Alexandria, VA native Leslie Witherspoon knew she wanted to help people, but when
she was in high school, she didn't't yet have a vision of what she would study and
where. A family member came to rescue nudging her in the direction of public health. “I chose public health mainly because there was a member of my family who said, ‘Leslie,
you would love public health,” Witherspoon recalls. “She said, ‘you get to help a
lot of people, you get to travel and you get to just be really involved in the community.’
And that’s my main thing — I've always wanted to be involved in the community, make
it better any way possible, really.”
The next step in her journey to a public health career was to choose a college that
had a highly regarded program. Witherspoon went to a college fair at her high school
and spoke with an admissions representative from Radford University. She was familiar
with Radford since several of her family members had been Highlanders.
“A lot of my family members went to Radford,” the bachelor of science in public health major says. “I thought I’d check it out and here I am! It’s been a great experience
so far.”
Witherspoon, who is finishing up her first year and attends classes at Radford University Carilion in Roanoke, says she likes that the school is on the smaller side. That gives her
the chance to develop more personal bonds with her professors and classmates.
“I think with it being so small, I was able to dive in easily,” she says. Part of
that dive included a work study job in the Department of Public Health and Healthcare Leadership. Between her classes and the job, she’s been able to meet a lot of fellow Highlanders.
“Everybody’s really friendly and just there for you,” she says, adding it’s much like
a second family for her. “It can be challenging to put yourself out there, but I've
found that everyone here is very welcoming and that helps me feel like I made the
right choice for me.”
