Aside from my older sister who is a nurse anesthetist, no one in my family has been in the medical or other health professions. In fact, I came to college thinking that I would probably follow something similar to my father’s career. He is a professor of chemistry at Penn State. When I arrived as a freshman I began as a physics major and, following. The advice of my faculty advisor, restricted my extracurricular activities until. I had completed my first semester.
In my second semester I took up some activities outside of classes, among these was the opportunity to work at a free clinic in downtown Washington. After getting past the initial shock of discovering how poor the health. and nutrition practices are among many of our city’s people. I was personally gratified to find that even with so little training and acting in a subordinate position I could make a real difference in the health of the people I came there to help. By the end of the semester the doctors in charge of the clinic were giving me instructions on taking medical histories, looking for emergency symptoms, performing some of the routine tests and assisting in some of the clinical procedures.
That summer I decided to test my academic interests related to medicine and so I took a zoology course at Penn State. The lab work was what I liked best and upon returning to Georgetown in the fall I switched to a biology major and began to set my sights on medical school. I have continued to work at the free clinic and have been active in recruiting and training volunteers but I have also restricted the time I give to that work since it was clear to me and to anyone who sees my grades in the spring of freshman year that too much time devoted to an outside activity hurt my studies significantly. I believe that I have now learned better how to balance my studies and I enjoyed junior year much more thoroughly, finding time to sing in the chapel Sunday choir and serve as back-up organist for the choir.
I have not entirely turned my back on my original major, physics, and I believe that I can finish the requirements for the minor in that field during senior year. It is this continued interest in the mathematical aspects of science, along with encouragement from two of my professors who have asked me to be a teaching assistant (one in physics and one in biology) that makes me not want to close the door on research as part of my future.
As I enter senior year, I look forward to doing my senior thesis in the microbiology of crayfish from waters contaminated by heavy metals. Although this will be an entirely new area of biology for me, the methodology of investigation with the electron microscope seems like it will be very interesting. Also in senior year I hope to take elective courses, especially in Latin American history, an interest acquired through friends and my study of Spanish.
