Skye Vander Schaaf is a senior Biology major at the College of Charleston and an aspiring pre-medicine student with her sights set on a career in neurosurgery and neuroscience research. She is a formal member of the Navajo (Diné) Nation, and into adulthood has become more involved with the indigenous community she did not know for the beginning of her life. Outside of medicine, she loves to read, write, story-build, sketch, paint, sculpt, and dive into random hyperfixations.
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Skye's caregiving work began with a clear goal in mind. She wanted to kickstart her pre-medicine journey by gaining hands-on patient care experience, but she also hoped to find a student community to be part of along the way. Currently, she looks after an elderly but lively woman who needs occasional assistance navigating her home for bathroom breaks, dining room visits, getting dressed, and maintaining personal hygiene. Skye helps keep her balanced while she walks to best avoid a fall, prepares her afternoon meals, ensures she receives her evening medication, and at the end of each day, helps her dress for bed, assists with brushing her teeth, monitors and refills her oxygen machine, and sets the environment to help her fall asleep.
One experience early in her caregiving journey stands out as a turning point. During her sophomore year of college, Skye was caring for a bed-ridden woman at home when, at the end of a shift, the woman's husband fell and injured his back with no way of getting up. Rather than attempting to lift him and risk further harm, Skye called EMS, knowing his prior back injuries made trained professionals the safest choice. While they waited, she placed towels beneath his head and kept both him and her patient calm through simple conversation. Even after her shift ended and her patient insisted she was free to leave, Skye stayed until she knew they were in safe hands.
That moment clarified something important for her. She realized that even when there is nothing she can do physically for someone, there is always something she can do emotionally. It was one of her first real lessons in bedside manner and the role it plays in delivering the best possible care. Beyond that single incident, her time caregiving has helped her practice patience and the dedication to see a task all the way through. The conversations she has had with her patient's family and the struggles they have shared have only deepened her resolve toward neurosurgery and neuroscience research.
Her advice to other students considering a caregiving role is simple but meaningful. Find something important you can learn or take from the position that goes beyond hours or a paycheck. When you do, she says, you start to see the glimpses of humanity you were not expecting to find.