Marcus Patterson is from Waterbury, CT where he graduated as salutatorian of his class at W.F. Kaynor Technical High School. Marcus spent his junior year volunteering at nursing homes which ultimately led to his certification as a CNA. He’ll be majoring in allied health sciences at UConn.
Hailing from Hartford, CT, Cristian Osorio is a graduate of Great Path Academy. He will be a physiology and neurobiology major at UConn. He has taken advantage of volunteering opportunities at Hartford Hospital, where he has worked with nursing, radiology, and with people suffering from anxiety and depression. Cristian has also shadowed a cardiologist and witnessed catheter ablations; he has since decided that his goal is to become a cardiologist. Beyond the environs of Hartford Cristian has traveled to the UK, Spain, and Colombia.
Originally from Khartoum, Sudan, Sara Mohamedzein has lived in West Hartford, CT since the sixth grade. As a student at William H. Hall High School she was a member of the Medical Club and took advantage of the Mini Medical and Dental Program at UConn Health. She feels that both activities gave her an opportunity to learn about a variety of professions and concentrations within health care. Sara will be a biomedical engineering, or perhaps a chemical engineering major, at UConn. She was aided in the college application process by the fact that she was chosen as a College Prep Scholar and Questbridge Scholar, which gave her many resources and provided her with a community of gifted scholars.
Wesia Malik is from Newington, CT and graduated from CREC Medical Professions and Teacher Preparation Academy. She’ll be joining the Rowe Scholars Program as a physiology and neurobiology major. As part of HCOP Wesia was able to sit in on lectures given by health professionals. She’s also had the opportunity to intern at Saint Francis Hospital in the central sterile supply unit, and this summer she shadowed a cardiologist. Just as Wesia has sought out experiences to learn more about medicine, she also took the opportunity to visit Israel and Palestine to learn more about the conflict there.
Maria Guerrero is particularly interested in emergency medicine, which motivated her to become a certified EMT. She has interned at Danbury Hospital as an EMT student and has volunteered in the emergency room. She has also shadowed nurses at The Village at Brookfield Commons. These activities have provided her with experiences such as transferring blood to a blood bank, participating in the IV lab, attending hospital rotations, doing patient assessments as part of ambulance calls, and observing spinal taps, the placement of an intravenous catheter, and a catheter lab procedure. She has learned patient interaction skills, bedside manner skills, and how to work with the geriatric population. Maria is currently from Bethel, CT where she graduated from Bethel High School, but she was born in Ecuador, from there moved to Queens, NY, then Danbury, CT, and finally to Bethel. She can read, write, and speak fluent Spanish. At UConn Maria will major in biological sciences and hopes to include classes on genetics.
Angel Green is a pre-pharmacy major from Bloomfield, CT. She played the flute throughout middle and high school until graduation from Bloomfield High School. She has taken part in the HCOP pipeline programs Senior Doctors Academy and Summer Research, which provided her with new skills and knowledge about the health professions. They also taught her how to conduct research and present findings.
Stephanie Akosa, from Newington, CT, has been involved in health-related activities since the summer before tenth grade when she volunteered at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center. Since then, she has worked with the Migrant Farm Worker’s Clinic and conducted research at UConn Health. Working in the lab of Dr. Nilanjana Maulik, Stephanies researched diabetic cardiomyopathy. A graduate of Newington High School, Stephanie ran track her entire high school career. She specialized in short sprinting events and particularly liked the 200m and 300m. With an interest in medicine, Stephanie will be a physiology and neurobiology major at UConn.