April Kepner

"I'm not going to let them turn me into someone they can hate.."

- April Kepner

April Kepner is an extremely capable doctor, but a quite self-conscious young woman. In her personal diary, she writes notes to herself to help cope with her insecurities. She writes to herself saying that nobody can tell she has had plastic surgery on her nose, and that she could one day be the future of medicine. When Lexie Grey and April first meet, Lexie becomes jealous of April and steals her diary. As she's reading the journal, she notices tear drops on the pages, indicating that April was crying while the notes were being written. Although April can sometimes seem fragile, the shooting at the hospital proves that she is an extremely strong and brave young woman.

Personal life
Much of April's personal life was revealed while she was being held at gunpoint by Gary Clark. She was forced to tell him personal details about her life in an attempt to prevent him from murdering her. She reveals that she is currently twenty-eight years old and that she was born on April 23rd in Columbus, Ohio. She was raised on a corn farm along with three sisters, a pet pony, and a pet duck. Her mother is a teacher, while her father stays at home and tends to the farm.

When April told her parents she wanted to become a doctor, they were "over the moon" about it. April has always been very focused on her studies, so other than medical school and various church related events, she hasn't done much.

Before the shooting at Seattle Grace Mercy West, April and Reed Adamson were best friends and roommates, as well. When Reed was tragically murdered during the shooting, April was the first to find her. Finding her best friend shot to death at the hands of Gary Clark sent April into shock, but she quickly recovered and reported what she found to Derek Shepherd. However, April sometimes still mentions Reed, which indicates that they were very close friends.



April has always been very close with God, and she says she remained a virgin so long due to her religion. However, she lost her virginity to her best friend, Jackson Avery the night before her medical boards. Although April feels badly about what happened, she remains close to God and hopes to find forgiveness.

When April returned to Seattle Grace Mercy West, she informed Jackson she was "re-virginizing". He didn't support this action because he felt she was trying pretend they never happened, but he promised to help her any way he could. However, in the end, no matter how hard they tried to stay away, they couldn't resist each other.

As of now, Jackson and April's relationship remains a mystery. Both Jackson and April love each other dearly, but it's possible they love each other in completely different ways.

Career
April was always top of her class in medical school, and has received numerous heart felt recommendations from her professors.

April spent most of her residency at Mercy West Medical Center, but later moved to Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital during the merger. When April arrived at Seattle Grace, Derek took a shine to her because she was full of intelligent and creative ideas. When Richard Webber was forced to let her go for making a mistake in the ER, Derek later rehired her because he felt she was unfairly fired and deserved a second chance.

After being rehired, April decided to stick to more administrative work because she believed she wasn't a good surgeon anymore. She felt constantly guilty for losing her patient and couldn't handle any more losses. With a little encouragement from Derek, however, she finally began doing surgeries again and is well on her way to becoming an excellent surgeon.

April Kepner was later hired as chief resident of Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital when she impressed Owen Hunt with her patient checklist. She had a rough start, but later got a handle on things and became an excellent chief resident.

However, nervousness got the best of her during her medical board exams causing her to fail. Although April is not a board certified surgeon like her fellow doctors, she still remains at Seattle Grace Mercy West as an attending surgeon.