ABOUT ME

The first thing you need to know about me is that I have a passion to help the less fortunate, no matter who it is or what it takes. My little sister, Maya, has Down syndrome, so it has been my life's mission to give back to those in need like so many have done for Maya. Throughout middle school and the beginning of high school, I wanted to become a physical or occupational therapist, but as I got older and explored several careers, I realized that I could do scientific research and impact communities on an extremely large scale. 

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With that idea in mind, I decided to attend Washington & Jefferson College because of its prestigious pre-med program. My freshman year, I declared my major as neuroscience and I started looking into internships and job opportunities that would give me experience as well as build my resume which could help me get into graduate school. Over the summer of 2018, I interned in the Regenerative Neuroscience Group in the Brain and Mind Centre at the University of Sydney in New South Wales, Australia. I contributed to the group’s ongoing research of Alzheimer’s disease. 

Over my sophomore year at W&J, I took an introductory gender and women’s studies class and fell in love with the topic. I also learned that GWS is not limited to gender studies, but instead encompasses all marginalized communities, including the disabled community. Because of my lifelong connection to the Down syndrome and special needs communities, I fell in love with the GWS program and was driven to take more classes, and I eventually picked up the major.

That being said, I am now unsure what I will do upon graduating W&J. I could continue with my original plan and and do neuroscience research in grad school, or I could go into a humanities career instead. No matter what I choose to do, I decided that I should get experience in both fields. Because I focused on neuroscience research last summer, I wanted to focus on my gender and women’s studies major this summer. 

Like last summer, I used the Magellan platform to create my own experience. I knew Portugal has poor disability policies and this was something that interested me, so I reached out to the Lisbon-based Disability and Human Rights Observatory (ODDH) and they agreed to meet with me to discuss this issue. I also got permission to volunteer at Riding for the Disabled, an equine-based physical therapy center. 

I am proud that I took initiative to study something beyond my original undergraduate major. I had a fantastic trip that taught me so much about individuals with special needs and the disabled community. My trip also broadened my global perspective as a whole. I cannot wait to see the future doors W&J opens for me, and I know, no matter what major I choose to pursue, W&J will have prepared me in every way possible to excel post-graduation.