I study Physiological Science at the University of California in Los Angeles and if I could start my college career over, I would not hesitate to declare the same major. As a pre-Physician Assistant student looking to attend graduate school a couple of years after graduating with my Bachelor’s degree, I chose to study a science that would be directly applicable to the medicine I will soon be practicing. Broadly speaking, the common factor among STEM students is that we share a curiosity for that which is unknown or enjoy understanding how or why something works. Although the human body may seem ordinary and mundane, it is one of the most advanced machines that has been studied for thousands of years yet is still not completely understood. As a physiology major, I appreciate the complexity of our organ systems and the way in which they work our entire lives to keep us going. Despite knowing how our heart's conduction system keeps it pumping, I will never fail to be amazed that this is one of many organs that works day and night for us. As I was considering different life science majors, I found myself gravitating towards physiological science because it is essential to know how the body is meant to function under normal conditions to be able to understand how something goes wrong. I have come to understand that science is an incredibly collaborative work that takes teams of experts from all fields to generate groundbreaking research and education for generations to come. Given this, I have come to appreciate the collaborative work between physiologists and scientists in fields such as genetics, psychology, and microbiology. My upper division classes, challenging as they may be, have nurtured my inquisitive mind and helped me understand research that may well be guiding my clinical knowledge in the near future. On a personal note, one of my favorite perks of studying physiology is getting to say I studied cadavers in anatomy lab during undergraduate studies!

I am Verania Amaton and the proud daughter of two Mexican immigrants looking to serve the underprivileged Hispanic community as a Physician Associate (PA) one day. As a first-generation college student and my parents’ first child, I am my family’s guinea pig as I grow and establish myself in academia. My goal of practicing medicine stems from a never-ending curiosity for science and a desire to dedicate my life to the communities that built me up into the woman I am today. Beyond my personal career pursuits, my dream consists of mentoring Hispanic students, like me, who wish to pursue a career in healthcare but do not have close connections to anyone in medicine. I suspect that I will never want to stop being an older sister, whether it may be to my biological siblings or students who would like for someone to help them see their potential in higher education. I picture myself offering more than just academic support for students, but also an opportunity to develop professionalism and networking skills. Though my parents have instilled in me the desire to put all my efforts into the career of my dreams, I poorly understood the importance of human connections to success in one’s career. I want to dedicate myself lifelong to the cause that is uplifting those of underprivileged and undervalued families because we often limit ourselves to less opportunities automatically. If I can inspire at least one more Hispanic student to continue the tradition of giving back to the community through mentorship, I will have made an impact that can leave a legacy. Lastly, I would like to travel internationally and familiarize myself with cultures other than my own. I believe the world would be a better place if more of us understood what it is like to be from a different culture and respected other communities for their accomplishments. In the way of my dream future stands my own insecurities as a flawed human being as well as the waning motivation to make space for my personal life while working in a job where burnout is inevitable. Rather than opt for a simpler career so as not to deal with the stress of being a healthcare professional whose role in clinical settings is often misunderstood, I see myself managing through advocacy. The way to earn more awareness of the Physician Associate qualifications is to educate those who may not be aware of the title, instead of taking personal offense to the public’s lack of knowledge. In doing so, I will be uplifting the PA profession and earning us better job opportunities, where we are not subjected to unreasonably high patient volumes in a given shift. As I read testimonials from established PA’s I have gathered that while burnout is inevitable in nearly any given healthcare profession, it is certainly something that we can work to minimize through advocating for better working conditions. When it comes to my insecurities standing in the way of accomplishing my dreams, both personally and professionally, I have thought it best to consult therapy. The help of a therapist would be unbiased and could give me tools to build my self-worth as I work to deal with imposter syndrome. I plan to be a part of the movement to destigmatize the need for mental health support as a person who seeks to work in medicine. It would mean the world to me if I could be the best version of myself for my patients, loved ones, and myself so that I could have a fulfilling career as a PA for decades to come.

