My mentee is Brandon Barcena and he is a neuroscience major with a pre-med track, which is something we have in common. When I interviewed Brandon these are the questions I asked him:
How did you decide on your major?
How do you plan to get involved on campus?
What are you most looking forward to in the ACES program?
What do you plan to do with your major after graduation? Graduate or Professional school? Enter the workforce?
What is one of the most important things you have learned so far at OSU?
From these questions, I learned that Brandon became interested in neuroscience after writing an essay in High School about concussions. He said that he enjoyed this assignment more than anything he has ever done and that he is very inspired by Dr. Bennet Omalu’s work. I found this very interesting because I attended Dr. Omalu’s presentation at OSU last year, and I also found his work very interesting. I believe that by being interested in the same topics, I could help Brandon find ways to get involved with neuroscience activities on campus.
Brandon hasn’t decided on how he wants to get involved yet. He wanted to take a few weeks just to get used the adjustment, but he knows he want’s to find a way to get involved in the medical field. Since I volunteer at Children’s, I could give him advice about how to get involved in the hospital setting.
After college, Brandon hopes to go to medical school in California! I also want to go to medical school. This means we will be taking the same classes and we will be going through the same process. This will allow me to give Brandon advice about what he needs to do in preparation for medical school.
What Brandon loves about the ACES program is that he has made so many friends that are also ACES. He says all of his close friends are also in the program. Other than continuing to make more connections, he hopes that ACES will allow him to get involved in the community and give back. I couldn’t agree with Brandon more! Some of my best friends are in the ACES program.
Something important that Brandon has learned at OSU is that college isn’t all fun and games. It takes hard work and dedication to be successful. I hope that I can help Brandon stay on top of his studies, and make sure that he still has an amazing first year of college!