By KATIE STUBBLEFIELD
Bellefonte High alumni, Samantha (Sam) Grieb, graduated in 2022 with the goal of becoming a Social Studies teacher. Little did she know that she would end up becoming an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT).
Sam was a journalism staff member during all four years of high school.. Her positions from freshman to senior year were staff reporter, copy editor, photographer, website manager, and finally, editor in chief. She was also in journalism when the website was first introduced in 2018. Journalism was one of her favorite classes, as she created many memories throughout the years.
“I miss journalism so much! Mostly I miss working and collaborating with other students. I miss the warm and welcoming environment that journalism has become for me. I also miss Mrs. Lloyd,” Sam said.
Journalism teacher Mrs. Jessica Lloyd feels as if Sam is the perfect person to become an EMT as she misses her very much.
“I am so happy to hear that Sam will be utilizing her nurturing side with this career. She was always looking out for other people during the four years I knew her in journalism class,” Mrs. Lloyd said.
After graduating, Sam started attending Penn State University (PSU) in Altoona and ended up hating it. She came to the conclusion that college was not the right thing for her, at least at that time. She eventually fell in love with emergency medicine and decided she wanted to become an EMT.
Typically, EMT courses are around eight months long, yet Sam took the opportunity to take an accelerated two-month long course. She does online school work and reports for eight-hour sessions once a week on top of doing clinicals. Along with the accelerated courses, she works full-time currently at the Mount Nittany Hospital working 40 plus hours a week.
While balancing school and work is a challenge for Sam, her end goal of becoming a paramedic kept her in line and helped her push through. Sam will graduate on December 18 and will take her final exams in January that will make her officially certified.
Sam plans on being an EMT for a couple years to gain Basic Life Support (BLS) experience before she prepares herself to go for her paramedic degree in Advanced Life Support (ALS). After accomplishing both, she hopes to either join MedEvac or LifeFlight.
Though her life was nothing like she first imagined after graduating, she is pleased with how everything fell into place and is excited to see where life takes her next.
