Hometown: Austin, TX
High School: Liberal Arts and Science Academy at LBJ
What made you decide to attend USC: Born and raised in Austin, Texas, coming out to USC has been a great experience for me as I continue to pursue my passions in modeling biological systems and in medicine at the collegiate level in a strong honors engineering program. In my college search, I found schools that did a very good job of supporting one or two aspects of the college experience (academics, leadership, research, community involvement, a particular major, sports, clubs, recreation, etc). USC, however, offered and supported a plethora of college experiences, as diverse as its international student body, in order to help students make important discoveries about their own abilities and interests. Yet despite the difference, what I love most about USC is the infectious school pride as everyone on campus proudly dons the Trojan cardinal and gold, which makes for a synergetic atmosphere in and out of the classroom.
Best experience/interaction with a professor: Last year I sprained my ankle playing football and sprained my wrist in a longboarding accident. In one of my smaller classes, my professor noticed every time I got injured and commented that I am quite a klutz (in good humor). The other day, I was walking down McClintock when I saw none other than my old professor limping down the street on crutches. I stopped to talk (and to get in a klutz comment) and then proceeded to have a really informal chat about our past sports injuries, including his now torn ACL, the different sports we played as kids, and other very common topics. It was nice being able to see the more “human side” of my professor and having the opportunity to talk with him like a peer of his rather than a subordinate to him.
Favorite Class: Math245 with Professor Tak Sakai, Hist100 with Professor Lon Kurashige, and EE202 with Dr. Edward Maby
Involvements/extracurricular activities:
Associated Students of Biomedical Engineering, President
Helping Overcome Project Expenses (HOPE), Founder and President
Trojan Health Connection, Writer
Global Medical Brigades Physicians Project Group
Associated Trustee and Presidential Scholars
Trojan Academy
Joint Educational Project
Alpha Epsilon Delta National Pre-Med Honor Society member
Redefining Engagement in Active Leadership Project
Neighborhood Academic Initiative tutor
Merit Research, Dr. Khoo's Sleep Disordered Breathing Lab
Dr. Norberto Grzywacz's Retinal Implants Lab
National Society of High School Scholars Board Member
Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society, Sigma Alpha Pi Leadership Program, W.V.T. Rusch Honors Engineering Program
Favorite on-campus event: The Arts vs. the Sciences Campus-wide Capture the Flag, Welcome Week “Hellogoodbye” Concert
Best off-campus experience: ASBME Fundraiser: Being in the Audience for the taping of "Let's Make a Deal!", Getting free tickets to go to Disneyland, camping/kayaking in the Channel Islands with USC LEAD, surfing, hiking, Coldplay concert as a birthday present from a friend, Honors Engineering Retreat, ATPS Retreat to Catalina Island and Big Bear
Favorite memory from freshman year: Learning to longboard and accidentally running into a man who turned out to be my professor for the class I was headed to. I also enjoyed playing Friday night football outside of Marks Hall and getting to know the majority of the people in the dorm who joined in.
What you like about being in LA: The diverse cuisine, activities, and people
Research/study abroad experience: Dr. Michael Khoo’s Sleep Apnea Lab in association with Children’s Hospital Los Angeles: “Monitoring autonomic function using spontaneous cardiorespiratory variability”, Dr. Norberto Grzywacz's Visual Processing Lab: Micro-implantable Retinal Devises, Dr. Gerald Loeb’s Neural Prosthetics Lab in association with Biomimetic Microelectronic Systems
Hobbies/interests: Swimming, running, tennis, racquetball, surfing, chess, Ultimate Frisbee, hiking, longboarding, cutting friends’ hair :-)
