Growing up I knew I wanted to go into medicine in college. Last year, I was introduced to a program through my high school called EMT-Basic. I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to start off my medical career. In this class, I met the most inspiring and supportive person: Tanya Reynen. Tanya Reynen is the Coordinator of the Lake Country Training Center, but she’s better known as an experienced Firefighter, Paramedic, and most importantly, an educator.

From the beginning of the course, I knew I would struggle. As the lessons went on, Tanya started to catch on to this and recognized I needed help. She offered to go over my notes and the study guides with me after class. When we would do activities in class she would have me write out charts on my own and never failed to answer all the questions I had.
One time, I had a bad day and needed to talk about it. My mom was at work and Tanya was the only other person I could think of going to. I went to class early and walked into her office and cried to her about what had been going on. She listened to me and told me her own high school story. She said,

“Don’t worry, high school sucks. It always gets better. You just have to get through it now.”

And as cliche, as it sounds I will never forget those words. She made me feel so much better about the situation and I knew I could go to her about anything that was going on.  

No matter what kind of day I had, there is a 99% chance we would laugh at least once during our class. Tanya pulls together activities and treats for us to enjoy the day.

As I go into Nursing in college, I know I will never forget the valuable time I’ve spent learning and laughing with Tanya Reynen.