About Me

I am a 3rd year IUPUI student majoring in Biomedical Engineering with a minor in Mathematics

I majored in Biomedical Engineering because of my interest in medicine, physics, and mathematics. I came into IUPUI with the idea of going to medical school, but I realized at the beginning of this year, my junior year, that medical school was not for me. Luckily Biomedical Engineering is a major that allows me to mix my subjects of interest together, serving as a good backup plan. Although, I applied for LHSI as part of my pre-medicine track at the beginning, I also was looking to develop and strengthen some of my existing skills as well as new skills. After being in Engineering for two years, I realized that I was developing critical thinking, teamwork, and communication skills. I am looking to strengthen those skills as well as grow my leadership and confidence skills.

Ultimately, being involved in Social Justice work at IUPUI has initiated an interest in law school. Although I am still exploring between law and engineering, I find that my involvement at the Komen Tissue bank will teach me many skills that I can use in the future.

Teamwork

Working in my lab groups and as a co-peer mentor for 21st Century program, I have discovered that I am more of an active listener than a speaker. I tend to only talk when I am confident and sure in my thought processes. Additionally, I value responsibility and finishing work on time consistently. This also includes communicating consistently with whom you are working with. I prefer to consult with the team before making decisions on my own and like for the work and thought processes to be in an organized fashion.

When being in a new setting, I value support and feedback from the people I am working with to make sure I am meeting the expectations put forth on me. I am fearful of making mistakes and being a setback on my team. Additionally, I have learned to become flexible in occupying the job that I am needed in. When a leader is needed, I am comfortable stepping up.

Professional

My internship has taught me and strengthened skills that I can use in my future career. I have learned planning and time management from helping prepare for tissue collection events. Communication is used everyday in the office between me and the team to figure out what needs to be done for the day to prepare for collection events, tabling, etc. Attention to detail is essentially important when dealing with patient data to prepare for the event. When labeling tubes for the tissue collection with the patients' corresponding bar code, I would find discrepancies that could have led to confusion or delay in the collection event. Furthermore, I was able to practice on my networking skills, asking team members details about their jobs and asking for shadowing opportunities.

My Experiences and Skills

I am fluent in Spanish and an intermediate in French
Engineering classes have helped develop my critical thinking
I have taken two coding classes, C language and Python

21st Century Peer Mentor

I was a 21st Century Peer mentor during the 2021-2022 school year for incoming freshmen students. This program intends to help freshmen students transition from high school into college. During this program, I had 1:1 with students individually every month as well as group sessions with 12-14 students. I helped students achieve their career, academic, and personal goals.

The skills that I learned through this program were collaboration, communication, encouragement, organization, and listening. I communicated not only with the students but also with my peers. I was in constant communication with my group partner to help organize group sessions. During 1:1 sessions I was also brought out of my comfort zone in constantly comforting and encouraging students when it came to their goals. Part of my job was not only talking, but also listening to what the students needed from me. Additionally, it also took great dedication to keep 1:1 meetings and group sessions up to date and consistent.

Social Justice Scholar/ SJRA

I have been a Social Justice Scholar since August 2021. I have recently began the role of Social Justice Residential Assistant. During my first year in the Program, I held two events a month in a subprogram called Speak Out. Speak Out involves using artistic methods like painting and poetry to connect with current and past social justice issues. This involved a lot of public speaking as well as research. Additionally, organization of events and planning ahead was also needed.

Now that I am a Social Justice RA, there are still two events per month, but this time it is more of public speaking as well as answering questions. I also have the duty of walking the halls of my dorm to do 1:1 with the residents. This includes being able to efficiently and effectively communicate with the residents who have low attention span and don't have a lot of time. Additionally, being able to ask diverse questions to keep the conversation going is also needed.

Near West Free Clinic Interpreter

Near West Free Clinic is a clinic that is targeted towards individuals with low income and those without insurance. It serves as a resource to get free to low-cost care as well as referring patients to other low-cost areas. The clinic is run by local health professional students and staffed by local volunteer physicians and PAs

I have started volunteering as a Spanish Interpreter at Near West Free Clinic since the beginning of the summer. This involves me being able to translate documents and interpret what physicians are saying. This has help develop my communication skills in Spanish and English, as well as in medical term vocabulary. Thinking quickly in both languages in my head has also challenged me. Additionally, I have grown in a new skill of advocacy. Advocacy for the patients and their needs.

Alliance for Immigrant Justice

Alliance for Immigrant Justice works to serve the needs of undocumented people of Indiana University Purdue University-Indianapolis (IUPUI) and in the community by

a) Providing or directing undocumented students to academic, financial, and legal resources.

b) Raising awareness of undocumented issues on campus and in our state

c) Creating a support system that uplifts the campus, local, and national undocumented community.

In AIJ, my role is the community outreach coordinator. I have worked on my writing, communication, and networking skills in this role. I communicate via email and meet with potential partners to see how we can support each other. Additionally, I attend events and during tabling, explain to students what our mission is and what we stand for. This has allowed me to concisely present ourselves in an interesting and easy to understand manner in a few minutes. Additionally, in the case where the person was really interested, I also have to be flexible enough to keep the conversation going and input other details and facts about ourselves in the mix.

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