What are your career goals and where are you in your journey?
My career goal is to become a physician. I just completed my undergraduate studies this past May, so I’m currently a first year medical student at Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine. With shadowing and rotations, I would be able to decide on the branch of medicine to practice.
Was this always your plan or did your plans change while you were an undergraduate at MSU?
It has been my dream to become a physician since age 4. Being an undergraduate student at MSU helped me accomplish that goal. I was a human biology major, and this allowed me to take different science classes that piqued my interest and still be on track for medical school. I was able to work with my advisors and faculty mentors to make sure my dream of getting into medical school became a reality.
How has the COVID-19 pandemic impacted your journey? What is it like to be in medical school during a pandemic?
Attending medical school during this pandemic is certainly a journey. Most of our classes are taken online with very few in-person classes. Our in-person classes involve students and faculty wearing masks, face shields, and practicing social distancing to keep safe. All our exams are proctored online to keep the number of people on campus down. Even though this is not what I expected medical school to be like, we are making the most of a difficult situation. Our school is ensuring that medical students get the best education we can in spite of the pandemic.
What co- or extra-curricular activities were impactful or important to you?
Throughout my undergraduate years I worked at research labs, and this helped me learn about science in a different way. I learned how to come up with an hypothesis, conduct experiments, and sometimes these experiments proved my hypothesis wrong. This experience taught me a valuable lesson that I have to be willing to adjust, if the data doesn’t support my hypothesis then I have to rethink my hypothesis.
Additionally, my mentoring of 1st generation honors students as well as undergraduate sociology students was very important to me. This was a way for me to give back to the community. I had mentors working with me to make me feel confident in my abilities, and I wanted to help other students feel that way.
What is one key piece of advice or insight you would like to share with current students?
Do not be afraid to step out of your comfort zone. If you find a club, research opportunity, or internship that you find interesting, just go for it. Trying all these new opportunities may help you discover certain interests you didn’t know you had.
