What year did you graduate from BHS? Did you attend Bluffton schools from kindergarten on?
I graduated BHS in 2007 and I attended Bluffton schools since kindergarten.
Share some stories of growing up in Bluffton -- school, favorite classes and teachers, friends, etc.
My favorite classes were Math, Latin, Spanish, and Anatomy. There are so many great teachers in the Bluffton school system; I feel lucky to have graduated from Bluffton. I hope to teach at a medical school, which makes me extremely appreciative of good teaching. I realized how much I love Chemistry after Mr. George taught me. Mr. George teaches Chemistry in the high school and it was in his class that I realized I was good at Chemistry and loved the subject. I tutored for his class in high school. I was initially a Chemistry major in college and tutored Organic Chemistry. He was such an amazing and passionate teacher. Mrs. Riffle was at the time a frustratingly strict yet excellent math teacher and looking back, I was very lucky to have had her and I was so prepared for college math courses. Calculus came easy to me in college because of the amazing instruction I had from her at the high school level. The anatomy teacher, which I hate to say I have forgotten her name, was very inspiring to me and was so excited about the science courses she taught. She had a great impact on me. I also loved a professor I had at Bluffton University through the post secondary option. I had Dr. Judith Kingsley for Linguistics and Anthropology. She was amazing!!
What was your first job? What other jobs have you had since then? How is your current job preparing you for med school?
My first job was as a barista at Common Grounds coffee house. I worked there from my freshmen year until my senior year of high school.
I have worked at Bluffton Hospital since February 2006. I am a secretary and patient care technician in the MedSurg department and I am also helping out in the ER this summer. This job has been instrumental to me in preparing me for medical school for obvious reasons. The nurses at the hospital are wonderful. I love them all. And they have helped me see the kind of doctor I hope to be and also the kind of doctor I hope not to be. Watching them care for patients with the compassion and genuine caring for the past four and a half years has really impacted my future as a physician. I cannot be more thankful for this experience.
I have also been employed in the research labs at BGSU since my freshmen year.
At what point did you decide to attend BG? What is your major? You're finishing up some final courses this summer?
I didn't know much about searching for and applying to different schools. BG ended up being the only school I applied to because they offered two full tuition scholarships plus a couple others to cover basically every possible expense. I was also chosen as an Alumni Laureate Scholar, which was an amazing opportunity that trained us in leadership and community service. BG was the best possible school I could have attended and my experience there has truly set me up for the success I could not have imagined.
I am a Neuroscience major with a Chemistry minor and a pre-medicine specialization. I was finished in May but I am considering completing a Master's of Public Health in Nutrition in addition to my MD at Toledo. This would add another year so I took a Public Health class, an International Health class (which I loved), and a independent study in Epidemiology under an MD/PhD professor, Dr. Fallon, at BG this summer to be sure I really wanted to commit to another year of school. And at this point I am pretty sure I do. I am already arranging an internship in nutrition in Micronesia!
Have you always wanted to be a doctor? If not, when did you settle on that? Did you have any childhood experiences in the ER or doctor's office that influenced your choice?
I decided I wanted to be a doctor my freshmen year of high school. I remember specifically going in to Mr. Shivley's office (the high school guidance counselor) and asking him if I could be a doctor. I really thought at the time that you had to be from a certain background and I didn't think I was allowed to be a doctor. He was so encouraging and he really inspired me to pursue it. He helped me all through high school with different aspects of applying to college and finding extracurricular involvement. One summer he sent me to Columbus for an MD Camp at the medical school at OSU. He really had an impact on me. I've been meaning to thank him for all his help so hopefully he will read this and know what a wonderful advisor he was to me!!
Any idea of what area you might specialize in? Why UT? When do classes start?
I don't know for sure what I want to specialize in, more because I have too many interests. I am interested in nutrition (I am a vegan) and I like cardiology after my experience in the Cardiac Care Unit in Findlay. I also like neurology because of my experience with my brother's struggles with epilepsy, my classes at BG, and my neuroscience research in BG.
At this point, however, I have a tremendous interest in infectious diseases like tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, and malaria. I would like to do medical missions in developing countries. I am also really interested in the impact of culture on health. I am actually considering continuing after medical school to get a PhD in Medical Anthropology. I'm either crazy or I love school, or both! I want to teach, do research, and practice medicine and the PhD would really help me in the teaching and research areas.
I was accepted into UT's Medstart Program, which accepts students during their junior year of undergraduate studies. I'm so glad I chose UT as the faculty are wonderful so far. I was recently awarded a full tuition scholarship to medical school, which is actually really rare and such an honor, as medical school is extremely expensive. Classes start on the 23rd. I am so nervous!
