“Ever since I was 10, I have always thought that my future would have something to do with the medical careers,” Williams told the Standard-Examiner. “Whether that was with humans, or I considered like being a veterinarian with animals, I always thought that my future would have something to do with the medical field.”

Flash forward to now and Williams will be representing her school at the Congress of Future Medical Leaders, an honors-only program for high school students dedicated to the service of humanity through medicine, whether as physicians or through scientific research. She’ll attend the congress June 25-27 at the University of Massachusetts Lowell campus.

Williams’ nomination was signed by Mario Capecchi, a Nobel Prize winner in medicine and the science director of the National Academy of Future Physicians and Medical Scientists.

“I was really excited when I saw it. I just felt so honored that I was nominated,” Williams said. “I don’t know who nominated me, but it seemed like a really great opportunity, and I was just super excited to get that in the mail.”

Williams will be accompanied by her father on the trip to the Boston area, during which she’ll receive guidance from mentor speakers including Nobel Prize winners, inventors, medical school deans and other leaders in the field. She’ll also have an opportunity to see people in her chosen field doing what they do best.

“I read that there’s going to be a surgery that we’re going to be able to watch, and I was really looking forward to that because we’re going to be able to ask questions to the surgeon in real time and see what they’re doing,” Williams said. “I’m really excited for that.”

As she works through her high school coursework — of which math and science have emerged as areas where she excels — Williams has yet to identify which medical schools she’ll eventually apply to. However, she intends to begin her undergraduate education locally at Weber State University.

And while she’s open to different areas of specialization as she pursues her medial degree, there may be an early leader out of the gate.

“My options are pretty open, but one that I am kind of interested in is being an OB-GYN, to deliver babies,” Williams said. “I had a dream that I was an OB-GYN. So, I started thinking about it after I had that dream.”

Williams is well aware that reaching her particular academic and career goals has and will continue to involve going above and beyond what many aspire to accomplish. Over the years, she’s had to balance her academic pursuits with extracurriculars and interests including cheerleading, gymnastics, dancing, spending time with friends and family and also working a part-time job at a local golf course.

Nevertheless, she remains committed to the vision.

“It’s definitely not for everyone, and I definitely know that I, like in school, I usually work hard to get things done. I put in my best effort for everything,” Williams said. “It’s been challenging to work toward it, but it’s been a good experience. It’s taught me a lot.”

Said mother Summer Williams: “She’s really a stellar student, and she has just always done amazing work in school. And the fact that she’s so gifted in math and science, it seems like a really natural fit.

“So, I’m just really happy for her to be able to do this. I mean, when I was her age, these kinds of opportunities didn’t really exist to my knowledge. So, the fact that she gets to do this is huge.”