The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
THEY’RE RISING STARS
Program introduces youth to health care field options
The Mercy Rising Stars program introduced 13 youngsters this summer to careers in health care.
“This is one of the real precious programs we have in our organization,” said Edwin Oley, chief executive officer of Mercy Lorain and senior vice president of Mercy Health.
“I really believe we get more out of it than we put into it.
“The fact that you’re here integrated with our staff creates excitement. You are the hope of the future in health care and some of you are in non healthcare.
“I don’t know where all the
“Once you’re in this group, you’re family for life. They stick up for you. It’s a great group.”
— Debbie Baraga, whose daughter, Ashley, 17, participated in the program
guys are,” Oley said. “Health care isn’t really a bad occupation.”
Over the 12 years of the program, 60 young adults have been impacted, said Rising Stars Founder Catherine Woskobnick, vice president of mission and values integration at Mercy at 2700 Kolbe Road in Lorain.
“One individual is in his residency for medical school, Jordan Brown,” Woskobnick said. “One student started medical school.
“We have 28 bachelor’s degrees, 28 associate degrees, three master’s degrees, and two in medical school.
“When we came up with this 12 years ago, the premise was, ‘How do we help the underserved know about health care careers? This helps the underserved with resources so they can achieve their dreams in health care.”
Sister Carole Anne Griswold, a former vice president of mission at Mercy, said the students work out their own mission and goals for life, then they work with all of the departments.
They even see deliveries and births of newborns, Woskobnick said.
Graduation candles
At the graduation ceremony July 28 at Mercy New Life Hospice of St. Joe’s at 2500 Kolbe Road in Lorain, each table held a special candle.
Each student chose a ribbon to represent her, and tied it to all of the candles on the tables.
The candles were to be keepsakes as a reminder of the last six weeks spent together, and the lessons learned, Woskobnick said.
A candle is resilient, it provides warmth and it gives off light, she said.
‘If somebody blows out your light, what are you going to do?” Woskobnick asked. “Relight it. You all are light that comes to us. It’s so amazing.”
Another symbol that represents the Rising Stars is a caterpillar, she said.
“It looks a little ugly in its caterpillar state,” Woskobnick said.
“We see in a picture how it’s hanging, and it’s changing,” she said. “So, there’s a metamorphosis state.
“We lit that light. We wanted you all to evolve and in the evolution there is hope. We all lose hope sometimes. So where do we go to find hope? To a friend, and to each other. You all now have more people who believe in you.”
On a back wall were posters of each Rising Star, Woskobnick said, and a PowerPoint played 405 photographs of the women touring each department.
Student success
Lindsey Williams, 17, from Lorain said she will attend in the fall Ball State University in Muncie, Ind., and major in biology with an interest in pre-medicine.
“Health care is an option,” Lindsey said. “It’s definitely an interest.”
A helpful part of the Rising Stars program, she said, was at the beginning when the students worked on strength finders, interests and personality.
Lindsey chose a gold and white stripped ribbon for the candles.
“We picked the ribbons we enjoyed the most,” Lindsey said. “And we each wrote adjectives about each other. We each received a paper with the adjectives others gave us.”
Lindsey’s parents, Pastor Deena Williams and Pastor Tim Williams, attended the ceremony. Both sets of Lindsey’s grandparents also are pastors.
“We expect great things from her,” Deena Williams said. “No pressure. We want them to seek their own paths.”
Lindsey was able to watch a surgery.
“I went once,” she said. “It was cool to see. I was like, ‘Yeah, this isn’t for me.’
“These people we met can help us in the future with recommendation letters, things like that.”
Aijha Rhymes, 22, of Lorain, started in the program the summer of 2013.
Rhymes is a freshman at Lorain County Community College.
“When I first started this program, I wanted to become a pediatric nurse,” she said. “After this program, I changed to a nurse practitioner and focus on pediatrics. They also encouraged me to pursue a minor in Spanish.
“I didn’t think I could add Spanish to all of the other subjects. I started nursing school last year. In my clinicals, I had troubles with charting.
“So this summer, I spent time with a nurse in the (emergency room). He helped me chart, what verbiage to use, so that was really helpful.”
Rhymes said she has one more year of nursing school at LCCC.
“I got a lot of the leadership with being in the program,” she said. “I got the opportunity to expand myself.
“In nursing school, they teach you how to be minimally competent. This program helps you maximize your competence.”
Rhymes said she recalled a person saying, “If you’re going to be a nurse, be the best nurse you could be.”
She said she chose a light blue ribbon, her favorite color, because she likes to give off light.
“I found out in my strengths, that I like to be a developer,” Rhymes said. “A developer sees things in other people and helps them develop that.”
Other careers
Haley Vazquez, 18, Lorain, a freshman at LCCC, hopes to become an anesthesiologist.
And Karmen Love, 19, Elyria, graduated from LCCC with an associate degree.
Love plans to transfer to Cleveland State University to pursue a Bachelor’s of Health Science degree with a long-term goal of physical therapy.
Ashley Baraga, 17, of Lorain, chose a red ribbon because she’s interested in the cardiology field.
Ashley will begin nursing classes this fall as a freshman at Kent State University.
Her mother, Debbie Baraga, 36, is a medical assistant.
“I think this is a phenomenal program,” Debbie Baraga said. “They offer a lot of support emotionally and physically here.
“Her father passed away in December, and her whole group was here for her. It was important for her to talk to them and open up with them in ways she couldn’t open up to me.
“We’re doing real good. We’re opening new chapters.”
Debbie Baraga said Rising Stars is part of it.
“Once you’re in this group, you’re family for life,” she said. “They stick up for you. It’s a great group.”
Woskobnick said new for this year was a tour of Friendship Animal Protective League in Elyria.
“We talked about emotional intelligence, and when emotion wasn’t intelligent,” she said. “We did strength finders.”
They watched people painting rocks, and talked about tattoos on the heart.
“What impression of a tattoo do we leave on others?” Woskobnick asked. “We can leave a mark without even having a tattoo.”
Jennifer Cakir, a spokeswoman for Mercy, and Woskobnick collaborated on Morse code jewelry.
Each color of bead represents a different symbol, dot or dash.
“It’s a secret message for yourself to motivate yourself,” Woskobnick said. “What inspires you? Who inspires you?”
Oley reminded the Rising Stars they’re young adults now.
“If you need help, ask for it,” he said. “There is no weakness in asking for help or assistance in any facet of life.”
“I got a lot of the leadership with being in the program.”
— Aijha Rhymes, 22, of Lorain