar server for Our Mother of Sorrows Church — a position she fought for and attained. She plans to attend UA’s medical school and hopes to find a job in Tucson.“It’s important to me to give back to the community and to people I have connections with,” she said.
Jamie Hoover is a senior at Santa Rita High School.
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