Honors Link

During my earlier education, I always knew I wanted to come to Oregon State University to study for four reasons. The first reason being that my mother had gone here and I fell in love with the university just as she had. The second being that I excelled in science and I knew Oregon State was the place to be for great access to science. The third reason being that Oregon State is a great research facility with many options for undergraduates to get involved. I knew that I would not only want to study the scientific subjects in class, but would also want to apply the concepts I learned in class in a practical laboratory setting. And the final reason being that there were a lot of opportunities to go abroad. I am an avid traveler and going abroad would be one of the many experiences I hoped to accomplish during my time at OSU.

Throughout college, my main goal has been to prepare for medical school. So far I have been able to prepare for this goal through my classes and research endeavors. I wanted more culture and diversity, though. Thus, I looked for opportunities to travel. My freshman year I heard about a program called Global Public Health Brigades that went to a few Central American countries to provide education and sanitary equipment to communities in need. I was very interested, but that year I was not able to make the commitment to go.

In my sophomore year, however, I learned that the Global Medical Brigade Program, which combines a medical and public health brigade, was going to Nicaragua. This was perfect: I would get to experience global cultures, gain some medical experience through the clinic we run in the country, and learn about and practice public health concepts. For three days we set up and ran a medical clinic for a local community; we saw a little over 1,000 patients. For another three days, we participated in a public health project where we made sanitary stations consisting of a toilet, shower, and sink and we laid concrete floors. Our brigade was so efficient, however, that we finished in two days and were able to visit a waterfall on our last day in Nicaragua. It was beautiful.

I was so fortunate to have been able to afford to go on the Brigade that year, and I had the experience of a lifetime. So much so that I was determined to go back next year, but in an officer position. This is where the HC Honors Experience Scholarship came in. No only do we have to pay for our own lodging, flights, food, etc., we also must fundraise throughout the entire year to get enough money to pay for the supplies we need for our medical portion of the brigade. Having the scholarship allowed me to have increased focus on the brigade, more than on my own finances. I feel like I was better able to fulfill my officer duties when I was no longer worried about paying for the trip.

Once again we did a three-day medical clinic, seeing 1,400 patients and surpassing the previous year’s count. We once again also finished the public health brigade in two days, but unlike last year we had two houses to build sanitary stations and lay concrete floors for. On our last day we were able to take a rigorous hike up to the top of a mountain that had stunning views. I will never forget these experiences and the great memories they have given me. All of the people I met were so thankful and nice and the families we were able to help for the public health brigade were so wonderful. I will never forget these experiences and the great memories they have given me.

For now I will continue my research activities and classes at OSU while also preparing for the MCAT. I will continue to look for opportunities to broaden my knowledge and experience new traditions and cultures. I hope to graduate in the next year and move on to medical school sometime in the near future.