1. Tell us a little bit about yourself. Well, I am born and raised in New York City ( born in the Bronx and raised in Jamaica, Queens) and currently reside in Centereach in Suffolk County, Long Island. I am a non-traditional applicant with a lot of different experiences in my past. Some of them include my volunteer activities which include working with the Nassau County Auxiliary Police, The Jericho and West Islip Fire Departments as an EMT and New York State certified firefighter, and the Red Cross doing home fire alarm installations and of course disaster response when needed.

I have a pretty hectic schedule ( as I am sure we all do) being that I work full time at a medical diagnostics company and go to school full time as well as an STS (Science, Technology and Society) major. When I do have some unwind time to myself I enjoy just getting out of the house in the open air, maybe go to the park or a quiet part of the beach, or even go to a movie or out to eat. I am really very diversified in my interests, so I am constantly trying new things.

2. Who was your favorite teacher in school and how did he or she impact you?  My favorite teacher so far was a professor and priest named Father Francis Pizzarelli. He is an amazing man. He not only teaches Sociology in college, but also runs a home for people trying to recover from addiction, in which he directly works with all the clients as well as handling all the finances of the place ( I believe he has over a 1 million a year budget or so). Just his energy and determination to do something he loves and puts everything into it is one reason I find him so amazing.

3. When did you first decide you wanted to become a doctor and why?  Well, I know everyone always says this, but I knew I wanted to be a doctor before I went to high school. As a matter of fact I took 2 years of Latin in high school thinking it may benefit me in the medical field in the future. But, I began to stray and wanted to hang with friends more than study, and my grades began to reflect that. But all in all I think that may have actually been a good thing. That was showing that at that time I didn’t really have the maturity I needed to be in med school. So now that I have some time under my belt, I am 100% sure and ready for the challenge ahead!

4. What area of medicine are you interested in? My main interest in Emergency Medicine. I absolutely love working in the ED and the entire atmosphere there. I am also very good at connecting with people, which I think will benefit me as well. In the ED you are meeting people as a physician that have never known you before, so of course they will be very leary and apprehensive about your diagnosis and treatments prescribed to them, let alone even letting you touch the sometimes, especially if you seem to contradict something that their family physician has stated. Also, some people you will be meeting on what might be the worst day of their lives, depending on the reason they are there. I think being able to instantly connect with people and gain their trust is a very important trait in an emergency physician.

5. What’s the coolest experience you’ve had so far on your premedical journey?  I think the best experience I have had on my pre medical journey is all the amazing people I have met along the way. This includes other premeds, their friends and family ( at times) and even my professors. When I first decided to go back to school and pursue this path, I expected a lot of bias and even prejudice because of my age (not that it would have stopped me). What I found from most people was quite the opposite. People going out of their way to help me in any way they can as well as commending me for what I am taking on and having the drive and desire to make it come true no matter what. It has really given me even more strength and let me KNOW that I will make it.

6.  What is your favorite book?  My favorite book was Angels and Demons. I read it before I saw the movie ( the book was better, lol) I loved it so much I couldn’t put it down, and read it in less than 2 days.

7. Tell us one thing interesting about you that most people don’t know. I guess one interesting thing about me that people don’t know is that I am really a big softy. I try not to let people know this because I don’t want people to try to take advantage of me in any way or any such thing, but I am kind of a softy. I also sing really loud with songs I like in my car and I really swear I sound just like them…lol.

8. If you couldn’t be a doctor, what would you want to do?  If I couldn’t be a doctor I would probably look into something else medically oriented, like RN or NP or maybe even paramedic. I would still try to be in an emergency environment.

9.  What has been your biggest obstacle as a premed and how did you (or are you) overcome it?   I would say my biggest obstacle so far as a premed has been returning to school after being gone for a long period, and readjusting to not only studying again, but studying large amounts of material, writing reports, etc for at least 4 different subjects a semester, as well as finding the time for all this while working full time as well. The way I overcame this is really pretty simple. I set my future first, which means I set school and my education first. If I need more study time before an exam, I take a night off work to study. If my job gets in my way and I have to choose between work and school, I will find a new job. I always keep studying and school my first priority in life because without that, I will not attain any of the goals I have set for myself.

10. What do you like most about PreMed STAR? I think what I like most about PreMed STAR so far is all the different people you meet here and the amazing stories they have. I think if you are ever discouraged about any step of the process, if you come here, you can either find someone to talk to or read someones story of how they were in the same situation and how they turned things around in their favor. People are always very willing to help each other here, so there is no competition among premeds like in some colleges. It’s all just premeds trying to help premeds, and I love that.

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