I am originally from Washington, D.C. and went to Georgetown Day School, a school proud to foster not only a strong sense of community, but also academic drive, self-confidence, and values of diversity, equity, and inclusion. It was at GDS that I was able to participate in a mentorship program, a program that paired freshman girls with junior girls, for the first time. As a freshman mentee, it provided me with a source of confidence, empowerment, and motivation. As a junior mentor, it provided me with a way to shape my leadership skills and empathy. My passion for mentorship led me to found the first East Coast chapter of the national mentorship organization 1girl, where I initiated a partnership with a local public elementary school. 1girl became and remains the elementary school's first after-school enrichment program run by a high school student.
My love of mentorship helped me recognize another great passion of mine: working with children. I have since supported children and families through work as a literacy tutor, camp counselor, assistant teacher, child and family policy intern, play-based therapist, researcher, project coordinator, and advocate. I cherish the challenges and joys that accompany my work in these settings, and through these opportunities I have determined that my professional goal is to become a developmental-behavioral pediatrician.
Here at Duke, I majored in Neuroscience alongside a minor in Global Health and a certificate in Child Policy Research. I participated in the Global Health Focus program, worked as a head tutor in Durham public schools through America Reads America Counts, participated in an interdisciplinary Bass Connections team, researched health policy at the Margolis Center for Health Policy, was selected as the first undergraduate trainee in the history of the North Carolina Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (NC-LEND) program, and served as the 2021-2022 President of the Neuroscience Major’s Union. I also had the opportunity to teach and facilitate the Baldwin-sponsored, half-credit House Course: Women's Empowerment at Duke.
Being a Baldwin Scholar provided me with an incredible community of both peers and faculty, pushed me to think deeply and critically about student life on campus, inspired me to support my extended circles of peers using skills I learned as a Baldwin, and helped me to realize and better articulate my unique strengths and challenges as a student, friend, researcher, team member, sister, and daughter.
Next year, I will be working at Boston Children's Hospital as a Research Assistant in the Down Syndrome Program prior to entering medical school.