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Clarissa Chen was accepted into the highly competitive and prestigious Guaranteed Professional Program Admissions (aka GPPA) for medical students —securing her spot in medical school.
To say senior Clarissa Chen had an incredible weekend would be an understatement. The DECA President spent the weekend competing at the DECA (Distributive Education Clubs of America) State competition. DECA is a national organization that develops future business leaders and entrepreneurs in marketing, finance, hospitality, and management. While sitting at the banquet dinner, she received an email from the University of Illinois at Chicago, her top college choice. She opened it and “literally started crying in front of 1800 kids.”
After a rigorous application process that included multiple essays and an interview, Clarissa was accepted into the highly competitive and prestigious Guaranteed Professional Program Admissions (aka GPPA) for medical students, a program with a 5-10% acceptance rate. As a GPPA student, Clarissa not only secured admission to the pre-med undergraduate program, but also guaranteed a spot in medical school at UIC! The graduate application for med school is so rigorous that many pre-med students take a gap year to reach the qualifications. GPPA eliminates this process for Clarissa; she’s already in!
Twelve hours later, her name was called from the podium at the DECA ceremony. She had qualified for the National DECA competition in Anaheim, California in April. “I had an incredible weekend. I mean, it was crazy. I could not stop jumping around,” Clarissa said.
Clarissa is a naturally gifted leader and took advantage of every opportunity that Timothy Christian High School offered — from taking AP classes to getting involved in clubs and sports, and playing in the orchestra. But perhaps one of the most important moments during her high school career was her internship at Northwestern Hospital in Winfield. She had the opportunity to shadow in different departments, including pediatrics, cardiology, and post-surgery recovery. But it was in the emergency room where she felt a spark. “The day in the ER was my favorite day,” Clarissa said. “I stayed four hours past my shift and saw really cool things.”
Clarissa will graduate on May 23. But her Timothy story is not done yet. She has the excitement of competing at the DECA Nationals Competition, her final orchestra concert on Timothy’s stage later this spring, and taking her final AP tests. “It’s amazing how God’s plans fall into place without us even knowing,” Clarissa said. “He’s been working in my life from the very start, providing me with the Timothy family and teachers who challenge and pray for me. He’s put so many events and people in my life to show me a clear path to medicine. My prayer is that in medicine, I will be an instrument through which God’s abundant love will overflow to all His people.”
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