MALLORY
Shana showed me how to believe in myself and through this I found my purpose, and I will forever be grateful for that. And I can't wait to continue to share my success stories with her.
"Shana Bloom, the most inspiring woman I know!
I don't know where to begin with how much I adore Shana, but I can definitely tell you she puts a tremendous amount of love and effort in everything she does. When I met Shana, I was confused and clueless about how to be a professional or how to put myself out there. I was taking an Internship class looking for an internship related to what I wanted to do in life. I was introduced to Shana as the new school Career Coordinator.
She was there to help me and she became a really big impact on my school work, and she guided me where I belong. She taught me everything from how to write a formal email, to mock interviews to how to get the job. She helped me all along the way landing me the high school internship of my dreams until it became my reality, I was even featured on the morning news to discuss it.
Mallory
Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
How I worked with Mallory
When Mallory was a high school junior, she reached out to me because she wanted to pursue her lifelong dream of working as a neonatal nurse. At that time, she was taking an internship class and needed help finding the pathway to her dreams. However, HIPAA standards have made attaining experience in the medical field difficult for high school students under the age of 18. Consequently, together, we began a crusade to find a door to open for her to move forward.
Researching options for Mallory, I discovered PrepareRI a competitive internship program exclusively for rising seniors. However, their application was vigorous and required essays, interviews, and a strong degree of dedication. I worked with Mallory to help create a clear pathway to her dreams; therefore, she began working hard every day to actualize them.
Through determination and clarity, she pursued her goal of meeting the criteria for PrepareRI. We spent hours together practicing interviews and reviewing essays. As the deadline approached, I encouraged her to get clinical experience by shadowing at a hospital. Through networking, we each found a job shadowing opportunity at two separate hospitals, which gave her solid real-world experience on the application. Additionally, she chose to leverage her Senior Project in the healthcare field and created a walking fundraiser entitled Baby Steps, which raised over $900 for the NICU at Women and Infants Hospital.
Eight months after our first meeting, Mallory was at my office door beaming as she was selected from 1,200 applicants to be one of the five recipients of the PrepareRI: Care New England Medical Assistant Summer Internship. The position included clinical rotations in orthopedics, surgery, and other departments.
Following her placement, we then worked together her Senior year to identify good-fit colleges for her goals. With her experience-informed college essay, Mallory once again came to my office so excited when she found out she had gained a competitive seat at her dream school due to her direct experience in the field.
Today, Mallory and I talk often, and she shares the story of her experiences in college pursuing her dreams and turning them into her reality!