The Soon to be Graduate
Caroline Kepler, affectionately known as Keebs, is hitting the books hard during her final year of college. As a soon to be graduate, she can’t help but wonder what life has in store for her next. We can’t predict the future, but we can talk about the gem that is this human being.
When Keebs was 11 months old, she was adopted from China - or as her shirt says, she was “Made in China.” We love a good sense of humor! Her mother, Karen Kepler, was a single mom as well as a brain and spinal rehab physician. Karen and Keebs lived in Karen’s childhood home in New Jersey with her own mother. In fact, Keebs grew up in the same room her mother had as a child. Growing up, this trinity of women empowered one another to take on new challenges.
Keebs has a vivid memory of her mother calling her downstairs to have a talk when she was still in elementary school. Between them sat a manilla envelope full of adoption papers. Karen encouraged Keebs to explore all interests and ask questions. She nurtured Keebs’s curiosity. This supportive environment opened doors to Chinese lessons, a lust for travel, and a hunger for learning.
For many years, Keebs thought she would be a mechanical engineer. Why? Legos. Man, did she love legos. It wasn’t until she entered high school and opted into a biomedical route of study that she decided to follow in her mother’s medical footsteps. Science - and biology in particular - stole her heart.
Keebs is currently completing her senior year of undergraduate study at the renowned William and Mary University, a top 50 national university, where she is on a pre-med track majoring in neuroscience. Needless to say, who needs an apartment when the library has free coffee and wifi?
At the moment, Keebs is undecided on her concentration in med school, so she is excited to explore multiple rotations. To incoming students, Keebs says, “Take classes that you don’t think you’d be interested in. Explore. Expand. And don’t think you have to cram everything in.”
Prior to her final year, Keebs worked with the Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation in Chester, NJ. As a Therapy Aid, Keebs transfers patients between therapies, conducts wheel chair follows and balance exercises, and sterilizes all equipment. She is the right hand to the Occupational and Physical Therapists in the center and enjoys “watching the patients progress mentally and physically” through therapy. Keebs hopes to return to the Kessler Institute after graduating while she takes a gap year.
During her gap year, Keebs and Karen also plan to travel abroad as much as possible. We already mentioned we can’t predict the future, but one thing is for certain: If ever there was a plane to be on when someone yells, “Is there a doctor on board?!” It would certainly be a flight with the Keplers.
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