{"id":3711,"date":"2026-07-02T06:35:19","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T06:35:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=3711"},"modified":"2026-07-02T06:35:19","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T06:35:19","slug":"125-nc-teens-became-surgeons-and-engineers-for-a-day-heres-what-happened","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=3711","title":{"rendered":"125 NC teens became surgeons and engineers for a day. Here\u2019s what happened"},"content":{"rendered":"

AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.<\/p>\n

Read our AI Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n

Dom C. wants to be a sports commentator when he grows up. For one afternoon, though, he decided he\u2019d give surgery a try.<\/p>\n

Read more Will Food Lion be open? What about Target, Walmart? What\u2019s open in NC on July 4<\/a><\/p>\n

It pays well, after all. And when you\u2019re a rising 10th grader trying to win a game designed to test how well you can manage your finances, you\u2019ll take all the income you can get.<\/p>\n

Dom, a member at the Wake Forest Boys and Girls Club, is a repeat attendee of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Wake and Johnston Counties\u2019<\/a> Stacks and Tracks event. Now in its third year, the event, created as an engaging way to teach kids about financial literacy and career readiness, drew about 125 students from Boys and Girls Clubs across Durham and Orange<\/a> counties and the Tar River Region<\/a>, in addition to Wake and Johnston counties. (The News & Observer will refer to Boys and Girls Clubs members by their first name and first letter of their last name only, at the organization\u2019s request.)<\/p>\n

Using a whole summer afternoon to learn about making smart financial decisions likely isn\u2019t every 15-year-old\u2019s idea of a good time. But Matt Taliaferro, CEO of Boys and Girls Clubs of Wake and Johnston Counties, said the event is popular.<\/p>\n

\u201cKids talk, and word of mouth gets out. And they\u2019re like, \u2018Hey, this is really fun, and I\u2019ve learned a lot. You\u2019re going to enjoy this.\u2019 And so we don\u2019t have a hard time recruiting for it at all,\u201d Taliaferro told The News & Observer in a phone interview.<\/p>\n

Stacks and Tracks is a special event for the volunteers, too, said Todd Warrick, a board member of Boys and Girls Clubs of Wake and Johnston Counties and Triangle market president for event sponsor First Horizon Bank<\/a>. Experts guide the teens through managing expenses and get to \u201cwatch their eyes just light up\u201d as the concepts start to sink in.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am incredibly impressed about how prepared the kids are as they come through the event,\u201d Warrick said. \u201cThey have great maturity. They really are approaching this with a tremendous amount of curiosity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Monday\u2019s Stacks and Tracks was the biggest iteration yet, and almost all the students were first-timers.<\/p>\n

But Dom? He\u2019s a pro. In a previous year, he was an engineer and struggled to stretch his salary to cover housing, food and transportation<\/a> expenses.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was left with money at the end, but it was a long road,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

This year, he chose to be a surgeon, mostly because of the six-figure salary it paid, passing on alternative career options, such as athletic trainer and veterinarian. Even after taxes, which at $71,530 nearly equate to North Carolina\u2019s median household income, Dom still had about $13,000 each month to spend and save.<\/p>\n

First, Dom met with a counselor to help him create the beginnings of a budget, factoring in loans from those expensive years at medical school and setting aside a portion of each paycheck for savings.<\/p>\n

Read more Goalie Frederik Andersen leaves Hurricanes in free agency, signs with Oilers<\/a><\/p>\n

Then he started making decisions about spending \u2014 some of them unusual for a typical surgeon.<\/p>\n

Instead of purchasing a house, Dom rented<\/a> a two-bedroom apartment, because it was cheaper. He spent about $100 per month for unlimited rides using public transportation, instead of buying a car to carry him and his two young children.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t have to worry about the car insurance, and I\u2019ll keep my kids wrapped around safe,\u201d he said. \u201cHey, they\u2019ll be at child daycare. So I mean, ultimately, it\u2019s not bad.\u201d<\/p>\n

And while he had room in his budget to splurge on organic, gourmet groceries, he stuck to store-brand and sale items.<\/p>\n

But it didn\u2019t take much convincing from a few of the approximately 80 volunteers running Stacks and Tracks to get Dom to pay for a will to be drafted. And once they pointed out that as a surgeon, he should probably dress the part, he chose the wardrobe that would make Miranda Priestly proud.<\/p>\n

At the end of the day, Dom still had funds to cover travel, entertainment and charitable contributions<\/a>. But money wasn\u2019t burning a hole in his pocket, and he passed on those optional expenditures.<\/p>\n

He also kept tabs on the green hat-wearing unexpected life events, fearing he\u2019d have to dish out some of that hard-earned cash. But those bearers of bad news also had the power to hand out bonuses, raises and inheritances \u2014 and the gambling-prone among the kids took the opposite path to Dom\u2019s, seeking out the volunteers in hopes they\u2019d receive a reward.<\/p>\n

Besides learning how to create and stick to a budget, students had the opportunity to meet with representatives from different companies in a career fair.<\/p>\n

Kids could speak with people from nearly a dozen organizations including the Raleigh Police Department, Pulte Homes, Baker Roofing, Wake Smile, Duke Energy, Wake Technical Community College and First Horizon Bank.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the kids that we serve, we want to give them every opportunity to be able to pursue their dreams, and part of that is just opening up their eyes to what the possibilities are,\u201d Taliaferro said.<\/p>\n

Read more ‘Love Island’ Star Jen’s Most Shocking Comments About Her Body, Sexual Past<\/a><\/p>\n

This story was originally published June 30, 2026 at 1:41 PM.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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