My name is Verania Amaton and I am a first-generation Mexican-American woman. While I may not have a stereotypically Mexican last name, evident by the way fellow Hispanic people stare at it quizzically when trying to figure out “what I am”, my first name is something I do hold close to my heart. Growing up, I had a stormy relationship with my mother and communication between us was fair at best. After breaking a period of silent treatment, my mother held me close and talked to me about our past. I knew little about the origins of my name and took the opportunity to ask her if my name had any particular significance, especially because I had never met anyone with my name. She revealed that she had a close friend named Verania when she was growing up in Mexico and thought that her name was unique. My mother promised her friend that when she had a daughter she would name her Verania after her. Hearing this, tears came to my eyes as I had never expected my first name to be representative of a friendship from my mother’s past. Prior to knowing about this unofficial meaning to my name, I had assigned it a folk etymological meaning derived from the word verano or summer in Spanish. I was never interested in most definitions the internet tried to assign to my name and I was content with the connection to the warm season I happened to be born in. Regardless of whether my name means “summer” or is representative of a close friendship my mother had as a child, I like to reflect on the fact that I was able to give my mother’s dream life. In the same conversation in which she explained the brief history of my name, my mom explained that it took five years for her to successfully bring a pregnancy to full term. The birth of her first born, me, meant for her the end to years of painful medical procedures and medications carried out in the effort to help her fertility issues. Even my grandmother jokes that I am her most expensive grandchild to date due to all the medical treatments my mom underwent in the hopes of finally starting her own family. The truest meaning of my name is the story of my mother’s perseverance and sheer determination for half a decade and I like to imagine that the moment she was able to finally assign the name Verania to her first child, she thought of the promise she made to her dear friend long before that day. While my last name holds no particular significance and is a bitter reminder of a man I could never call my father, my first name tells a beautiful story of dedication. It is a reminder to me that it took a long time for me to get here thanks to my mother, who I am in awe of. The story of how “Verania” came to be empowers me to be patient and persistent in the face of obstacles life throws at me, much like I imagine my mother was while waiting for me.

“Pies, ¿para qué los quiero si tengo alas para volar?” - Frida Kahlo ("Feet, why do I need them if I have wings to fly?") Mexican painter Frida Kahlo was a paragon of raw artistic expression and bravery in the face of an unforgiving society, both of which made her one of the most admirable icons of history. As a Mexican-American, I was exposed to the life of Kahlo and her artwork from a young age yet I did not appreciate the way her work left a mark on the world until recently. Kahlo was an undeniably fierce woman who depicted her many chronic physical and neurological disabilities through her paintings. Her self-portraits were a window to Kahlo's mind and soul, and they masterfully captured her humanity as affected by her life events and misfortunes. To say Kahlo's works were mere depictions of her misery and bedridden nature would be a crude oversimplification of how her art touched the world. I sincerely believe that one of the main reasons that Kahlo was such a successful artist on an international level was because she provided the world with a refreshing rawness of human emotion when it needed it most. Her society looked at her as an outcast and revolutionary, but individuals around the world that sought representation of disabilities in art found themselves relieved and in awe of Kahlo. Even for today's progressive standards, Kahlo's art can be considered politically radical but living in the first half of the twentieth century must have been like living in a different world. Nonetheless, Frida Kahlo was a force to be reckoned with and I will continue to admire her for refusing to live within the constraints others tried to place on her body and mind.

One day while scrolling through my TikTok 'For You' page, I came across a video that questioned whether I knew how to distinguish when I wanted or needed an item. The creator went on to explain that when she found herself in a situation where she couldn't decipher her wants from her needs, she made a note to wait a month before reconsidering her purchase of that same item. Prior to learning this advice, I considered myself an impulsive shopper, much to my wallet's dismay. My financial development was forced when I entered college because even as an in-state student, the cost of living at my university's dorms began taking a toll on my family's finances. Even so, I was excited at the prospect of having the freedom to explore local shops and online shopping without my mother's stern eye supervising. I failed to understand that I was financially immature and could not limit myself to a solid budget to reign in my unnecessary spending. It was disheartening to realize that despite my mother's best efforts to impart her financial soundness, I was easily persuaded by the appeal of my 'want' items. After coming across that fateful video, I was newly inspired to start practicing smarter financial decision-making. Whether I am shopping for school supplies or making my grocery list, I ask myself whether an item will be utilized to capacity or provide something necessary to my life that cannot wait. When I find that I cannot decide if something fulfills both of those qualifications, I simply give myself a month to rethink my choice and often find that in a month I no longer want that item. This financial advice has given me the ability to be more meaningful about my purchases and steadily contributed to my savings.

