ALEC BATES-ARTINIAN
"The more I learn about other cultures, the more I feel I don't know. My main takeaway from having the opportunity to learning so many languages and experience so many cultures is that everyone comes from their own unique world of complexities, expectations, and pursuits. My experiences have informed my desire to interact with others with humility and respect for their life journey."
ANDREA ABELN
"The best thing engineering taught me was how to think. When presented with a problem, I can work my way back to a root cause and find logical paths to a solution. The same through process can be applied to diagnostics and creating treatment plans. I also have a scientific understanding of the forces at play within the body and how small changes can affect them. My engineering career taught me how to lead teams toward a common goal, work with people of all different backgrounds, and strategize with clients."
CHERISH HENDERSON
"It has been important to me to persist on this journey and enter into a career in medicine, because I am needed. Minority physicians are needed to improve patient outcomes in underserved populations, to reestablish patient-physician trust in minority populations, and many more reasons. I am persisting because I want to guide other minority, low-income, and first-generational pre-health students and encourage them to persist on their journey as well."
DAISHA LEWIS
"(After Hurricane Katrina) We adapted out of necessity. We no longer had a home, so we took refuge in Houston. Houston provided us with a lot of opportunities that would have not been available to us otherwise. It's unfortunate, the circumstances of it all, but ultimately I'm glad to have spent a large portion of my upbringing in Houston, especially in Alief! I still visit New Orleans frequently. There is no place like it."
HAILIE HAMILTON
"I grew up in a low-income household where often it was a struggle for my parents to get health insurance and have their health needs met. Because of this, I saw some of the discrepancies in health care accessibility and how inaccessible health care can create a cycle of unmet health care needs and chronic conditions in low-income populations. While I am still deciding on what specialty of medicine most interests me, I know that no matter what I do, I want to help close the health care gap."
MEGAN HATCHER
"My parents met the first week of medical school at their orientation (in 1994)...My parents' history with McGovern really influence my decision to attend this school and go into medicine. They have had so many great things to say about McGovern, and although they told me it would be some of the most difficult years of my life, they also reminded me it will be some of the best years as well. It's pretty crazy to be sitting in the same classroom that they did 26 years ago and be able to live on a legacy that they paved the way for me to pursue."
ROSA BURROUGHS
"The effect I can make in society, or one person's life, is substantial. My ambition to deliver medical services to those that cannot afford it is at the forefront of my aspiration in pursuing medicine. Whether I can affect one, or hundreds of individuals, my impetus is invigorated by the remembrance of the effects that I have already made on my journey to medical school, and the prospect that I may continue to do good."
RYAN NAPOLILLO
(On appearing on the television show Fight or Flight) "Fight or Flight was produced for Discovery Channel. It's formatted as a docuseries hosted by my best friend, Somy Ali, and co-hosted by myself. The show follows the experience of her and I running our non-profit organization, No More Tears, which is devoted to rescuing victims of domestic violence and human violence, then helping them rebuild their lives from the ground up."
SEBASTIAN HORCASITAS
"Receiving the McGovern Scholar Award means the world to me. I was a Gates Millennium Scholar, which essentially fully funds my education in any STEM related field up to a PhD, with a major exception for professional school — like medical school. I chose to effectively leave the funding from Gates on the table when choosing to pursue the dream of medicine, so when I learned that I had received the McGovern Scholar Award, I felt a way of reassurance rush over me. I knew at that moment, that I had chosen the right path."