What makes you a Difference Maker?

I believe that I am a Difference Maker because of my involvement on and off of campus. Being inspired by my mentor, Dr. Li, has given me the encouragement and drive to lend a helping hand wherever I could. It's incredibly important to put your best foot forward, and during my time as a student mentor and tutor, I believe that I was able to give that same encouragement to the students I have had the pleasure of knowing and working with. Building a sense of trust and friendship allows you to make that much more of a difference with the people you interact with, and whether it be something small or large, every action truly counts. Through my time as a co-founder of a non-profit organization, I have been able to connect with community members and organizations to provide assistance to individuals through different means and initiatives. Overall, you never know how your words or actions can change an individual, and just knowing the tremendous impact that one person has had on me, makes me reflect on my own interactions and motivates me to continuously aim towards something greater.

Tell us about your leadership experience.

Working in the laboratory and learning from Dr. Li and my colleagues has given me the opportunity to continue that role and be a leader for the new students joining the lab. I was able to guide them throughout the process and explain experimental procedures in what is probably a new environment to them. Being a student mentor for organic chemistry allowed me the opportunity to work with and encourage so many amazing students. I can just hope that my time with them was able to make an impact in any way possible. Since being in EMRAP, I was selected to be a co-chief for the program for the upcoming cohort. Although my role as a co-chief starts in the summer, I am really looking forward to guiding students through what is an amazing program and leading them to take initiative and be risk takers. Also being a co-founder of a non-profit organization, Brighter Smilez, I have been able to lead in the creation of events and initiatives throughout the community. I’ve worked with many organizations on campus as well as with community members, and hopefully I can continue to make a lasting impact with my role in the non-profit.

What is your dream career or goal?

I hope to one day become a physician who can mentor patients and their families through their health journey. All of my experiences in life have cultivated the love and passion that I have towards this field, and I hope to continue to pursue this for as long as I can. My own discoveries in college and the lessons that I've learned from my mentors continuously strengthen the desire I have to continue to work on attaining this goal every single day. Besides this field being something I have always had a passion for, my main motivation for becoming a physician is definitely my family. Understanding the struggles that my parents have come across as immigrants, and trying my best to be a mentor to them through their own health journey, has impacted the way I see medicine. My long term goal is to be a solace for the people who think they don't have a voice, to those who may struggle day to day. Being especially attentive towards communities who are underrepresented and have been traditionally overlooked is something that resonates with me when I look at my parents, and it makes the path towards becoming a physician that much more important.

What is your most defining moment?

My most defining moment at UM-Dearborn definitely has to be how my time with Dr. Li has changed me as an individual. I came into her class eager to put my best foot forward, especially since organic chemistry is thought to be a notoriously hard class amongst my peers. I don't think I have been to that many office hours in one semester, and might as well have lived there (I'm not sure if Dr. Li would have liked me taking residence in her office, though). She was incredibly amazing, and just from her teaching in lecture to making sure that I understood a topic after class, I knew how passionate she was about the subject and really wanted to help students learn. She really loved it, and that was just so inspiring to me. Her constant encouragement made it important to always try my best, not only in her class, but in every other aspect in my life. She has inspired me to step out of my comfort zone, and I was able to work alongside her in the laboratory and be a student mentor for her class. These are all things that I would have never imagined doing, and it just makes my own mission of being a mentor that much more important. Even now, I always keep Dr. Li in the back of my mind with the things that I do day to day, and she is one of my constant motivators as I pursue my career as a physician.