The morning began like many others: with a 9:00 a.m. opening shift at Hallmark. Maria Paradis was settling into another day at a job she genuinely enjoyed.
The store had its regulars, too. One of them was an older gentleman Maria saw often. After greeting him and helping him search for the perfect card for his family, she returned to the register.
Then, she heard a thud.
“All I saw was a jacket on the floor,” she recalled. “He had been wearing a long peacoat, and I could see it lying in the aisle.”
The man had collapsed, unconscious, striking his head against the card shelves. Maria thought back to her CPR training, which she had recently completed for her other job as a paraprofessional. “I couldn’t wake him up. I could tell he was breathing, but I couldn’t find a pulse.”
Maria started giving the man chest compressions. Eventually, the man regained a pulse and awakened again. “I was completely in shock,” she said.
Though the moments surrounding the incident were some of the most harrowing of her life, Maria felt something else take shape — a deep sense of resolve. “I always wanted to help people,” she reflected. “In helping save a life, I saw what a difference I could make.”
“I always wanted to help people”
Maria now serves as a multi-specialty medical assistant at Connecticut Children’s Specialty Care Center in Glastonbury — just a short walk from the Hallmark where her future in healthcare first began to unfold.
While Maria did not always know she would one day work as a medical assistant, she had always been guided by one mission: to be of service to others. She had earned an associate degree in early childhood education and served as a paraprofessional. Still, Maria found herself balancing several part-time jobs and was pining for a change of pace.
Once she set her eyes on healthcare, she considered the many possibilities she could pursue. Medical assisting quickly became her top choice. “I started reading about medical assisting, and it really sparked my interest because it’s such a broad field.”
With Goodwin just minutes away from where she lived, exploring the University’s Medical Assisting certificate program seemed like the perfect next step. After meeting with admissions to learn more about the program, Maria became certain that a career in medical assisting was what she had been searching for all along.
She was certain she had found the right school, too. “Everyone was so welcoming,” she remembered. “My advisor, financial aid, admissions — every step of the way, people were there to help me. That made such a difference.”
“I wanted to keep learning”
Maria enrolled at Goodwin for her Medical Assisting certificate in 2015 before completing the associate degree program. “I wanted to keep learning and earn my degree because I wanted more for my career,” she said. “I wanted more tools under my belt.”
Reflecting on her studies, Maria recounts that her favorite moments in class occurred in the lab. “I loved the science courses,” she shared. “Learning how the body works was fascinating to me.”
She particularly enjoyed learning phlebotomy, taking manual blood pressures, performing patient assessments, and developing the hands-on clinical skills she now uses every day.
Like many of her classmates, Maria found that balancing academics with work and family responsibilities was often challenging. But she found that a helping hand was always there when she needed help.
“The tutors, the instructors, career services — everyone wants you to succeed.”
The opportunity of a lifetime
As Maria approached the end of the program, she began applying for an externship.
She set out to achieve a competitive goal. “People said the odds of getting into Connecticut Children’s were slim,” she recalled. “But I thought, ‘If they don’t take me, they don’t take me.’”
Connecticut Children’s called her the very next day.
Completing her externship in Hematology and Oncology, Maria made a positive impression on the staff at Connecticut Children’s — so much so that she received a job offer before her externship even ended.
“It was my dream job,” she said. “I couldn’t believe it.”
Finding purpose in patient care
More than a decade later, Maria is still grateful to live that dream every day. Working at Connecticut Children’s offers everything she had been searching for: connection with others, opportunities to grow and learn, and the chance to make a positive impact on people’s lives.
This role is about more than clinical skills. Caring for children and young adults, Maria helps her patients and their families navigate treatments for cancer and blood disorders. Her day-to-day responsibilities span an array of essential duties, including collecting vitals, drawing blood samples, transporting critical specimens, and, most importantly, providing compassionate care to patients and families.
For some patients, treatments are brief. Others return week after week, month after month. “You get to know the families,” Maria said. “You get to know the patients.”
Those connections can be both incredibly rewarding and heartbreaking. Patient outcomes can be unpredictable. She has celebrated milestones with families and shared in the grief of losing patients with whom she created strong bonds. “It’s probably the toughest part of the job,” she explained. “You become attached to these kids and their families.”
Balancing victories with hardships is never easy. Yet Maria always finds continuous inspiration to be the best medical assistant she can be. “These kids are so resilient. You want to give your best every single day,” she said. “You want to be there for your patients and their families.”
Leading the way in medical assisting
Maria’s dedication has positioned her as an esteemed team member at Connecticut Children’s Specialty Care Center. Her attention to detail, unwavering work ethic, and willingness to learn and grow have made her a go-to mentor for students completing clinical requirements and newly minted medical assistants alike.
She traces her confidence as a leader back to her days at Goodwin. Whether she’s taking manual blood pressures, performing phlebotomy, or completing thorough and detailed patient intakes, Maria routinely calls on the knowledge and skills she acquired throughout her studies. “I apply what I learned at Goodwin all the time,” she stated. “The training prepared me for real patient care.” Maria is even pursuing additional training and certifications, further exemplifying her desire to be the best medical assistant she can be.
When examining her path in patient care — as well as the road ahead — she often thinks back to that morning at Hallmark. Her ordinary working day not only served as an unexpected turning point but also revealed the road that she’d been looking for all along.
“I felt like I had found my purpose,” she said.
Over ten years later, that purpose continues to guide her every day.
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Bri Gagné is a content developer at Goodwin University, bringing backgrounds in literary studies, creative storytelling, Universal Design for Learning (UDL), and social justice. They earned their bachelor’s degree in English Literature, Film Studies, and Gender Studies from University of Connecticut and a master’s in Elementary Education from Eastern Connecticut State University.
After teaching English abroad and locally, Bri transitioned to a full-time writing career, contributing to the University’s educational narratives and brand-building efforts. They are currently earning their Master of Fine Arts in Popular Fiction Writing and Publishing at Emerson College.