Growing up in a household with two hard-working parents that valued their children's education shaped my appreciation for academia from an early age. My success in college and ability to prioritize my goals has also been possible because of the added pressure of being their first child. I am currently pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Physiological Sciences with a minor in Linguistics in preparation for a career in primary healthcare as a Physician Assistant (M.S.). I discovered my passion for science in high school through my biology and chemistry courses. I am currently building my scientific background at the University of California in Los Angeles. As a first-generation college student, it was a struggle to navigate academia, and imposter syndrome made it difficult to believe in my ability to perform alongside my peers. After spending my first two college years panicking about choosing a major and learning to study for the rigor of my STEM courses, I ultimately decided on physiology. I wanted my higher education to prepare me for a career in the health sciences because that would help me educate patients on health science in an approachable way. Physiology is intertwined with medicine and taught in a way that you can begin to speculate on the diseases that occur as a result of pathologies. Even though I was pushing myself out of my comfort zone, I propelled myself to switch majors because I wasn’t afraid to work diligently towards my degree. Although I find physiology fascinating as a stand-alone subject, I can recognize it is not the most approachable subject for all. I have major plans to use my education to give back to the communities where I come from and become an advocate for more marginalized folk in medicine. I identify as a Latina, a first-generation American, and a person from an underserved community, and plan to advocate for those particular communities within the scope of my medical expertise. Through my extracurricular involvement at UCLA, I have learned that medical disparities and biases permeate the medical field and how medicine is taught. I appreciate that my education has been well-rounded because it allows me to think critically about the way science is perceived by those without a scientific background. One of the barriers to understanding the science in healthcare is the use of specialized language and this issue is amplified among those with language barriers or limited education. I imagine that one of the ways I could help mitigate such barriers to understanding health concepts for such communities is to have more people that directly come from those communities in the medical field. One of my other passions related to education and community is exposure to the diversity of medical field careers earlier on in life. In my underfunded high school, students weren't taught about the plethora of careers that exist in healthcare and the steps we could take to prepare ourselves for said jobs. I had a limited view of the world because I didn't have connections to the medical field and high school counselors were not knowledgeable about my questions. At one point in my life, I wanted to become a physician because it was the career my mom was pushing me to pursue once I informed her that I was interested in the health sciences. My struggles in high school and college inspire me to eventually create a local pipeline program to benefit my local community. I plan to work alongside high school students interested in health care by allowing them to shadow me, visiting their schools to talk about the PA profession, and having a forum available for them to ask questions about healthcare. If I can educate students about professional development opportunities they could begin early, I will have done my part to ensure that they are better prepared for the real world that awaits them once they graduate. Realistically speaking, I do not expect to change lives through my advocacy efforts but do hope that I can empower more students and patients to believe they are capable of understanding medicine.

