BCTC Spotlight: Bianca Watt

     Bianca Watt is a senior in Hamburg Area High School and is currently attending her third and final year at BCTC. After a class meeting pertaining to BCTC during Bianca’s freshman year, due to her interest in pursuing a career in the medical field, Bianca decided to enroll in the Health Occupations program. She feels that in partaking in this program that she is getting a head start in her future career pathway and now has the ability to enter the real world with a certification and hands-on experience.

     Bianca also believes that due to her participation in the BCTC program that she has had the ability to experience many different things that she would not have been able to do at Hamburg. During her first year of BCTC, Bianca felt slightly overwhelmed. Her course required lots of bookwork and she needed time to adjust. However, she believes that this helped her gain better work ethic and overall made school less stressful. She even would go as far as to say that her classes at Hamburg stress her out more than her BCTC classes. She is also glad that she decided to attend BCTC because it gave her the opportunity to not only learn generic skills such as math and reading but also more hands-on skills such as knowing how to put socks on a sick elderly person to being able to detect what a patient may be suffering from. One of the projects that Bianca was fortunate enough to be given was the task that she had to create a medical related board game. The object of the board game was to make it from start to finish without catching a disease and if a disease was caught to treat it. This in itself was a memorable moment for Bianca, and she said that it was hard work but so worth it. Another thing that Bianca would not have been able to experience if she had only stayed at Hamburg is all of the new friends that she made. All schools in Berks County have students enrolled in the BCTC program. Due to this, Bianca was able to make many friends outside of the school district. She said that, “being in the same class for three years builds a bond.” Although, she does feel distant at times with her friends from Hamburg due to scheduling conflicts, she believes that it is nothing deal breaking. Lastly, Bianca believes that if students’ goals line up with the programs offered, they should consider attending BCTC. It offers students the ability to get hands-on experience and be able to begin working right after school. Due to Bianca obtaining a certification for Nurse Aid Registry, if she so chooses she will be able to become a registered nurse assistant after she graduates. Bianca, and most students at Hamburg, “believe that it is an incredible opportunity given to us.”