ROBERTSDALE, Ala. — Jennifer Campbell, a sophomore at Robertsdale High, said that breaking her arm when she was eight years old led her to choose a particular career path.

“My best friend, myself, and her little sister were rough housing one afternoon and I rolled wrong on my arm.” Campbell said. “With a snap, crackle, pop my arm was broke in three places.”

During her trip to the emergency room, Campbell’s arm was x-rayed, set, and a cast was placed around it.

“When the doctor showed me the x-ray, with the all the fractures, I felt both comfortable with the knowledge, as well as excited,” she said. “I was hooked from that day forward. I wanted to be a radiologist.”

Campbell knows she will need to know and understand the human body the same way a trucker knows the highways and how to read a map.

“I’ve been told that nurses often make the best doctors,” she said. “I’m thinking about getting a bachelor’s of science in nursing, as I know I need a B.S. degree in order to apply to medical school.”

The University of Alabama in Birmingham’s medical school is Campbell’s first choice at the present time.

“I know I’ll need the best grades that I can earn, whether it’s in high school or college, to be considered,” she said. “Radiology, however, is my dream job, and I’m determined to do everything I can to make that dream come true.”

The daughter of Patricia and Joe Campbell of Silverhill, Jennifer has an older, married brother, Daniel, who lives in Robertsdale. Campbell is currently carrying a 3.04 grade point average.

“I’ll probably take the ACT during my junior year,” she said. “The better my score, the more scholarship money I can earn. When you add the Snook Family Scholarship, as well as some others I plan on applying for, I believe I can cut the costs of my undergraduate degree substantially. Medical school is another story, however.”

Campbell is currently a Chief Petty Officer First Class in Robertsdale’s Naval Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps unit. There she is a division officer for first block and the color guard department head.

“I’ll probably stick with ROTC throughout my high school career,” she said, “but I don’t think I will during college.”

Campbell is already looking at majoring in pre-med at the college level, which would include an emphasis on either biology or chemistry.

“I’m also considering nursing, as some of your best physicians are former nurses,” she said. “They speak the same language as the physicians who will be teaching the medical courses, they’ve been through numerous rotations, and they know what it’s like to study medicine.”

Because she’s only 15-years-old Campbell said about the only job available for someone her age is baby-sitting.

“This coming summer I’ll be 16, so I’ll be applying for a summer job,” she said. “Another thing I want to do is get involved with the Summer Scrubs program. I’ll be able to drive at that time so I hope to be able to go and be a part of it.”

Campbell said she would like to become a licensed pharmacy technician so that she could work in a pharmacy and learn more about pharmacology.

At RHS Campbell is involved with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and First Priority/Pulse and the Future Teachers of America.

“I play basketball, but next semester I want to try out for the tennis team,” she said.

Outside of RHS Campbell is involved with her church, Silverhill Covenant. She also enjoys hunting, fishing, and mud riding, in addition to shopping and hanging out with friends at the beach.

“I know I’ll be in school for a long, long time in order to achieve my goal of becoming a radiologist, but I believe it’ll be worth it,” she said.