Mostly everything I take part in and hope to take part in throughout my life fits in perfectly with the G.O.A.L.S explained by honors and scholars here at Ohio State.

Regarding Global Awareness, I have just recently declared a double major in Romance Studies which is the study of Romance Languages. Spanish is my first language, and I speak Italian fluently and French proficiently. I hope that my background with all these languages will give me the ability to travel the world and practice medicine in different environments and cultures while still being able to have good patient communication. I have found that even in my small duties as a volunteer at the hospital or at my research lab, that by being able to speak other languages I open so many windows for myself in regards of who I can communicate and who I can help.

Original Inquiry is something I partake in everyday while conducting research on breast cancer cells at the medical center. It keeps me motivated and excited to be learning about the Scientific Method and about new up and coming research methods and strategies. Every week in the lab, I perform at least one new experiment that I had not previously done. A lot of the experiments also have not been done many times in the world so it is a huge privilege for me to take part in them.

Academic Enrichment obviously is very important to me and I strive to be the best I can when it comes to this field. I aspire to one day be an MD/PhD and be able to be a surgeon as I have dreamed of as well as pursue research which I am very passionate about. I understand that in order to achieve this, the academics have to be flawless and I need to stand out from the rest.

Regarding Academic Enrichment I have taken the time to interview and get to know throughly my research lab coordinator, Anna Tessari, MD.

Anna was born in Italy, where she studied and earned her medical degree from the University of Ferrara as a medical oncologist. She came to Ohio State to complete her post-doctoral training, after which she won a Pelotonia Fellowship and was able to prolong her stay. Her fellowship came to an end at the beginning of the summer, at which time she was asked to stay at Ohio State full time as a Research Scientist.

Anna’s research focuses on the involvement of miR135-b on breast cancer as well as the involvement of the gene RanBP9 on lung cancer.

What Anna likes the most about her research, is how transitional the things she is studying are. Such as how the cells that she studies are directly from patients and the aim is to find treatments to use directly on patients.

As far as Leadership Development, I practice frequently while fulfilling my duties of Neuroscience Ambassador and being a good role model to younger generation of scientists. As a Neuroscience ambassador, I guide incoming freshman through the journey of being a neuroscience major at OSU.

Finally Service Engagement is what I mostly focus my time on, whether at the hospital or working at the suicide hotline line, I aim to serve my community as much as I can now as an undergraduate and eventually as a doctor in my community and around the world in the future. In the hospital, I have volunteered in many areas such as the Emergency Department, the lobby, and currently the Ambulatory Surgery unit.