>>When you're in high school, you're are expected to make a lot of huge decisions about your future - especially in Texas, where many students today are asked to choose a specialized area of study ssentially taking the first step towards their future career.

Thats why this year, Roadtrip Nation brought together four groups of high school students from the El Paso, Austin, Dallas, and Houston areas.

together they explored their region of Texas, interviewing inspiring individuals, professionals, and students.

Because high school is a time to explore, create, take chances and above all, a time to grow.

[MUSIC] We're going on a road trip for three days, I think.

I'm going with Cory and David.

>> I'm Cory.

[LAUGH] >> I'm Fatima.

>> I'm David.

>> [LAUGH] [MUSIC] Three of us in the Houston area are gonna get the opportunity to meet adults who have already been through what we're going through.

>> Interviewing a judge, an FBI agent, and a trauma nurse.

They have the career that we think they want, so they're gonna share some of their wisdom with us.

>> What are their stories, how did they get to where they are?

>> How did you know that you loved what you were doing, like you could do this for the rest of your life?

>> Right now we could be focused on just what we have here.

We don't know what's out there, outside these four walls.

>> I want to know what's out here, like I want to go and see what the world has to offer.

[MUSIC] >> The green RV, it really pops out.

>> I've never been on an RV.

>> I've been in a trailer for horses, the horse trailer, but that's different.

>> Just the idea of living in a house that you could drive.

>> [LAUGH] >> We hit it off pretty quickly since we were open and kind to each other.

>> I'm excited, it'll be fun, we£ll make it fun.

>> I immediately knew these were really really cool people.

Corey just had this crazy energy that I could get behind.

>> [LAUGH] >> Corey wants to go and see the medicinal field.

>> Who's baby, is that a baby?

>> Looks like an ultrasound.

[MUSIC] >> Go ahead and snap it whenever you're ready.

>> [LAUGH] >> I'm Corey Busby.

I go to MacArthur Senior High School and I'm a senior.

I've lived in Houston like all my life.

What I dedicate most of my time to is theater.

We just had a play, the Insanity of Mary Gerard, and I play Mary Gerard, and that was really cool.

This is gonna sound so, like really you don't have a life, but really I just stay at home and watch Korean TV shows.

[LAUGH] This is from my favorite [INAUDIBLE] and this is Jin Young.

One of my friends took me to my first, like, K-Pop store, but they didn't have my favorite member, and because they didn't have Jax in the big poster, they gave me Jax in a mini poster, yea!

What is this called again, a stethoscope?

It works, it's real, too.

I just know I wanna do something in the medical field cuz I like helping people and I'm not really squeamish when it comes to like gory stuff, I don't think.

I don't know exactly what like I wanna be a trauma nurse or just go like a trauma surgeon.

But then sometimes, I think about politics and then, yeah, it gets confusing.

But I tell myself medical.

My mom, her name is LaToya and she's a wonderful woman.

She's really supportive of me and she always motivates me to do my best.

I'm on my first scholarship right now.

And so when I told her, hey I'm up for the scholarship.

They told me that they want me to go to the University of Virginia, she was like that's so far.

And she was usually nervous about it but I wanted to take the scholarship, because she wouldn't have to pay as much.

And that was a big thing to me.

I'm like, Mom, they're saying that they're gonna pay for my college and it's not gonna have to come out of your pocket.

On Friday, I find out whether I go to Virginia.

Hopefully, if all works out.

[MUSIC] Tomorrow we see the trauma nurse.

>> Do we go tomorrow to Rice?

>> No we see the fashion designer, but I won't be there for that part.

>> Why won't you?

>> I have a final interview for a scholarship, and so hopefully I get it.

>> Possy?

>> Yeah!

>> That's exciting!

>> I know I wanna cry.

>> I know that David, he wants to study political science.

>> My name is David Akimande and I go to Carnegie Vanguard High School.

I am 15 years old and I am a junior.

I was born in Lagos, Nigeria in 2001.

>> And then, when I started to get, it >> This is still, this is Nigeria.

This is before we came to America.

>> In 2008, we won the Visa Lottery, and we had an opportunity to come over to the states.

My dad was really big on that, because he wanted me to have a better education and like better prospects here.

A lot of people would describe me as the quintessential artsy kid.

I'm really into theater, I do music on the side.

[MUSIC] I'm also really interested in helping marginalized and disadvantaged people, like the black community especially.

Like that's something that I'm really passionate about.

Arts education is beneficial to the academic success of lower income and minority students.

So on the one hand, I would either wanna be a senator, governor, or a mayor.

And being able to do the things that like can actually make a difference in the lives of people.

On the other side of that I'd either wanna be an actor, a musician, or a director or just all three at the same time.

