1. Tell us about yourself.  Hello, I am graduating from Texas Southern University in Fall 2019 with a B.S in Biology and a minor in Chemistry. I am currently working in psychiatry, learning ways to increase awareness of the role mental health plays in our lives, there is a greater acceptance that mental health is of equal importance to physical health. This has enabled patient safety as a discipline to examine previously unexplored areas in mental health.

2. Who was your favorite teacher in school and how did he or she impact you? My favorite professor is my 11th grade English professor Mrs. Reed. I was not interested in high school and only attended school to ditch class to play basketball and hang with my friends. She challenged me not only to be a scholar, but also there’s a future for me rather than to become a norm to my environment. She made learning fun and it commanded my attention to want to be successful in life.

3. When did you first decide you wanted to become a doctor and why? My love for medicine grew like a wildfire after trying to figure out what I honestly wanted to do with my life my sophomore year of college. After my brother passed away from a stroke, my initial why was because I didn’t want anyone else to be failed by this broken system. It has been a year since and why I wanted the help for my younger sibling is what solidified my choice for choosing being a physician. Every day, it’s a gift to have the opportunity to care for patients in their most vulnerable times.

4. What area of medicine are you interested in? Cardiology, Adolescent Medicine, Orthopedic, and Emergency Medicine

5. What’s the coolest experience you’ve had so far on your premedical journey? The coolest experience I’ve had was joining SNMA AMEC conference last year. The amount of support I received from other peers, medical students, residents, professors, etc. was overwhelming! I met so many people and built so many new relationships. Learning more about attending medical school, process of applying, being a student of color, meeting representatives of the universities that looking to attend (claiming it).

6. What is your favorite book? The Power of Habit, Think and Grow Rich, How to Win Friends & Influence People, How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big, Ready Player One.

7. Tell us one thing interesting about you that most people don’t know. I used to have two birth marks, each one in front of my ears. I collect pens and I am a reborn book worm. I am the king at car karaoke and do not know the lyrics to every song.

8. If you couldn’t be a doctor, what would you want to do? Assuming I would probably be an Information Systems Technician or maybe a counselor at a local high school.

9. What has been your biggest obstacle as a premed and how did you (or are you) overcome it? My biggest obstacle as a pre-med student has to be having to overcome the lack of financial/emotional support being an out of state student. I want to say it has been numerous long days/weeks where I would have to work almost every day as a waiter or when I worked at a local warehouse overnight to ensure I can continue having a place to live and also balance time to study for school. I pushed myself everyday by telling myself that this struggle I’m fighting is worth the bigger picture I’m pushing towards.

10. What do you like most about Diverse Medicine? I love that this is not a crab in the bucket environment. Everyone is uplifting and also “paying it forward”! I want to thank everyone is supporting me and uplifting me by positive affirmation. Diverse Medicine has an objective that will be reached and I look forward to joining others help achieve their goal of being a doctor as well.

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