Hi, welcome to Mayor's Top Teens.

I'm Liz Liano with KRWG Public Media and today we're going to be talking to Charlotte Dennis.

Hi and welcome Charlotte and congratulations for being a Mayor's Top Teen.

Thank you so much.

It's such an honor to be here.

It's wonderful to have you.

So Charlotte, tell us some of the wonderful activities and extracurriculars that you've been working on.

Right now, I'm currently involved in HOSA, mock trial, student government, MESA, cross-country wrestling, and then track.

That is quite an extensive list.

Let's zoom in on some of those.

What is HOSA?

HOSA stands for HOSA FHP, which stands for HOSA Future Health Professionals.

It's a professional organization primed to developing the future medical leaders of our world.

We host a lot of competitions regional, state and international competitions where our members can compete in skills such as nursing, CPR, or even skills such as medical law.

I currently compete in medical law.

And it's just a way to develop people's medical skills and get them prepared for their future jobs.

Wow.

That is, that is pretty comprehensive.

So you said you're, you're concentrating in medical law?

Yes.

And is that what you want to go into in the future?

Kind of sorta.

I want to be a child advocacy lawyer, so it's like, a more extreme social worker.

I really want to work with children who have been abused or neglected.

I want to help them get out of bad situations, and I really want to defend them in, in trials.

Wow.

That is, really wonderful, Charlotte.

So, okay.

Jumping back a couple steps.

You want to be in HOSA?

You want to, look at the medical law?

One of your activities was track?

Yes.

Yes.

So you're an athlete?

What is your, event in track?

I'm a distance runner, so I kind of bounced between doing the 800, the mile, and then the two mile.

Right now, my favorite event right now is probably the two mile.

Wow.

That's wonderful.

How do you keep up your endurance for two miles?

I pace myself, I use my Fitbit, and then I also have a pacing partner that I work with.

We run really close to each other for the whole race.

And at the end, we just kind of, like, race each other out.

Wow.

That's, literally going the distance.

Wonderful.

So what school do you want to end up attending?

In the fall, I'll be attending NMSU and getting my bachelor's in social work.

Wow.

Very nice.

So you want to stay here in Las Cruces?

I'm kind of back and forth and staying in New Mexico.

I know I want to attend law school out of state to get a JD, dual degree.

So I may have to go to, like, an Ohio college for that kind of degree.

but I may end up back in New Mexico since I know there's lots of jobs regarding social work.

Very nice yes, we do definitely need a lot of social workers here a lot of, wonderful, skilled kind, caring social worker, wonderful, Charlotte, Is there anything else you'd like to share with us about your activities or extracurriculars?

Right now, I currently serve as the New Mexico HOSA State President.

This is my second year as a state officer.

Last year, I served as the vice President of Communications, so I manage the social media.

But this year I kind of like manage everything.

It's been super fun.

I love representing all of our New Mexico, some members on the state and international level.

And HOSA just been one of the organizations I've been with all four years of high school.

So it's just a great experience.

That's wonderful Charlotte.

It's, glad to hear you're doing so much in the community and among your peers.

So thank you for sharing all that with us.

Once again, congratulations on being a Mayors Top Teen.

Thank you.