"Though I’m a biochem nerd first and foremost, my i..."

Though I’m a biochem nerd first and foremost, my interests range widely, as diverse as the cells that make up the human body. Just as my passions define who I am, the way I see the world and how I hope to better it, each individual within a residential college plays a vital role in sustaining the organism that is Baker and Hanszen, Brown and McMurtry. From revitalizing old traditions to forging completely new ones, each student has a part to play, be it protecting Will Rice’s flag like a white blood cell or organizing Baker 90’s party like a neuron. I would be honored to become one of those cells, to share my unique interests from emergency medical services (EMS) to baking, to be one of many and many in one.

I’ve spent the last year training to become an EMT, learning how to splint, resuscitate, and save lives. My job is to intervene at the most critical points in a person's life, be it the suicide attempt of a classmate or the seizures of an elderly man confined to a room bereft of light or air-conditioning. Helping and learning from people of all walks of life has afforded me a distinctive opportunity; not only have I gained an early exposure to medicine, I’ve treated people forgotten by society, realized the significant obstacles many have to overcome, seen what is broken and what is left to fix.

I’d love to continue serving my (new) community at Rice through Rice University Emergency Medical Services (REMS), should I be accepted. Not only would I be helping the community at large, I’d be close on hand should any of my roommates need emergency medical intervention. In addition to helping my immediate community, I would work towards improving access to medicine in medically underserved communities both in Houston and abroad by joining Humanitarian Medical Outreach (HMO), possibly working with my future residential college mates to organize fundraising events benefiting the underserved, thereby augmenting Rice’s humanitarian impact beyond campus.

Outside of EMS, I’m an avid outdoorswoman. I’ve hiked for about 12 years now, explored the Adirondacks, Denali, and Yosemite. As an active member of my residential college, I’d delight in sharing what nature has to offer with my roommates, planning trips to local treasures such as Lake Houston Wilderness Park. Not only would such trips provide a welcome relief from the intensity of the classroom, they would also foster an appreciation for the outdoors and an enthusiasm for conservation. After all, it is much more difficult to turn a blind eye to global deforestation and pollution after spending the day ensconced in the green-tinged, ever-shifting light of the forest and breathing in fresh air.

I would also love to share my passion for Romanian baking with my roommates by cooking in the community kitchens. Making my classmates the desserts of my heritage, I’d be sharing just a little bit of me and where I come from in the best way...through food!