Introducing Our NEWEST Member of the EmpoweredPAs team!
Meet Becky!
I am SOOOO excited to share this news with you all! There are lots of changes happening in the background here at EmpoweredPAs and the first of which, is that we are expanding our blogging team! This past year has been a whirlwind and honestly, it’s been tough to keep up the pace. I’ve purposefully stepped back and reassessed and after some reflection, it was clear that we needed more blogging voices here.
I’m SO PLEASED to introduce Becky Popiel! She is currently a Pre-PA student (though I expect that to change soon!) who will be graduating from the University of North Texas this year. You may recognize her as she has been INSTRUMENTAL in my ability to keep our monthly virtual shadowing events going through the pandemic. She has an awesome Instagram page, with LOTS of FREE Pre-PA resources (many of which we plan to share here!). She has done the leg work for Pre-PAs and we are hoping that sharing the information will open up more doors and give Pre-PAs the tools they need to thrive!
I’ll let her tell you more about her background, for now, please WELCOME her to the EmpoweredPAs community, ask questions and let us know what YOU want to see more of!
-C
Hola friends! My name is Becky. I am a non-traditional pre-PA student graduating from the University of North Texas this December with my bachelor’s degree in Biology and Chemistry (hooray).
Well, what about me? I am a Latina in healthcare with over 10 years of experience. I am a first-generation college student who grew up in an underserved impoverished area in Texas. I am a pre-PA with the dream of becoming a Physician Assistant (PA) in the future. I am also someone who can relate to the stressors and anxiety that comes with being a pre-PA: worrying over GPA, patient care hours, the personal statement, oh and letters of recommendation; who else hustled for that!? However, with all that being said, I love where my untraditional path has brought me. My past experiences both in and out of healthcare have molded me into a stronger and healthier me.
I am one of many who has had life-altering experiences during this pandemic which have pushed me to get creative. Like many, I too had in-person shadowing canceled, the GRE rescheduled, classes moved from in-person to online, and have had to adjust to my new normal. But when my back is against the wall, I take a deep breath and make a plan. Find new volunteering, join study groups, update my skills, read up on COVID-19, find other like-minded folks, and much much more. When one thing failed, I took time to work through it mentally and emotionally, and then kept pushing. This has been a tough year to say the least for many of us
When my in-person shadowing got canceled, I earned over 100+ virtual shadowing hours and networked with pre-PAs, PA students, and PA-Cs on social media. If you take anything from here today is this one tip: network, network, network! Update your Linked-In profile, join healthcare groups on Facebook, attend virtual shadowing sessions, follow Courtney’s page; there are so many benefits in doing this. Guess how I finally found a PA to shadow in person? Networking on social media.
Can you tell I love healthcare and growing as a person? It hasn’t always been easy but I have never given up. Have I had to retake a course? Yup. Have I had anxiety over grades? Without a doubt. Bumps on the road? You betcha. Nevertheless, I have persevered. Life is like a road. It has bumps, cracks, and detours but in the end, that road always gets you to where you want to go. Be patient, trust the process and follow along here as I share my experiences as well as many tips to make you a successful and less stressed pre-PA.
-Becky
