I transferred to Smith for my sophomore year. I thought Smith would be financially out of reach, but it wasn’t; I’m here on a generous financial aid package. I’m a neuroscience major, and I intend to go to med school.

I’m hoping to go abroad and study at Les Sciences á Paris for my senior year. There is a yearlong program designed especially for students in the sciences. This is what I’ve always wanted to do: When else am I going to get a whole year in Paris?

My parents emigrated from Mexico, and I am a first-generation American and the first one in my family to attend college. For me, going to college was always an expectation, and I also wanted to travel. My dad always told me that my ticket out of Phoenix was through my education and through my research. He was right. Through my neuroscience research, I have presented papers and visited a variety of cities in and out of the country.

“I don’t think I would be a premed major if I weren’t at Smith.”

I don’t think I would be a premed major if I weren’t at Smith. I get all the support I need. This year I got a travel fund grant for a nine-day interterm service trip to Nicaragua with the Smith chapter of Global Medical Brigades. In my two years at Smith, I have already done so much. I am so grateful that I have had these many opportunities.