“I love photography. During the summer of my freshman year, I wanted to buy a Canon DSLR but was short on cash, so I applied for job at a local dental laboratory.

Getting to UCSF was not easy. I took the 122 from my home to Stonestown, where I hopped on the M to get to Laguna Honda. There, I waited for the 43 to bring me to Parnassus. It was the summer of 2008 and I was a rising high school junior, participating in Program for Investigation and Training for Careers in Health (PITCH) at UCSF.

“I always wanted to work with women and babies. I trained as a labor doula and volunteered at SFGH. On my first volunteer shift, I peaked into the world of midwifery and was enamored by it all. The first birth I attended was amazing.

Only 1,318 students applied for the cost of living supplement (COLS) last year, yet 1,500 awards were available for the roughly 3,000 student currently at UCSF.

“It’s funny how a brush with mortality and debility can make you realize how fortunate you are. A couple years ago, during my last year of college, I was skiing with some friends near my hometown in Ohio. (What? You can ski in Ohio?

“Every year, dental students at UCSF organize a day of free dental care for kids in the community.

“I initially got interested in research as I wanted to have a broader public health impact beyond the bedside, and realized that research was one way of applying that.

It’s hard to believe that only five and a half months ago I anticipated sacrificing all free weekends, dreaded walking up the seriously underestimated hills of San Francisco, and walked into class with nonexistent anatomy knowledge among other thi

“Growing up in a more rural area of California, I was always curious about the greater world. I found the diverse array of customs, beliefs, and for some reason politics across the globe to be fascinating.