WUNDERKIND KID

from 2020 October Preston Hollow

Rise from the rubble

MEET THE HILLCREST SENIOR WHO COMPETED IN PROGRAMS AT HARVARD, JOHNS HOPKINS AND TEXAS INSTRUMENTS.

VIOLA, drill Senior Lieutenant, ballet, varsity tennis, swimming, National Honor Society, Girl Scouts and calculator applications captain — 17-year-old Paolaenid Rodney-Hernandez really does it all.

But her true love is science. The Hillcrest High School senior is completing her associates of science degree through a program offered by Hillcrest Collegiate Academy. She plans on pursuing neuroscience either as medical doctor or researcher.

“I want to do something with brains,”

Rodney-Hernandez says. “I know I want to help people, and one of my goals is to have neurosurgery be less invasive and less painful so the patients can feel better.”

Rodney-Hernandez found her love for science when she joined science club in elementary school. One of the projects was dissecting owl pellets. Then in fifth grade, she dissected a squid.

“That was really interesting for me because I didn’t know squids have a feather inside of them that’s called a gladius,” she says. “That’s when I realized I really liked science.”

As a high school freshman, she spent nine days at Johns Hopkins. She learned

Story by JEHADU ABSHIRO | Photography by GABE CANO how to suture and received her CPR certification. During a tour of the University of Maryland at Baltimore, she saw a medical dummy that first-year medical students practice resuscitating and intubation. Twenty students from Hillcrest High were nominated for the program, but Rodney-Hernandez was the only one accepted in the highly-selective program

“I got to hold half of a human brain in my hand, which was also very, very cool,” she says. “I’m most proud of myself for when I got into the Congress and into the Hopkins. I like ‘wow, I’m part of like the big league.’ ”

As a sophomore, she was nominated by Hillcrest to be part of the three-day National Congress of Future Medical Physicians in Medical Sciences at Harvard.

“My favorite part of that program was where I got to witness a partial knee replacement live on a big screen. That was really fun,” Rodney-Hernandez says.

She says her mother, Dr. Rosenid

Hernández-Badia, a librarian at Benjamin Franklin International Exploratory Academy and a former professor of biology, encouraged her two daughters to explore STEM coursework.

“We would be like, ‘Mom, we want to do a science experiment. Can we use these things?’ ” Rodney-Hernandez says.

“I really look up to my mom, especially with her biology background,” she says. “She’s one of the reasons I really like science, because I grew up loving and learning about science, like ever since I was a baby.”

Even Rodney-Hernandez’s favorite shows have medical themes. She just recently finished watching Grey’s Anatomy, The Night Shift and Criminal Minds.

This past summer, Rodney-Hernandez virtually interned at Texas Instruments, where she learned about different job types and professional skills to prep for college.

UT Austin, the University of Dallas, Baylor and Austin College are on her college applications short list; she’s looking for a school that offers a great neuroscience program, accepts her dual credit classes from Hillcrest and provides enough scholarship help.

“I’m really thankful for all the teachers who nominated me, because without them, I wouldn’t have been able to go to all those places and have those amazing opportunities,” she says “That are some of my favorite high school experiences that I’ll take with me forever.”

DID YOU KNOW?

“My mom’s a scuba instructor, and my family and I scuba dive. I want to scuba dive with the giant manta rays that only are in Indonesian waters. Like they’re like bigger than a human.”

By MATTHEW RUFFNER

Wherever you find yourself on the spectrum of politics, religion or life stage, these questions face all of us.

What can I do? What can I do about the injustice I am more awakened to each day? What can I do to learn and grow so I can be a better neighbor and friend? What is my role in the conversation of race?

These are difficult, tough and uncomfortable questions. No matter where you find yourself on the spectrum of politics, religion or your particular life stage, these questions face all of us.

If you are having a difficult time answering these questions on your own, you are not alone. Anyone who has tried to order a copy of “White Fragility,” “Me and White Supremacy,” “The Color of Law,” or any other book on race, knows many were out of print and back-ordered for months. Our country’s relationship with race has been messy at best. At worst, our relationship has been blood-soaked, terrorizing and traumatizing.

Though I believe there is a way forward together. I am on the board of Project Unity in Dallas. Project Unity was created by my dear friend, the Rev. Richie Butler in the wake of the police shootings that took place in July 2016. Project Unity was launched to bring people of different upbringings, backgrounds and races together for intentional conversations about race while sharing a meal. Together We Dine events have taken place throughout Dallas since 2016 as thousands of people have learned that conversations on race can be difficult and yet life-giving and powerful. Last week, Project Unity held a press conference to announce a new Together We Can initiative. Together We Can provides individuals, corporations and groups the tools to educate, enable and empower a lifestyle of mindfulness and action against racism. Find ways to be involved and committed to this initiative at https://www.togetherwecan.one.

Mother Theresa diagnosed all the world’s problems this way: “We have simply forgotten that we belong to one another.” Friends, we need to remember that we belong to one another; we are not just neighbors; we are not just Dallasites; we belong to one another, in mind, body and spirit. The invitation is for us to renew our mindfulness to this reality and create a lifestyle of belonging in our great city as we all take action against racism.

Yes, this journey will be messy. Yes, there will be bumps along the way that may be uncomfortable. But I believe it will be holy, for this journey will return us to one another.

With great hope, Matthew

REV. MATTHEW RUFFNER is the Senior Pastor at Ruffner at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church. He is a husband to Sarah Ruffner and a father of two. You can follow Matthew on Instagram at @thisismatthewruffner; visit PHPC.org to watch the church’s live stream and listen to sermons.