I know being all of that in one person isn't necessarily feasible, but I sort of wanna find a way to mesh those two aspects of my life, or at some point just pick one.

Maybe it's just me.

>> Okay.

>> Sacrifice what you are for who you will become.

>> Fatima wants to go into criminal justice.

She wants to be an FBI agent, and we're getting to interview an FBI agent, I can imagine how excited she is.

>> [MUSIC] >> Do I put it down?

>> Yeah.

>> My name is Fatima Huerta, and we're at Hightower High School, where I'm a senior at.

Most students here, they end up either working at a fast food restaurant or in carpentry.

[MUSIC] My parents are from Mexico.

[MUSIC] They met here in the US, which was hard because they didn't know anything, no English no history here.

So it was hard on them trying to make us pursue college without them knowing how to apply or what to do.

And while I was doing my applications and everything I finally realized why people drop out.

Because it's so hard and stressful to try to understand and apply yourself to go somewhere.

[MUSIC] I actually wanna keep studying.

I don't wanna work at a fast food or, not that it's a bad job I just wanna be somewhere up there.

I wanna make my parents proud.

I wanna show them that I could make it.

Like if I make it, my sister can make it, too.

>> [FOREIGN] >> I wanna be somewhere that I love.

I want to do something everyday that I'm going to enjoy.

Not just sitting down just for the money with a paycheck.

I just want to And do something I love everyday.

The last time we had snow, I was in fourth grade.

[MUSIC] Right now, I'm focused on being in the FBI, but there's many jobs out there that are in the government.

That's what I wanna to know.

What other jobs are out there?

I wanna to get to know other places.

Since I've been here in Fresno for 17 years, I kinda need to get out there.

[MUSIC] We're gonna meet professionals and we are also going to school to get more knowledge, see options out there.

We're going to the FBI first cuz- >> That's if you wanted to.

>> Yeah, that's what I wanted to [LAUGH] I'm just really excited to meet him.

I wanna see how it looks like >> Yeah.

>> Is it like in on TV?

I wanna know if she has to wear like can suits everyday or if she can wear casuals >> Do you think or do like, the thing from Men in Black.

>> Yeah, he'd forget, enough.

So what do you remember about the FBI trip?

>> Nothing.

[MUSIC] >> I want to study the behavior of humans we all act so differently.

I just wanna learn, why?

>> There's so many times where I'm sitting across the table who's so different from me.

I feel that every single time I go to a jail.

How do you talk to people that are in such a different place in life from you?

And so, I do think that the human nature aspect and having a curiosity about, why people do the things they do?

Why they say the things they say?

Why they said it that way, that can make you a better agent?

[MUSIC] >> What made you become an FBI agent basically?

>> So when I was in undergrad being a psychology major, I actually started looking into who investigates serial killers.

Which I think, if you talk to a lot of special agents, it's what draws them to the bureau.

And so, I started looking at the FBI.

But it seemed so lofty of a goal.

So I just kind of back burned it, and it was really my sophomore year of college that I started looking at the internship program.

I was like, you know what?

I should try that.

Long story short, I became an intern.

I interned this summer between my junior and senior year.

Loved it, decided this is what I wanted do.

>> At the current moment, I'm having trouble deciding what school.

>> Uh-huh.

>> Because I want to pick the right school with the right program.

>> Okay.

>> Should I base it off of the program, the tuition, or?

>> I would go with what feels best, because ultimately you're going to do best in an environment where you feel the best being there.

Honestly, criminal justice, it's not law school where people are really concerned about where you got it from.

And the Bureau, I've met people with so many different degrees.

A classmate of mine, she was a nurse before, that works with a nutritionist.

>> She didn't even major in criminal justice, which is really interesting, because I thought that you had to major in a specific thing to become an FBI agent.

But it's really cool that I can major in anything, work anywhere, and I'll get a chance in the FBI.

What would be one life advice that you would give us?

>> The people who are the best at what they do, they are just authentic and they are who they are.

They don't try to be something else.

They don't try to be anyone else.

It has rung true for me, and I'm 29 years old, I'm still kind of figuring that out.

I'm like, I just need to, you're figuring out who you are.

But be true to what you believe, your values, and really stick to them.

Don't be afraid to think outside the box, that's where the best ideas lie.

>> All right.

>> I like that.

>> Yeah.

>> So, you can be anything you wanna be.

>> Mm-hm.

>> Before you wanna be what you actually wanna be.

>> [LAUGH] >> So like now that you know that you have to have like a career beforehand, what do you think you're gonna do?

>> I have no idea, that's something I have to figure out.

>> Yeah.

>> I have no idea what I'm going to do.