Education has been central to my life’s goals from an early age and it has painted an expanded view of the world for me throughout my development. I have been fortunate enough to continue my educational journey by attending the University of California in Los Angeles, which has exposed me to students from around the world. Through my classes and acquaintances, I have learned that the world is full of opportunities at every corner for those willing to put in labor and sacrifices. I’ve developed into an appreciative individual and experienced a shift in my life values because I understand that not all who wish to attend higher education institutions have the opportunity to realize their dreams. In high school, my mentors consistently preached that knowledge was power and education opened one’s eyes to the systematicity of our world if we chose to see it. Taking their words to heart, I have been working towards improving my community involvement through extracurricular activities that exposed me to knowledge outside of my science-centric academic path. Through my involvement, I have educated myself on what it means to practice equitable medicine or the day-to-day changes I can implement at home to be a responsible consumer of plastic products (to be eco-friendly). I’ve diversified the type of education I consume and have discovered a passion for community advocacy. Thinking of my old mentors, I appreciate that I understand the power that your awareness of the world puts you in a position to change your community for the better. For example, educating myself about medical disparities and unequal access to quality healthcare among marginalized racial groups has reinvigorated my efforts to pursue a career in medicine. My privilege to higher education has sparked the desire to educate those around me about science because I realize the power of knowledge is amplified when those in a community are willing to come together for a greater purpose. On an academic level, my education has shaped me into a well-rounded scientist who is (now) able to see the interconnectedness of interdisciplinary fields in our world. As a high schooler, my understanding of the world was elementary at best. I could not yet understand how much integration there was between my classes. Academia is not rewarding for the grades that accompany the long nights spent memorizing facts but for the snowball effect that comes with understanding the integration of concepts in different fields. As an upperclassmen student, my fundamental understanding of chemistry, physics, math, and biology concepts have carved out my ability to understand higher-order applications that I have wanted to learn from the moment I decided to pursue a college degree. My educational journey has become an invaluable experience because it has taught me that genuine knowledge takes investment. Like many of my peers, I’m guilty of questioning the material I have learned in class because I take a microscopic approach and forget that the bigger picture is to appreciate the efforts of those before me to be able to contribute knowledge myself. The bigger picture has become integrating my scientific background, passion for medicine, and desire to be a community advocate and I could not have a clearer vision of my future endeavors if it weren’t for my understanding of the world now. I look forward to continuing my journey as a lifelong learner and igniting the appreciation of knowledge in those that come after me.

A child’s mind is intelligent beyond belief, but it does not comprehend hatred without reason. As my immigrant parent’s first-born daughter, I had a seemingly endless pile of responsibilities and standards to live up to the second I was born. That’s not say I wasn’t loved, because I was given a beautiful childhood, but it was also clear to me from a young age that at any moment my parents could be taken from me. I wanted so desperately to be proud of who I was without yet knowing who I was. My story is like that of many others whose parents sacrificed so much to be here and give us a better future. My challenges began in kindergarten when I had my first encounter with a language barrier I would eventually take five years to overcome. Fifteen years ago, my parents knew almost no English and all the media I consumed was in Spanish so naturally I felt confused when I could understand nothing that was being said to me. I was placed in English Second Language (ESL) classes along with other racially underrepresented students and made to feel like I was always behind my English-speaking counterparts. My parents felt ashamed that they couldn’t help me much with my homework past the third grade, and in my immaturity I wished that I hadn’t been born to non-American parents. Again, it was hard to embrace my Mexican culture when it seemed to be what was holding me back in school. Fortunately, my hardworking mother found it in her to be her own and my English tutor. Long were the nights that we stayed up listening to CD’s and flipping flashcards, trying to get me out of those ESL classes and finally in the “normal” English classes. I excelled in school and learned to love the grades that came as a result of my perseverance in classes, but a new problem arises when my younger siblings entered school. I knew English now, so I was expected to be my siblings’ tutor when they needed homework help. As a high schooler stuck in my self-importance, I was frustrated at the thought of having to do additional work to help my siblings when I already had my own work to do. In retrospect, I can only wish I had been mature enough to recognize that it was the least I could have done then to repay my mother’s efforts to teach me English all those years back. Today, I work as math tutor for students in an underserved middle school and I view it as an opportunity to redeem myself. Within ten years I see myself having finished my career goal of becoming a licensed Physician Assistant (PA) and practicing in a predominantly Hispanic community. In addition to providing excellent primary healthcare, I will encourage my patients to advocate for themselves when they have doubts about their treatments and educate them on their care in their native language. What I once saw as a disadvantage and a barrier to my success in academia is now my driving force for completing my degree and becoming an advocate for the Hispanic community at large. The child who was once ashamed of her accent and culture has become someone who is driven to give back to her roots by delivering quality of care that all of us deserve regardless of racial background or nationality.