LEWISTON — Wearing her white coat, Jennifer Bergeron really grabbed the attention of 324 eighth graders Monday when she talked about handling lungs and brains in her Tufts University School of Medicine class.

“Were they from real bodies?” asked Justin Moreau.

“Yes, cadavers,” answered Bergeron over groans from students.

Bergeron, 23, a native of Lewiston, graduated from Lewiston High School in 2010 and Bates College in 2014. She plans to become a cardiologist and return to Maine.

The keynote speaker in the “Kick START (Steps to Accomplishing Real-Life Transition) to High School” day, Bergeron told eighth-graders what they do in high school will shape their future.

“In anatomy they told us to go wash the lungs in the sink,” she said. “There were 36 people standing in line with lungs in their hands. If you work hard enough, you too can hold lungs in your hands,” or pursue whatever career they wish.

Bergeron was asked if she had see a difference between lungs of smokers and non-smokers.

“Yes,” she said. “Smokers lungs are really black. When you hold a lung, it’s like a marshmallow, right? It’s got all these air pockets. A smoker’s lung, it’s hard like a chunk of coal. It smells bad, also. You want a marshmallow lung.”

Bergeron decided to become a doctor as a fourth-grader. “I had a crazy virus that made me short,” she said. “I was getting treatment in the hospital.” She liked how doctors helped people.

“I read ‘The Story of Medicine’ over and over,” she told students while the words “Do What You Love” appeared on a screen. She shared her list of tips to help them:

Read often, she said. “Most job interviews I’ve been on have asked, ‘What’s the last book you read?’ You’ll look really silly if you can’t think of a book you’ve read recently.”

Practice interviewing. A good interview will help land a job.

Get involved in activities. Playing sports or joining clubs can help them to meet more people, teach time management and how to interact with others.

She also told them to challenge themselves, even if it means giving up an A grade in an easier course. She took advanced placement history, a hard class. She remembers nothing about history, Bergeron said, but learned how to write good essays, which helped her in high school and college.

Bergeron encouraged students to take Lewiston Regional Technical Center courses which will help them figure out career paths. She took health sciences.

Ask questions, even if it’s uncomfortable. Asking questions can help students understand better and build relationships with teachers and professors, as she said she did with Bates professor Paula Schlax. That can also open doors to opportunities, such as a job or program recommendations.

Students should try things they wouldn’t normally do in high school and college. Bergeron took Bollywood dancing. She had fun. “You meet people. It opens doors for networking.”

“Explore,” she said. Before college, she said she never left Maine. In college she studied abroad, learning about medical procedures in Denmark, France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany and elsewhere.

“Do your homework,” she coached. Homework isn’t fun, but it is critical.

“Have you been told if you don’t do your homework, you will fail?”

“Yes,” students answered.

“That is true, but it’s better than that. High school is a scary place at first. If you do your homework, it’ll walk you through the process” and classes will make more sense, she said.

They won’t excel at everything, she cautioned. She struggled in organic chemistry, and at Bates she had to write a 70-page senior thesis. “It’s so hard. It’s miserable,” Bergeron said of thesis writing. But she kept plugging away and got it done.

Now medical school is a lot of work, she said, but rewarding and at times fun, she said while showing pictures of herself in scrubs. She’s learning about what she loves, Bergeron said.

Lewiston Middle School Principal Jake Langlais said during Monday’s Kick START event students also visited Bates, Southern Maine Community College, attended workshops on finances, careers and using social media wisely.

The goal, he said, “is getting students thinking about the next phase of their life.”

Eighth-graders officially become high school freshmen during Wednesday night’s graduation ceremony at the Armory. Doors open at 6 p.m.