Jordyn Klusacek and Jennifer Komolafe just graduated from Oak Forest High School and they already know they want to dedicate their futures to helping children stay as healthy as they can.
The Oak Forest Police Association took notice, and has awarded each an Officer James P. Morrissey Memorial scholarship.
The $1,000 scholarships were established in 2014 in honor of Morrissey, who died in a car crash responding to a domestic dispute.
Klusacek has worked as a lifeguard since she was 15 and was promoted to supervisor at White Water Canyon Water Park. She also works as the head swim instructor at Tinley Fitness. She’s learned to be vigilant about keeping her eyes open for anyone in need of help.
“A lot of things happen there and you need to adapt quickly,” she said, adding working as a lifeguard can help “shape many young teenagers going into health care and going into stressful jobs.”
During her time there, she helped teach a youngster with congenital central hypoventilation syndrome — a rare genetic disorder that affects breathing, especially during sleep, and must be monitored closely.
“Their mom sat me down and explained what to look for if anything happened,” Klusacek said. “It was important to watch her if she was underwater. … It just became second nature for me.”
The experience helped her connect with the swim student, as well as her whole family, including a sibling who has the same condition.
“I fell in love with their family and they asked me to babysit,” she said.
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Klusacek also has been involved in several extracurricular activities at school and has volunteered at several nursing homes, shadowing certified nursing assistants, caregivers and helping out where she can.
“I think it’s important to be well-rounded and be able to understand and care for them (older adults) also,” she said.
Klusacek wants to work in pediatrics as a registered nurse and maybe in the pediatric intensive care unit. She’s starting in the nursing program at the University of Rhode Island in the fall.
Both teens grew up with single working moms and will be first-generation college students. They’ve helped out by working to make extra money for their families and have been looking for scholarship help.
Komolafe, whose Nigerian name is Oluwatoyosi Komolafe, came to the United States from Nigeria with her family when she was in fifth grade. She already knew English, but it was a different dialect and it took her some time to understand the new accents. She also had to find her footing in a new country and was reluctant to say too much to people at first.
“At first when I got here I was more to myself and I just kind of eased into adapting to my surroundings,” Komolafe said.
She said she was met with a few “huhs,” because of her accent, when she tried to talk to fellow students. Things were different in other ways, too. In Nigeria, schools grouped students according to ability, rather than age, and classes were all in one building, where teachers came to them.
She found her passion for health care when she saw her young niece struggling with stuttering and wasn’t sure how to best help her. But she found some answers in an AP biology class, where she learned about the molecular levels of disorders.
She became even more patient with her niece, interacting more in conversations by asking her what she was trying to say and sitting down with her to talk.
“I was so interested, I wanted to learn more about how I could treat or manage these kids,” she said.
Komolafe has also done her share of extracurricular activities, leading the Key Club and Diversity Club at Oak Forest High School, and helping to organize a Nigerian and African American culture event. She also helps out in multiple ways at her church.
She’ll be attending the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in the fall, majoring in biology on a pre-med track and hopes to then become a pediatrician.
Stacy Arp, an Oak Forest Police Department dispatcher who helped gather the applications and essays, said most members of the Oak Forest Police Association voted for the two students.
“It’s how they worded their essays and goals, and who stood out to us,” said Arp. “They just seemed like nice young ladies, hard workers, well-rounded, ambitious and giving back.”
Janice Neumann is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.