Q&AFuture plansbecome a heart or brain surgeonWho inspires you?”It sounds really clichéd, but I would say my mom because she’s been through everything, and she’s good at everything. And even when I screw up a test or something, she just says, ‘You know what? Did you do your best?’ and she just accepts my best, no matter if my best is a C or an A.”Best classBiology or SpanishWorst classAP statistics

Hobbies/interests”I like to do everything. I mean we live in Colorado, so a lot of things are available. … I like to play tennis, tennis is really my main thing, and volleyball and swimming.”ChildhoodLived in California; moved to Colorado 10 or 11 years ago.RewardsWatching “Grey’s Anatomy,” going to get Chinese food or Chipotle, hanging out with friends, going to school dances.ACHIEVEMENTSInvolved in National Honor Society, National Society of High School Scholars, the International Baccalaureate Program and the UCCS Pre-collegiate Program. Nominated for and attended Congressional Student Leadership Conference on Health and Medicine. Grade-point average of 4.3. Volunteers at Penrose Hospital and on mission trips.Ginger defies the presumption that teenagers are irrational, impulsive and irresponsible. Her list of good works, academic achievements and convictions reads like a résumé of someone much older and wiser than 17.She’s helped orphans in Mexico, observed an open-heart surgery up close, already has earned college credits, and is saving her first kiss for her wedding day.And the girl’s got a sense of humor. During a phone interview with Ginger, her mom, Deana De La Campa, could be heard laughing in the background when Ginger cracked one joke after another.But she’s serious about her future. Ginger is attending Colorado State University in Fort Collins in fall, then plans to go to graduate school at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.Attending a 10-day conference on the Georgetown campus last summer allowed Ginger to pursue her interest in her intended career; she wants to become a neurosurgeon or cardiothoracic surgeon. The Congressional Student Leadership Conference on Medicine & Healthcare, sponsored by LeadAmerica, is a college-accredited leadership program for outstanding high school students from the United States and abroad. Students must be nominated, then invited to participate. The conference includes lectures, workshops, medical simulations, EMT training, physicians’ forums and social activities.The part that stood out most to Ginger was a professor who spoke about ethics in neuroscience.”He was amazing. He blew my mind,” Ginger said.In spring of 2007, the bubbly teenager also had the opportunity to watch a surgeon with Memorial Health System perform an open-heart procedure.Ginger’s aunt, a nurse at Memorial, introduced Ginger to the surgeon, who invited Ginger to observe in the operating room.”I was right there where the anesthesiologist would be. I loved it. I was asking questions and stuff,” Ginger said. “And the P.A., the physician’s assistant, actually said that I was more knowledgeable than a lot of first-year med students he’s taught. That kind of perked up my ego a little bit.”But she said her mom brings her back down to earth. And her mom also inspires her.”She knows me better than anyone,” Ginger said, “and I know she’ll always be there for me. And we always have our crazy inside jokes that nobody else gets, and we just start cracking up.”When Ginger was trying to decide where to do her undergraduate studies, she took a few things into account: “Location and money, and the whole campus atmosphere. And if there was a Chipotle nearby.”She’s spearheading a shoe drive at Rampart that lasts through March.”It helps raise awareness for the over 300 million people around the world who don’t have shoes,” Ginger said. “Imagine being in Africa, and you say, ‘Let’s go play outside,’ but you’re outside playing basketball in 115-degree weather with no shoes.'”Ginger’s efforts have already prompted athletics coaches at Rampart to coach a few games barefoot, she said.The Samaritan’s Feet nonprofit organization inspired Ginger to collect the shoes. She said about 20 pairs have been donated so far.Ginger’s philanthropic efforts don’t stop in Colorado Springs. By way of her church’s mission trips, she has traveled abroad to help people in need.”That doesn’t mean we have to be proselytizing and stuff. We can be cooking and spending time carrying babies and stuff like that,” she said.”The most rewarding part is probably seeing the smiles on all their faces and how grateful they really are to us.”The high school senior is on another mission: to give her first kiss to her husband.”I think kissing shouldn’t be like this gradual thing; I think that it should be special,” she said. “And I just think it would be cool to have my first kiss on my wedding day.”Ginger said she’s dated some, but it’s not high on her list of priorities.”I mean guys aren’t mentally prepared yet, and I don’t think girls are either,” she said. And there’s another reason: “Everyone’s going off to college anyway, and then there’s big buff football players you can date,” she said before she and her mom did that thing they do: They cracked up.CALL THE WRITER AT 636-0175.

Ginger holding a brain model at the Congressional Student Leadership Conference on Medicine & Healthcare. Photo by COURTESY OF GINGER DE LA CAMPA

Ginger with Cam the Ram, the mascot of Colorado State University, where Ginger plans to earn her bachelor’s degree. Photo by COURTESY OF GINGER DE LA CAMPA

Ginger serving at a retirement facility. “This is Josephine,” Ginger says. “She’s the most awesome elderly person. She likes David Archuleta!” Photo by COURTESY OF GINGER DE LA CAMPA