Hi, I am De'Aundra Smith, a native of Gastonia, NC. I am the second oldest of 3 sisters. Growing up, the pressure was always on me. My parents both hold prestigious positions in the church, so I grew up in a Christian home. Growing up in a home where your parents are viewed as role models for the church , they expected myself and my sisters to uphold the same high standard.

    While I was in high school, I always knew that I wanted to attend college, but I didn't know what I wanted to pursue as a career. When I entered Winston Salem State University in 2013, I had so many options , and I wanted to do so much , but before I knew it , my sophomore year was beginning and I had to soon narrow down my options to one program. In 2015, I was accepted into the Clinical Laboratory Science program. I found my passion for the medical field freshman year while I was exploring my options. In 2016, I had a few shortcomings and was dismissed from the program. I felt like a failure. I felt defeated and I didn't know what to do next because I was expecting to graduate in 2017.

     After picking myself up and realizing I had to do something, I decided to enter the program for biology and since I had so much experience in Microbiology , I decided to choose that for my concentration. Although, I am graduating a year late, this is the best decision that I have ever made in my collegiate career and I am proud to say that I am a first generation college graduate and I know that I will be successful in my career as a Medical Laboratory Technician in the future.

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