If I were to break my personality down to its barebones, I would say that at my core, I am ambitious, flexible, and a leader. If I care about something, I’m going to put my all into it. Since middle school, I can remember having the goal to become a bilingual pediatrician, and I’m slowly inching closer to that goal. Also, throughout my college application process during my later years of high school, I always thought it was awesome how students were able to represent their school to families, and play a huge role in such an important decision in somebody’s life. Now, I hold that same role that I admired, and I’ve given over 50 tours to prospective students and their families as part of the Clemson University Guide Association.

 

A time in my life when I’ve had to be the most adaptable was when I studied abroad this past spring in the spring of 2024. I was set up to be in a study abroad cohort made up of 11 students, with only one other guy. This other guy cancelled at the last minute, so I put myself in a position to make friends with the girls in my program and my host brothers, who were a guy from Taiwan and a guy from Japan. This proved extremely difficult as this was by far the longest I had ever been away from home, and without another male Clemson student there to lean on, towards the beginning I felt very alone. This experience definitely pushed me out of my comfort zone and helped me learn a lot about my strengths as a person. One of my greatest strengths is my ability to make connections with anyone, and I absolutely think that this will translate over to a career in the medical field. Although this broad experience started out challenging, it eventually proved to be one of the best experiences of my life. I made lifelong friends and was able to have an incredible internship shadowing a pediatric emergency room in Spain, garnering over 150 clinical hours. I transformed what could’ve been a difficult experience into one of the greatest periods of growth in my life.

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Finally, one thing that keeps me driven is my family. I’m the oldest of 3 brothers and I’m huge on leading by example. Because of this,  I try to get involved with as many things that I’m passionate about as possible, to help show my younger siblings that they should go after anything that they want to get involved with in school and in life.

 

Together, my ambition, flexibility, and leadership skills could all point towards a career in medicine. I love speaking Spanish and I love being able to connect with people that I otherwise wouldn’t be able to. For me, there is no greater privilege than helping others. The experiences that have shaped my academic journey will continue to shape my professional goals moving forward. I hope to take my knowledge and experiences and impact as many lives as I can in the future.