But I guess I'll just keep asking questions.

[MUSIC] >> I guess I've always been observant of my surroundings, and of things that are going on in the world.

I don't want to just sit with it, all of it in my head and just continue to think about it.

I want solutions, I want to take action, I want to try to remedy these problems, and if not remedy them, at least try to inform people that there are problems.

[MUSIC] I'm really looking forward to the judge.

When I saw that I was like, what?

>> The very first time I tried a case to a jury, and you're holding the podium, all eyes on you, you're like, this is real.

>> [LAUGH] >> I remember the judge going, you can start anytime you want to cancel.

Shit, I'm trying to get the words to come out of my mouth.

You have that moment, but then you just go, I can do this.

[MUSIC] >>What was your original plan senior year of high school?

>> Senior year of high school, I was going to go to college and be a doctor.

That worked out real well, until biology and cut them up, and bleeding and all of that stuff.

>> You couldn't handle it.

>> No, so I changed my major to be an accountant.

>> Okay.

>> That was so boring.

>> Yeah.

>> So boring.

>> I could see that.

>> Yeah, so boring, and everyone kept saying, you talk so much.

>> Yeah.

>> You probably should go to law school.

>> In terms of like trying to give back with what you do, have you always been community minded?

>> I think so.

My grandmother was always the one that would give us different types of sayings.

One that stuck with me, but she says, to all of us, what you are is God's gift to you.

What you make of yourself is your gift to God.

So, for me that meant go out, be the best person you could be, and do something that's gonna matter.

>> She made me recognize what it actually means to be a force in the community.

>> I feel like she's the true definition of a leader.

>> Yeah.

>> The way she just interacts with everyone And treats others as equals.

>> Yeah.

>> I have 450 employees.

I used to walk the building every morning and speak to all of the staff that are in the back, and hug them and see what's going on.

I still do that, because I can't do anything without them.

Look, this is kind of neat!

Look at.

Always, always follow your dreams.

What you are is God's gift to you.

What you make of yourself is your gift to God.

Be someone great.

>> Thank you.

>> Thank you.

>> Thank you.

>> Whatever school you go to, whatever you decide to do, you can always call me.

If I can help you do something and better yourself, that's what I think my mission should be.

[MUSIC] >> We headed to the Museum of Fine Arts.

>> That was cool, I live for that stuff.

It's somewhere where I feel like I can get a deeper understanding of how people see the world, and how they can sort of bring their ideas to life.

>> Everything was just so beautiful.

If I saw a picture I would try to mimic the face.

[MUSIC] >> There are so many things bumping around up in here.

I wanna be able to bring some of these thoughts in my head into the real world.

>> Went in to my 11th year, I went on clinical rotation.

So, I was actually going off campus to Lyndon B Johnson Hospital, it's right up the street.

And we had our scrubs and our little stethoscopes.

So now, as a senior I'm taking EMT.

And so, it's preparing me for the test that I have to take next year.

And if I pass, I get my EMT certification.

[MUSIC] It is snowing for like the first time in eight years.

>> Yeah.

>> We were, what, eight years old, I think.

>> I was six.

>> We met the trauma nurse.

>> Did you ever volunteer at LBJ.

>> Actually, you know what, I did EMT intermediate, as well.

And so for that you actually get to intubate in the trachea, put a tube down.

>> Nurse Mo, such a handsome man.

He is very handsome.

I'm super excited because I've always volunteered and been around a level three trauma center.

This is trauma level one.

So I know he's seen some crazy stuff.

So you said you did EMT?

>> Correct.

>> Okay, I'm taking EMT right now at my school.

>> Sweet, that's great.

>> So do you think that it helped a lot for you?

>> Absolutely, without a doubt.

Sure, you hear about things.

But then when you actually see them and deal with them, it's something completely different.

The more you know, the more confident you get in the field.

But just becomes more natural.

So if you can hear that announcement, so I have a critical care code three patients.

So there's different codes of patients based on criteria.

And so they announce it overhead so everybody in critical care knows what's coming.

They can kinda prepare the equipment they need, the personnel they need to take care of the thing.

I work with people who, not only do I see them more than my own family sometimes, they kind of become your family, and people you trust.

So, during Harvey, a lot of us spent many days in a row here.

We slept in the same bed that patients would sleep in.

Access to the hospitals was limited.

There was flooding all around.

Our basement ended up getting flooded.

Nurses and doctors went downstairs in high boots, and were scooping out the water.

This is kind of where we have stuff for disaster responses.

>> Mm-hm.

>> The boots that I'm telling you about that we had to wear to get into the into the water.

This kind of became a little bit of a shelter.

