Madison Stander, a Monterey eleventh grader who's being home schooled through the Ocean Grove Charter School, has been nominated to attend the Congress of Future Medical Leaders in Washington, D.C., November 14-16, 2014.

The Congress is an honors-only program for high school students who want to become physicians or go into medical research fields. The purpose of this event is to honor, inspire, motivate and direct the top students in the country who aspire to be physicians or medical scientists, to stay true to their dream and, after the event, to provide a path, plan, and resources to help them reach their goal.

“The Congress is a once in a life time chance to explore what I want to do in life,” Madison said. “I am really looking forward to representing not only the Monterey Peninsula, but also the State of California in Washington, D.C."

Madison was nominated to represent California's Ocean Grove Charter, based on her academic achievement, leadership potential and determination to serve humanity in the field of medicine.

Madison intends to pursue a bachelor's degree in biology then go on to pursue a degree in medicine, to ultimately become an orthopedic surgeon.

During the three-day Congress, Madison will join students from across the country and hear Nobel Laureates and National Medal of Science Winners talk about leading medical research; be given advice from Ivy League and top medical school deans on what to expect in medical school; and a lot of other really cool activities having to do with the medical field.

Madison began participating in the Junior Auxiliary Program at Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula (CHOMP) this July and is already halfway towards accruing one-hundred hours of service that will make her eligible to volunteer in the emergency room.

Madison's definitely going place. We can't wait to see how far she gets!