Congratulations to PTHS senior Erica Wurth, this week’s MSU Teen of the Week featured in the Paducah Sun!
TILGHMAN’S ERICA WURTH TO PURSUE HEALTH CARE CAREER
By Jeremiah Hatcher
November 5, 2024
The Paducah Sun
Reprinted with permission
Erica Wurth, a Paducah Tilghman High School senior and this week’s Murray State University Teen of the Week, intends to turn her passion for understanding the human body into a career in health care.
Wurth maintains a 4.0 GPA and is involved in several extracurricular activities, including playing for the school’s women’s varsity soccer team, serving on the student council, and participating as a Paducah Chamber of Commerce Youth Leader.
Although she is a member of about a dozen clubs and organizations, Wurth considers her role as a mentor to middle school students in Paducah WyldLife, a part of the Greater Paducah Young Life, to be her favorite.
“It has really helped me to mentor,” Wurth said. ‘One of my favorite things is you find life and it’s easy to give it away. I really find that giving life away helps fill me up and learn more about myself and others,” Wurth said.
While Wurth has not yet received any college admission letters, she has two schools in mind: the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and the University of Kentucky. She plans to major in neuroscience and minor in psychology, eventually obtaining a clinical doctorate in psychology.
Wurth aims to work in health care, focusing on research in psychology and neuroscience to further her understanding and passion for the human body, particularly the brain.
“I’ve definitely found an interest, you know, in like the chemistry side and the biology side,” Wurth said. “I think it’s so interesting that all of those complex chemical processes happen in our body, in everyone’s body, but as well as the fact that they influence our decisions, they influence how we unite, how we divide each other, and just how that plays out throughout history, and how we can use that in the future to obtain new knowledge.”
Wurth said she wants to stay closer to home if she decides to pursue a career in west Kentucky.
Physics and engineering teacher Jeff Davis praised Wurth for her exceptional intellectual curiosity, dedication, and genuine passion for physics. He said Wurth quickly grasped complex concepts and effectively applied them in practical situations. Davis also mentioned that Wurth often went above and beyond by seeking additional resources and engaging in discussions that enriched the learning experience for her peers.
“Erica’s analytical mindset, coupled with her strong work ethic, makes her an ideal candidate for any future academic pursuits in the sciences. I have no doubt that Erica will excel in her future studies and make significant contributions to her community,” Davis said.
AP English literature and composition teacher Robert Wade Morse praised Wurth as an exceptional scholar, strong leader, and active volunteer in her school and community. He believes that the hard work Wurth has dedicated to her classes has effectively prepared her for college-level coursework.
Morse is particularly impressed with Wurth’s ability to understand complex texts, synthesize their ideas with her own, and write essays that reflect deep critical thinking as well as a genuine interest and understanding of her subject matter.
“I look forward to the positive impact she will have on our world,” Morse said.
When offering advice to her peers, Wurth emphasized, “Don’t underestimate the value of hard work.” She said that while dreams can inspire an individual, they alone are not enough. It takes effort to materialize them.
Wurth believes that the feeling of wanting to give up is temporary. She said everyone has a choice: They can give up and let everything fade away, or they can persevere through the struggle and ultimately reap the rewards. It’s a belief that comes from personal experience.
“Last year, I was taking the most AP classes I had taken,” Wurth said. “I was still juggling classes online and I have a job as well. So, I was working soccer, and I just had no time. At that point, it was really easy for me to be like, ‘Well, it really doesn’t matter how well I do at school,’ like I got like, ‘I’ll do OK, even if I don’t try as hard as I do.’ But the stress of the moment was so much less than the good that I felt at the end when I knew I had worked hard and I had achieved the grades, test scores, and awards that I wanted. It made that struggle feel so small compared to how great it was,” she said.
Photo caption: Erica Wurth’s fascination with chemistry and biology are fueling her to pursue a career in health care after graduation