How did you go from pre-med to sociology?
I wasn’t exactly the most typical pre-med out there. While I was coming into undergrad, I was really interested in public health because of the COVID-19 pandemic. I wanted to go to epidemiology school. With that in mind … I took some bio courses throughout my freshman and sophomore years, and there were some challenges even in my freshman year. It was harder than I expected to get and stay organized and focused on the content in my bio classes. Those classes demanded lots of time away from the classroom to study, and my time management skills weren’t that developed. On top of all of that, I was in extracurriculars like track and field.
Sophomore fall semester is when things really started to change. Biology and chemistry didn’t pan out the way I wanted them to. But that semester, I also took a sociology intro class and I really enjoyed it. When the time came to declare a major, I still thought I had to major in biology, but I was also thinking about minoring in sociology. But the classes for biology weren’t improving the way I hoped, and I felt very defeated. While at the time I was becoming a much better athlete, I felt really conflicted about my academics. I didn’t like biology anymore, but it was what I was so used to doing, and it felt, more or less, like the right path. I wanted to make sure I knew what kind of career I could go into right after graduating from Hamilton. But sociology ended up academically being my strong suit, and I [enjoyed those classes more] than my biology classes.
I ended up declaring a sociology major, breaking away from the planned-out path that I thought I was going to take.
I ended up consulting with lots of my on-campus advisors, such as my Opportunity Program advisor Aaron Ray, my Health Professions advisor Courtney Hance, and Associate Professor of Sociology Matthew Grace. I also talked to my ALEX advisor, Kevin Alexander, and with their support and guidance, I ended up declaring a sociology major, breaking away from the planned-out path that I thought I was going to take.
ALEX: Advise, Learn, EXperience
ALEX is Hamilton’s coordinated network of on-campus academic centers, resources, and advisors that work together to ensure students have access to every opportunity that will help them thrive at the College.
How did the ALEX program fit into your journey?
The ALEX program has helped me out a lot. … I wouldn’t have been able to get this far without the ALEX systems in place. I could ask [my advisor] about almost anything, given how broad the ALEX program is in terms of what it covers. I also talked a lot to Courtney Hance. I went to her for advice, just to vent out how I felt, to get guidance on how to navigate the college landscape, and sometimes to update them on how I was doing and how I was feeling.
My advisors all served as more than just sounding boards; they were really a support system. The summer after my biology classes didn’t turn out the way that I expected them to, I did a lot of soul searching. It was really time for me to reevaluate what I was doing here at college, what I wanted out of it, and how to turn that into a reality. My advisors here have really helped me rebound and pivot into a much better direction.
Have you had any career-related experiences off campus?
Last summer, I worked as a Healthcare Management Program summer associate at Northwell Health Brooklyn Region. I helped my team in consulting at a client medical facility where we were contracted to assist in their operations. I was responsible for analyzing patient volume and its effect on the budget throughout the facility, laboratory data, and creating a contact list of the Health Home Care Team for another client site. My favorite part of the internship was the chance I had to meet with a variety of people, both interns and professionals from a variety of different sites, places, schools, and backgrounds.
Also, in the summer of 2022, I participated in the Summer Health Professions Education Program at the University of Iowa. It’s a program designed to give undergrads from underrepresented backgrounds an opportunity to learn about careers in health and medicine. I think what I’ve done with sociology has ended up being much closer to what I learned public health is all about. I’m looking at it through a social lens more than through a scientific lens. There’s a lot more that goes into public health than just knowing how to treat people or how people get sick. There are also the social factors that go into why people get sick, the disparities that happen not just with socioeconomic differences but also residential reasons — why certain areas and zip codes are much healthier than others. Healthcare is just as multifaceted as I am!
Do you have anything else to add?
I’ve worn many different hats during my time at Hamilton both in terms of my identity and the work I do. Being at Hamilton has allowed me to really explore different sides of myself and engage with different areas of study. That has kept me from being so static. I became a lot more open to changing. I didn’t think I was going to study sociology coming here, but now, I fully enjoy what I do and become a much fuller, well-rounded person.
