ST. CLOUD – For Jared Nordstrom, it happened at a cafeteria at the Minnesota Zoo more than two decades ago.
“I heard a crash and a scream,” Nordstrom said, describing how helpless he felt watching a person fall to the ground while having a seizure. That was the moment he knew he wanted to become a doctor.
“When the paramedics showed up, I saw how they were able to be that person who knew exactly what to do,” he said, “and give that person help in one of their times of greatest needs.”
For Sierra Bermudez, that moment came after getting pregnant as a high schooler.
“I wasn’t making the best decisions,” she said, noting her parents worried she wouldn’t finish high school.
But her doctors and nurses were extremely supportive and opened her eyes to the wonders of the human body — and a possible career path, she said.
“I felt so safe, and that helped me so much,” she said. “After I got pregnant, I really changed my life around.”
Now, Bermudez is a college graduate, wife and mother to four children. And next month, she will join Nordstrom and 22 other students as the inaugural class at the University of Minnesota Medical School CentraCare Regional Campus in St. Cloud.