By Nate Fisher

Eighth-grade doctor-in-waiting, Rowan Weems, has become comfortable with difficult things. She's not squeamish about the blood and viscera of the day, and as one tries for harmonic balance in a healthy body, she tries to find a balance between sports and schoolwork. "Sometimes I struggle with school, homework and in sports, and so I kind of have to, like, balance them both," Rowan explains. She offers an example: "I might have two practices one night, and then I’ve got to do something in language arts, and I’ve kind of got to push through it and make sure I have time to do all that."

Rowan's an expert at pushing through because Rowan has a knack for leadership and organizing her time. A member of the student council since seventh grade, she says running for Secretary was one of the best decisions she ever made. "My family and friends are all proud of me," she grins. Her family and friends also inspire her to be a natural force for change and goodness. She deeply admires her mom's "sports van" hustle to get her from home to courtside in uniform: "[My mom] is always there for me, and she's always by my side, and she helps me with all the sports…doing travel ball this year, she's going to try her best to get me everywhere I need to be."

The unmistakable trait she inherited from her family's investment in her future is a desire to help others. When asked about her motivation to become a doctor, she doesn't hesitate and says, "I just want to help everybody. I think it's pretty cool." We also think it's "pretty cool," to say the least, and we expect to see Rowan in UCLA's first-year class in a few years on a volleyball scholarship, learning about treating patients with the best ability. She's still unsure about leaving her lifelong stomping grounds of Ottawa, and, hey, she has more than enough time to decide. We ask how she'd feel if she went to her dream school, UCLA: "I don't know. It'd be hard leaving my family. But at the same time, it'd be really nice to live in California where it's always hot." Right now, she's receiving critical experience in acting under pressure, which is what you'd expect from a doctor. She tells us that sometimes a teammate will become injured when she plays for the Ottawa Soccer Club. She's grown used to helping people off the field, asking if they're okay, and keeping an eye on them. These acts may seem small in the grand scheme of things, but they're all skills you'd hope were reflexive in your healthcare professionals, right? We thought so. Rowan's already learning this through her role as a left attacker in soccer, a participant in the mile and 4 X 400m relay in cross country, and volleyball, which she's played since fifth grade.

If Rowan could help the world out now with one of its most devastating medical problems, she would in a heartbeat. If given a wish, she'd use it to gain the formula for a one-use pill that cures cancer. Unsurprisingly, this is a very Rowan thing to do. Not only would she feel motivated to do so by her experience watching her grandmother deal with cancer, but she'd also act per the reputation she's developed with her teammates, friends, family, and Ottawa as a whole.

We ask what her teammates would say if we wanted to know what kind of friend she could be: "I'm cheerful, I'm always happy for everybody. They'd say, 'You know, she's always there for them.'" All we have to say to her teammates is keep telling her that because, not only is it the truth, it's going to go far to help improve the lives of too many people down the road to count. What would Rowan tell us about herself that we didn’t already know? "I'm always willing to try my hardest, and I don't usually give up." Oh, come on now, Rowan. Even in the short time we’ve known you, we already knew that!