BY JONATHON KANE
Wood River High School junior Maddi Ruhter takes pleasure in helping others. She hopes that leads her into a career in medicine.
Currently carrying a 3.65 grade point average, Maddi’s course load this winter includes Advanced Placement Economics, Language and Composition, Chemistry, Applied Physics, Sports Medicine and fourth-year French. She is also a member of the Space Club and plans on running track this year for the Wolverines.
“I just really like to help people and want to do it in the medical field,” she said. “My mom was a nurse, so I guess that is what inspired me. I also see a lot of people struggling with mental illness and I really want to help and tell people that they are not alone and to comfort them. It feels really good to reassure other people.”
Maddi’s dream is to become a traveling physician’s assistant, with a strong interest in mental illness.
“Basically, I’ll be able to do a lot of what a physician does and to take on their role in many ways.
“By being a traveling [physician’s] assistant, I hope to see much of the world. I’ll spend six months at a clinic or in an emergency room and then have the opportunity to go somewhere else. I’ve never been able to explore a lot, so I want to see all that I can see in my lifetime. I especially want to explore the East Coast and see all its culture and history, and I really want to explore New Orleans.”
To reach her dream, Maddie has to maintain a 3.5 GPA or above.
“I’ll be taking biology, physics and chemistry in college. Then I’ll get internships in hospitals for hands-on experience and hopefully work in family clinics and emergency rooms.”
Maddi does not find the challenge to be daunting in any way.
“This will be fun,” she said. “Plus, I love science. There is just so much more we can learn and so much more to find. I love solving equations and trying to apply them to the real world.”
In her spare time, Maddi loves to hike––especially with her dad.
“I’ve been going since I was born, when my parents would throw me in a carrier backpack. I soon as I could walk, I would run up the mountain. I remember asking my dad why people moved so slowly, and he said that it was to see the scenery, and I responded that that’s for the way down.”
Maddi hikes with her dad all summer through Idaho and Montana. A special hike was last summer in Red Lodge, Mont.
“We did Basin Creek that led to two lakes that were incredibly beautiful with lily pads all over the water. It was five miles up, but I love uphill climbs. I like getting to the top and seeing for as far as the eye can see.”
