Injuries lead Childers into medical field
Editor’s Note: Franklin’s Future is a regular feature spotlighting a high school senior in Franklin County and what they have planned for life after graduation.
Red Bay’s Hunter Childers has been just about as involved as any person can be during their four years of high school.
The 18-year-old senior has been involved in many different clubs and organizations including Students Against Destructive Decisions, Health Occupation Students of America, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Future Business Leaders of America, Beta Club, English Club, Spanish Club, Science Club, Mathaletes, FCCLA and he serves as president of the senior class.
“I believe that if you are involved in different activities at school you can be a positive influence on others,” Childers said. “This is especially important in a school like Red Bay because kids that are younger than you are constantly looking up to you as a role model.”
Childers has also been actively involved with sports at RBHS. He has been a member of the basketball, golf, track and football teams and has loved every minute.
“One of the greatest memories I’ll take away from high school is playing football, especially this past season,” he said. “The friendship you develop with other players on your team is a unique experience that you just don’t get anywhere else.”
Through sports and other organizations, Childers said he has been able to have a great high school experience that he said he will miss once he graduates in May.
“It will be hard not to see my friends everyday and it will be hard to leave this town and to not play sports anymore,” he said. “I know going off to college will be a sharp contrast to this small community.”
Even though he will miss the familiarity of home, Childers said he is ready to go to college and start making new memories there.
Childers has decided to attend the University of Alabama at Birmingham where he plans to pursue a career in the medical field.
“UAB is the premiere medical school in this area and that’s the direction I’m headed in so it just seemed like the best choice for me,” he said. “I liked the idea of going ahead and going to school there so I won’t have to transfer into medical school when the time for that comes.”
Childers said he hasn’t decided specifically what area of the medical field he wants to go into in the future, but he’s considering focusing on therapy or becoming a doctor and specializing in orthopedics.
“Having so many different sports injuries made me realize that the medical field was something I’d be interested in,” Childers said. “I think I could relate to my patients and I would enjoy helping them recover.”
Helping people is something that is common in Childers life so it’s no surprise he wants it to be part of his future as well.
He has done community service projects for several organizations such as the Leo Club and Beta Club coat drive and he has volunteered at local nursing homes where he plays the piano and the harmonica for residents.
“I really enjoy going to the nursing home especially because you can tell that it makes the people there happy and makes them feel better,” he said.
In the future, Childers said he hopes to return to the area once he has his degree and would like to open his own practice. He said he has enjoyed living in Franklin County and would like to remain close to his family, which includes his parents, Rodney and Lynn Childers; his older sister, Caitlin; and his younger brother, Austin.
“I’ve enjoyed my time at Red Bay and the best advice I could give to any of the younger students is to go ahead and set yourself up for success,” he said. “You may not have a lot of goals for your future right now, but you might have big goals later on and you don’t want to be behind because you didn’t try hard enough or give it your best all along.”