How does your family feel about you going to med school?
My family is really supportive of me going to medical school. My mom is especially supportive. She is very inspiring. She passed her CPA exam recently and I watched her study relentlessly for that. As soon as she was done with that, because she can't sit still (I know where I get it from!) she picked up Rosetta Stone for Japanese as she works as an accounting manager for a Japanese auto parts company. She is also taking classes towards a master's degree and considering studying for some other accounting exam. She is amazing!
My dad is also extremely proud of me. He and his family are from Mexico and they were very poor there. He's worked so hard to get where he is and I am as proud of my family as they are of me. I will be the first doctor in the family. It's the American Dream for sure. My background has really prepared me to care for the health of immigrant and refugee populations from all over the world in the US and in their home countries.
Tell me about your family -- parents, siblings, etc.
I have a wonderful family. My parents are so supportive of everything I do and they are always there for me. I love my siblings. I am really proud of my brother Rico and really inspired by him. He's fearless. He's an engineering major at OSU and has an interest in environmental and/or civil engineering. He spent all of last summer in Hawaii learning about alternative energy and sustainable resources. He is currently in Ecuador for ten weeks helping the rural communities plan and construct roads. He has a global view for his future. He hopes to do an internship in Europe next summer. He is so inspiring to me.
What do you enjoy doing when you're not working or studying?
I love to hang out with friends, family and my boyfriend, Dan. I also love to cook and am exploring vegan cooking. I like to exercise and keep in shape. I love music, especially Bachata, Reggaeton, and all other Latin music. I love to dance. In the Latino Student Union at BGSU we held dances and taught Latin dancing. It's so much fun. I also love to read in my spare time. My favorite books are Mountains Beyond Mountains and When the Spirit Catches You, You Fall Down; these are books everyone should read. I love to watch documentaries. I love to travel. I love, love, love to shop. I love fashion and shoes and purses and clothes and makeup. I consider shopping as well as watching The Office and Keeping Up with the Kardashians my brainless outlets. I think everybody needs those.
You seem to be quite focused on education and have done exceptionally well. How does it feel to graduate in the top 10 of your college class?
It was the most amazing honor to be chosen as one of the top ten most outstanding seniors. I worked my ass off during my senior year. I was President of the Latino Student Union and led the first Cesar Chavez Blood Drive at BGSU. We placed 6 out of 115 schools in the nation. Those two things consumed most of my time; I really don't know how I pulled 4 points both semesters. Running for president of LSU was the best decision I had ever made. I tend to be shy and it took everything in me just to give my speech for voting. But being president made me see my leadership potential. Talking at the first meeting to a group of 200 scared the hell out of me yet all year I had people tell how motivating and inspiring I was and how great of a public speaker I was and these are things I never considered myself. We discussed serious issues facing the Latino community and the world and also had a blast with our dances. It was a full time job that paid nothing and yet was the best experience of my life. At the blood drive, I had the mayor of BG give a proclamation and the president of the university speak about Cesar Chavez and giving blood. To hear the president of BGSU call me a leader in front of a ballroom full of people made me proud of my hard work. I was chosen as Female Leader of the Year through the Office of Campus Activities.
My research also played a big role in my being chosen. I have done research practically since I started at BG. I spent two years in a Neuroscience rat lab and presented at the Society for Neuroscience in DC (which has over 30,000 attendees) in 2008 and Chicago in 2009. I also completed an internship at the University of Cincinnati. This year I did my research on patients who have alternative health beliefs and practices and the difficulties in approaching "western medicine". It was the most exciting topic and I presented that in Atlanta last month through the McNair Scholars Program at BG. Being a McNair scholar was absolutely instrumental to my success at BG and in the future.
And, oh yeah, the classes. I studied hard for some of my classes, when I had time, especially Organic Chemistry and Cognitive Neuroscience. I graduated with a 3.75 (Magna Cum Laude).
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
In ten years, I will probably still be in school, finishing up my PhD in Medical Anthropology, so let's go with 15 years when I will finally be done with school! I love visiting my family in Bluffton and Ottawa but I see myself in a bigger city where a university that will allow me to practice, research, and teach can employ me. I will be practicing in my specialty and working in immigrant and refugee health as well. I hope to conduct research in this area. I also hope to be teaching at a medical school or teaching Med Anth classes in a graduate school of a major university. I will be doing medical missions in developing countries as well.
