Seventeen-year-old Tameron Nealy wants to spend her life helping people.

A senior at Brookhaven High School, Nealy spends two afternoons each week volunteering at King’s Daughters Medical Center. She’s at a desk down the hall from the outpatient entrance, near the coffee shop.

“I’m basically the person that if you need any help or have any questions, you come to me,” she said. “I help people go up the stairs, find the elevator, things like that — walking with them.”

She likes being at KDMC because she wants to work in the medical field.

“I took a health science class at the Vo-Tech at BHS and was really interested in the hospital, so I wanted to get a head-start,” Nealy said. “I wanted to see what every day would look like.”

She wants to attend a medical radiology program at either Copiah-Lincoln or Pearl River Community College, then work in the radiology department.

“In my area, I don’t really see as much but I do really enjoy it. I see a lot of people come in,” Nealy said. “It’s just a different feel. It’s a hospital. You get to see and hear things and how everything operates in it. It’s cool volunteering because I get to see things I would have never seen before. You could watch movies or medical TV series all day long, but it’s different when you’re actually there.”

One of the benefits of volunteering for the high schooler is National Honor Society credit. She needs 20 hours of volunteer service from two organizations.

“I’m almost done with my 20 hours, but I’ll keep going to the hospital,” she said.

But the main reason she volunteers is more personal — “I love going there because it’s something I want to do and be for the rest of my life.”

Nealy believes volunteering is good for everyone — the volunteer and the people he or she is helping.

“Just knowing I’m there and I’m able to help someone is really rewarding to me. If someone is really in need, I know where to go or who to send them to, things like that,” she said. “A lot of people smile and say, ‘Thank you.’ They seem very appreciative. Someone might not say it. They might be having a bad day. But people seem to be appreciative of what I’m doing, and I like it.”

Nealy encourages others to volunteer somewhere, but especially at the hospital.

“Go for it! Even if you’re not going into the medical field, volunteering at the hospital will give you hours, information and help you be more knowledgeable,” she said. “It’s a really good opportunity.”