She Almost Quit Freshman Year. Now She's in Medical School.

Haley Thomassy didn't arrive at Florida Southern with a perfect plan. She arrived with a soccer schedule, a biology textbook, and a lot of questions she was afraid to ask.

The first semester was hard. Haley was a varsity athlete, waking up early for practice, traveling on weekends, and trying to figure out how to study. Not the high school version of studying, but the kind that medical school eventually demands. She was also carrying a quiet, persistent fear: that she'd wanted to be a doctor her whole life and might not be able to pull it off.

"I was really doubting myself. I was like, ‘Do I really want this? Can I handle this?’”

She handled it by doing less. Intentionally.

That first semester, Haley focused on exactly two things: soccer and school. No clubs, no research, no resume building. Just learning how to be a college student. It was, she says now, the best decision she made.

"I would tell people: you're never gonna be able to do all of that at once. You keep building in baby steps."

By spring, she had her footing. She introduced herself to FSC's pre-health advisor, sat down with Dr. Nancy Morvillo, the pre-health studies coordinator and chair of the Biology Department, and started learning what the path to medical school looked like — the shadowing hours, the MCAT timeline, the personal statement. Nobody handed her a roadmap. But FSC had one ready when she asked.

From there, Haley built steadily. A small role in Alpha Epsilon Delta, the national pre-health honor society. Then, peer mentoring, a role she chose because she remembered exactly how lost she'd felt as a freshman and wanted to help the next student feel less alone. Then, a growing leadership role in AED. Then, almost by accident, came the opportunity that would define her application.

During her sophomore year, Haley Googled "clinical research opportunities" and stumbled onto the Duke Summer Training in Academic Research program at Duke University Clinical Research Institute. She applied without much expectation.

"I really didn't have a plan. It was very much, ‘We'll just see what happens.’"

She got in. That summer, she spent two months in Durham working alongside a resident physician on a study examining Acyclovir dosing practices for neonates with Herpes Simplex Virus. The research was real, the stakes were real, and when the work was done, Haley stayed on. The study was eventually published with Haley listed as co-author. She was a junior in college.

The experience became the centerpiece of her honors thesis and, eventually, a centerpiece of her medical school application. By senior year, she was AED president, had completed her thesis, and was navigating an application cycle she'd been quietly preparing for since freshman year.

Temple University's Lewis Katz School of Medicine accepted her. She's now finishing her first year in Philadelphia. She’s taking on cardiology classes and nephrology exams, building community in a city she wasn't sure she was ready for, and discovering that FSC prepared her for more than she realized.

"I felt like we were all doing it together. It wasn't like we were on totally different levels. Florida Southern prepared me just as much as anyone coming from an Ivy League or a big public school."

She still gets texts from FSC pre-med students asking for advice. Her answer is always the same: go talk to Meredith (FSC’s pre-health advisor). Show up before you feel ready. And don't try to do everything at once.

The path to medical school is long. Haley Thomassy started walking it one baby step at a time — on a campus that made sure she didn't walk it alone.

Interested in FSC's pre-health programs? Learn more at flsouthern.edu/pre-health