Walking up to a white coat
Students celebrate their achievements by receiving a white coat after four years in the Biomedical Sciences program.
May 25, 2022
Walking on stage, receiving a white lab coat, looking out and seeing the proud smile on your family’s faces, and finally reaching a goal that has been worked towards for the past four years of high school. This is what the white coat ceremony represents.
Every year, what started with Wando and now the ECCAS, students in the Biomedical Sciences program have an opportunity to achieve a white lab coat. The students in the ECCAS PLTW Biomedical Sciences program work towards meeting a certain set of requirements throughout their high school career to achieve this honor. Students have to take all four Biomedical Science courses, get at least an 85 average, and get at least an 85 on the final capstone project of the final course, Biomedical Innovations, in order to receive the white lab coat. The classes are taught by four different teachers, one of which is Mrs. Truluck. Truluck teaches Medical Interventions, the third class in the Biomedical course.
“It represents dedication, the kids who stuck with it and took all four courses, accomplishment because they were able to maintain a good average, and pride in being able to finish it,” Truluck said.
The classes all cover different topics, but they all connect together in a way. In the classes, the students cover anything from the basic body systems, to different diseases, to murder mysteries. Classes are filled with complex content that the students are responsible for learning and maintaining, and the lab coat represents this difficult challenge that they faced. Students have to be dedicated in the fact that they are committing to these four courses throughout their high school career. Christina Tang is a senior who will be receiving her lab coat this year.
“I feel very accomplished about receiving my white coat. I remember when it was first talked about in biomed and thought that it was so cool to be able to earn a lab coat with your name engraved in it, and it can be used in college. The lab coat to me is just the next step to being what I actually want to be in the future,” Tang said.
Students like Tang have been looking forward to this occasion from the first moment they walked into the Principles of Biomedical Sciences class, the first one of the course. Most students who take the classes have an interest in the medical field and go on to study related majors in college, and follow a pathway in healthcare. In Tang’s case, she plans on majoring in biology for her undergraduate at Clemson, then going to medical school to become a Pediatrician, a lifelong goal of hers.
The students receiving lab coats follow similar paths, in the fields they desire, that they have been aiming towards as they progressed in the classes. The lab coat ceremony represents the joyous occasion of them being one step closer to their goals, and one step closer to the futures they will have.
“I would say congratulations, and you deserve it, you’ve worked hard all four years and thank you for being the most successful part of our program,” Truluck said.
