It’s amazing how much growth I have experienced here at UC. My junior year has been all about finding my voice. I finally am learning how to vocalize my thoughts and feelings, and it is EMPOWERING. Throughout life, I have been always self conscious and often times even embarrassed of my hardships. While they have shaped me into the person I am today, I have struggled vocalizing how my experiences have done that and why I do certain things a certain way. Through plenty of work and a fantastic support system, I am slowly coming into myself and feeling confident and beautiful with my life. Harboring this new skill, I am working on myself and my professional pathway.
Returning to my all girl school roots, I became heavily involved with the feminist movement on campus. One organization is She|UC. Currently it is a social media platform for promoting female Bearcats. We interview, photograph, and share their stories with the rest of the community. Serving as a campus outreach has immersed me in such a powerful community. I am touched by these woman and inspired by how fearless they are in their endeavors. As a person who has let her own personal battles stunt my passions, it was reassuring to hear how these women overcome adversity and then speak about it. I hope to continue making my mark in the feminist movement as I assume my role of President of Leading Women of Tomorrow. I will work to increase female participation in public service. Our voices deserve to be heard and represented. Another very influential experience from this past year was my trip to Oaxaca, Mexico. I spent a week, learning about various social justice issues including healthcare disparity and holistic medicine. It was a beautiful place filled with rich culture. The people were warm and inviting. I spent my week with a homestay family and not many people spoke English. It was intimidating for me at first. Slowly I gained confidence and embraced the people. My therapist always says to “lean into the uncomfortable”. I am so grateful for taking that to heart. I have learned so much. The importance of listening to patient and taking to heart their concerns and how they want to approach plan of care. In Oaxaca, traditional healers or Curanderos are very popular to the locals and are crucial. As I move forward, I want to pay close attention to my patients and advocate for a personalized action plan. The ultimate task of voicing my story was writing my personal statement. I began my journey of applying to Physician Assistant School this summer. While stressful, I am hopeful and excited to see where life takes me. I cannot wait to see what lessons and experiences UC has in store for me this year. I plan to continue my current job as a Patient Care Assistant at University Hospital and as UC Peer Leader. As I continue to write my story, I hope to find new ways to share my voice and encourage others to do the same. |