She gently pressed her eyes against the delicate lens of a microscope. After a little tuning and adjusting, she saw her destiny right before her very eyes.

Hannah Heyl didn’t know what to expect as she stepped through the doors of St. Frances Hospital Tuesday.

She entered anxiously as she imagined what it would be like to work in a hospital.

“I’ve never  been behind the ’employees only’ doors, so I didn’t know what I was going to see,” said Heyl, a Destrehan High School student.

By the end of the day, Heyl had seen enough. She said she knew microbiology was the career for her after watching bacteria float around on a clear plate.

“Getting to look at the biological specimens under the microscope was really cool and to see it actually move was great,” Heyl said.

Heyl isn’t the only one who is uncovering her hidden passion this week,

48 other students from all over the state are finding theirs too in other fields such as computer science, physical science and law. This is all made possible through ULM’s President’s Academy.

Joshua Stockley, associate professor of political science, said the week long program is aimed at helping high school students like Heyl discover what they want to do before they go to college.

“The President’s Academy is all about helping students recognize their gifts, their strengths, what they want to do after high school and what ULM can do to help them achieve that dream,” Stockley said.

Stockley also said the students have been divided into five teams. Each has been given a problem, or “pandemic”, that they must solve by the end of the week. That winning team will be announced on Friday.

Heyl said her team is working hard to make sure they go home with the victory. She also said this week is by far the highlight of her summer and she looks forward to one day sporting that white lab coat.