In our waiting room we had people who either had been patients or just kinda got stranded.

And then, it becomes less about formalities, less about no wait, this is an emergency department, it's not, it becomes more about humanity.

>> So cool, you all get to hang out in this?

>> Yeah.

[MUSIC] >> I was indecisive between being like a trauma nurse or just a nurse practitioner.

But seeing that he was like, a trauma nurse, and now he's going to be a nurse practitioner.

I think that's super cool, because I'm like dude, you're like doing everything I wanna do.

>> Go for what you want.

Get an early start.

I know it's hard too, like I was there, right?

It's a different mindset.

There's so many things going on in life and you wanna kinda grasp it all.

It's so hard to choose one route.

But in your case you've kind of already experienced some of that.

So you'll know if it's meant for you.

[MUSIC] >> So sadly, I won't be with you guys for the interview, but I'm going to my final interview for the scholarship that I'm up for.

So, hopefully they like me.

>> You got this.

>> They will.

>> We went to the HTC fashion design school, which I didn't know existed.

>> We met one of the students that's part of the fashion program.

>> Ebonie Sophus.

>> We took a picture of Corey to show Ebony her outfit of the day.

That was the boots [LAUGH] >> Yeah, those are crazy.

>> [LAUGH] Thank you.

>> What made you feel like this is where you were supposed to be?

>> I prayed one day and asked God what's for me, and all of a sudden I just got the urge to sew.

And I bought my own sewing machine, and I was at home.

I was just making little dresses, and after that, it just went from there.

I love it, this is my life.

This is all I do.

Like this shirt, I made it this morning.

So I just [SOUND].

>> Like this morning?

>> Yeah, this morning.

>> That's insane.

>> So cool.

>> One of our road trippers is on a scholarship interview right now.

>> That's great.

>> And she wanted us to ask you to rate her style, and rate her outfit.

I like those boots.

Okay, she got the gold earrings on with the gold boots, that's fine.

She got a turtleneck on for the weather.

>> She told us it was an 8.5 out of 10.

>> Did you kind of agree with her?

>> No, I feel like it was a 10.

[MUSIC] >> We went to Rice University.

>> I've always passed by, but never got to see the inside of the university.

>> This is liked walking around the campus, and seeing how beautiful everything was.

[MUSIC] We sort of had a little impromptu jam session.

[LAUGH] [MUSIC] >> It is fun, like, we're definitely going to start a band after this trip.

[MUSIC] Wow!

>> Wow, we can start a band right, okay?

>> We ended up meeting Samantha.

She was really nice.

She answered all our questions.

>> We were talking about like what it's like in college, and sort of what you need to do to be successful?

>> One thing's that very different in college in high school is that you don't have a set schedule.

A lot of the work here is all on your own, and you have to have the motivation to make yourself do it.

I said, good luck in the next chapter of your lives, keep up all the hard work.

>> It really helped me and Corey a lot.

We learned what to expect going into college.

It really makes me feel a lot better.

[MUSIC] >> I am so glad that I went on this trip.

>> All these leaders, they're here in Houston where I live.

It's kinda cool that you don't have to look that far.

>> What really has changed is like, I've become more decisive.

I know what I need to do now.

This is a Latin phrase from a book that I read.

Tarde Venientibus Ossa.

To the latecomers are left the bones.

And that just means you have to go out and get what you want to get before somebody else does.

What's next is volunteering on some political campaigns.

Auditioning for local plays.

And getting better at music and art, and just anything I wanna do.

Getting better at creativity.

>> I'm going to keep applying to scholarships to hopefully get some money for college.

Do what you love not what you think you're supposed to do.

>> Yes!

>> I dig it.

>> I'm still deciding whether Angelo State or Sam Houston.

So hopefully, I decide on a school soon.

And yeah, just try to grow up I guess.

>> Korey got a really, really important phone call.

>> After going around a few times, and I'm holding Fatima's hand, I'm like wait, wait, wait wait.

I was like, I have a missed call.

And she was like call it back!

I was like, of course, you know.

So I called it back, and I was like [MUSIC] Hello?

And that's when she told me, you're going to UVA.

[MUSIC] >> I was so happy for her in that moment.

>> I'm going to UVA [LAUGH] [MUSIC] You are worthy and deserve every opportunity you get.

Never be scared to acknowledge the amazing talent that other people recognize, and that you know you have within yourself.

I got the scholarship!

Don't post it on Facebook.

You have to wait a week.

[SOUND] >> Never let anyone steal your dream.

If it's your dream it's your dream, and you hold on to it.

And you pursue it, and you make it happen.

[MUSIC] >>To learn more about how to get involved, or to watch interviews from the road visit roadtripnation.com