On land, Hector Becerril Mora has helped homeless veterans obtain food, shelter, clothing and health screenings, as well as raised funds for the "Make a Wish" Tuna Challenge to grant the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions. On the sea, Mr. Becerril Mora has taken individuals with disabilities on boat rides during the Silver Gate Yacht Club Wheelchair Regatta, tutored U.S. Navy personnel and spearheaded biohazard disposal for the U.S. Navy. That's in addition to taking courses to become a Medical Laboratory Technician and earning a 3.3 grade point average at the Naval School of Health Sciences, San Diego. Becerril Mora is one of more than 430 medical laboratory students who received the 2011 ASCP National Student Honor Award.
Students who have earned this accolade are more than excellent students; they also excel in leadership and community involvement. By recognizing all three characteristics in student members of ASCP, the National Student Honor Award honors those future laboratory professionals with the most promise for success-academically and professionally. Past recipients have come from different backgrounds, nationalities and ages.
"The ASCP National Student Honor Award helps me to stand out from my peers," says Mora, who will be stationed at the U.S. Naval Hospital Okinawa, Chatan, Japan, through 2014 unless he is deployed. Already a four-year veteran, Mora does not expect to leave the U.S. Navy anytime soon but said having a career outside of the Navy gives him more flexibility.
Another 2011 National Student Honor Award recipient, Carly A. Cefalu, MLS(ASCP)CM, performed her clinical rotation at Hines Veterans Administration Hospital, Hines, IL, and is working as a Medical Laboratory Scientist (MLS) at Central DuPage Hospital, Winfield, IL.
"I love the laboratory, especially the blood work, because my work is always changing and always intriguing," says Cefalu, who took the ASCP Board of Certification examination a week after her graduation from Benedictine University, Lisle, IL. "Becoming an MLS is the best decision I've ever made." Cefalu discovered medical laboratory medicine when she worked in the Outpatient Department at Central DuPage Hospital and has never looked back.
A Wisconsin native, Rachel L. McCarty discovered the medical laboratory profession as a student at St. Mary's University, Winona, MN. McCarty's clinical rotation in cytogenetics took place at the Mayo School of Health Sciences, and now she's working as a technologist in Cytogenetics at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where she analyzes chromosomes for various diseases.
"ASCP is recognized by everyone in my profession," McCarty says. "I was thrilled to receive the ASCP National Student Honor Award and add this honor to my resume."
The 2012 ASCP National Student Honor Award application deadline is March 2, 2012.