Student Spotlight: Diamond Clark-McQueen

18-year-old Diamond Clark-McQueen describes herself as “funny, nice, and intelligent.” She likes to laugh and she takes care of her friends and family. Sounds like a pretty good person! At Cabrini Connections, she works with her mentor, Alison Bullock, on Wednesday nights. Diamond says Alison has been great and has helped her through hard times with writing.

Overall, though, the subject she struggles with most is math. Diamond takes AP Calculus at Al Raby High School, where she is in the 12th grade. Al Raby is a small school (550 students) on the west side. Students get a lot of support from teachers, principals, and their classmates. Diamond’s favorite subject is biology – “the study of life!” – because she is curious about what goes on in the body.

So curious, in fact, that she wants to be an OB/GYN doctor. (Obstetrics and Gynaecology are the two surgical specialties dealing with the female reproductive organs.) Diamond will be on a pre-medical track when she enters college in the fall. She has decided to attend Edward Waters College in Jacksonville, Florida. It is a small, private, Christian college. Congratulations on your acceptance and decision!

Though medical school can seem daunting, Diamond is excited to begin her journey. She thinks it will be fun and she looks forward to working with different medicines. While in the high school, she took a college course in biochemistry at National-Louis University, which gives her the confidence to take similarly challenging courses next year. Diamond plans to take advantage of extracurricular activities, too, including sororities, cheerleading, and volleyball.

In the future, she dreams of living in Atlanta and starting her own medical practice for women and babies. We admire your goals, Diamond, and we wish you the best. I hope you live by our 2010-2011 theme: “My Dreams are My Reality!” Good luck!