"I'm a nice person to just about every person I meet," said Ajanea Hall.
Ajanea Hall is a soft-spoken people pleaser who worries too much. She's starting to feel like the future that was once so far down the road is now moving closer.
"I feel like I'm getting close to the point where I could actually do stuff on my own -- which I look forward to," Hall said.
She's looks forward to driving, graduating and packing up for college, but she figures every one of those steps requires some pre-planning. Through high school she wants to become a certified nursing assistant to put her on track for medical school.
"It's not all about just getting it done, just become a doctor," Hall said. "It's stuff that kind of, hobbies -- just to know the stuff is what I want to do."
Her little sister, 5-year-old Janea, is part of her inspiration to become a doctor. She's partially deaf, making it harder to learn and communicate.
"She's had some complication when she was younger as a baby and some things that doctors didn't really help us with," Hall said. "Like her hearing, they said she might be deaf but they didn't know. And her collarbone -- the doctor broke her collarbone or fractured it."
Ajanea is convinced she could help someone in a similar situation, maybe even make it easier. For now she helps her mom with Janea.
She's worried kindergarten will be tough for her little sister. To help her make the transition into school, they talk about the importance of reading and being excited about learning. It's something Ajanea talks about but sometimes forgets herself.
"Toward the end of each school year, I kind of slack off," Ajanea said.
But even when Ajanea slacks off, she makes the honor roll. She hopes her grades will help her get a scholarship to the University of Alaska Anchorage, where she'll get her pre-med requirements before leaving the state for med school.
"Seeing me work so hard and you really don't make enough money," said Ajanea's mom, QT Letitia Hall. "And if I had the schooling, then I probably wouldn't always be worried about something -- I always tell her, ‘Do better than what I have done.'"
"I just don't want to have to worry in the future," Ajanea said.
Ajanea will be the first person in her family to go to college, but she hopes her dreams might inspire her little sister like Janea inspired her.
Contact Ashton Goodell at agoodell@ktuu.com
