Washoe Country School District
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Miriam Contreras' Profile
Hug Senior’s Heart Lies in Health Care
Student: Miriam Contreras
School: Hug High School
Miriam Contreras’ desire to be a family doctor stems from a very personal experience with health-related issues.
“My mom was a cancer survivor and my biological father had complications of diabetes,” she said. “He had renal failure.”
Miriam founded the school’s Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA), a national student organization endorsed by the U.S. Department of Education and the Health Science Education Division of the Association of Career and Technical Education. HOSA gives students an opportunity to learn the knowledge, skills and leadership for the health care industry.
“She’s one of the best students Hug’s ever seen,” said Colleen Walker, Miriam’s counselor. “She just won the Gates Millennium Scholarship, which is wonderful. She’ll be a medical doctor and debt-free. She’s just outstanding.”
Miriam was chosen to be a Washoe Education Association scholarship recipient. The WEA selects two students from each school, one male and one female, who are considered outstanding graduates. She also received the Bill Gates Millennium scholarship, which gives her a full ride to her university of choice.
Miriam has a weighted 4.71 grade point average from the Advanced Placement classes she’s taking. Her favorite subjects this year are AP calculus and AP government. Despite having overcome a difficult history of domestic violence when she was a child, Miriam said she and her mother set out to create better lives for themselves. For Miriam, her hard work has paid off.
“I think I just believed in myself in school and did well and kept going,” she said.
The soon-to-be graduate also has participated in Academic Olympics and played soccer while in high school. Walker said her outstanding quality is striving to be a better person on a daily basis.
“She sets her standards very high and lives up to them,” Walker said. “She works very hard at everything she does.”
