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Senior Gehres Paschal knows that the
college experience encompasses a lot more than what she
learns in the classroom. Her experiences at UGA range from
research work in comparative literature to providing healthcare
to the poorest parts of Nicaragua, an event that she says
changed her life. She was a tutor at Oasis
Católico
Santa Rafaela, a small Hispanic Community in Athens,
and she has built houses in Asheboro, North Carolina, through
Volunteer UGA's Alternative Spring Break. Additionally, she
has been a Peer Advisor for the Honors Program and an Organic
Chemistry laboratory teaching assistant. She has worked as
a Crew Member at Dawg Camp, a 3-day camp through the UGA
Student Leadership Center that focuses on orienting incoming
freshman and encouraging high achievement in school and involvement
in extra-curricular activities. She
plans to return to Nicaragua and do research with tsunami survivors
in Thailand before she goes to medical school next
year.
Expected graduation: May 2005
Degree Objectives: B.S. in Biology
with a Chemistry minor
University highlights, achievements and awards:
Besides
being in the UGA Honors Program, an Office for Vice President
of Research Fellow, a Courts International Scholar, a
member of Alpha Epsilon Delta Premedical Honor Society,
and a Richard
B. Russell Leadership Fellow. I have been involved in a number of
research projects in cellular biology, organic chemistry,
and biochemistry and molecular biology. Among my
other work, I presented the research that I did with
Dr. Katherina Wilson in Comparative Literature at the
2004 CURO Symposium, and my paper was also published
in JURO (Journal for Undergraduate Research Opportunities).
Last summer I was fortunate enough to receive the Courts
Scholarship which enabled me to work with International
Service Learning, a non-profit organization that specializes
in delivering healthcare to the most remote and underserved
areas of developing countries. The experience
changed my life, and upon my return I decided to form
a group called Students for International Healthcare-UGA
in order to make it easier for students to find ways
to do medical volunteer work abroad. In April, I will
be representing Students for International Healthcare
UGA, and International Service Learning at the conference
for Southern Association of Advisors for Healthcare Professionals
(SAAHP) in Nashville, Tennessee . I was also the Philanthropy Chair and
Volunteer Coordinator for Kappa Delta Sorority, and a
Relay for Life Team Captain. I was on the Family Relations
for Dance Marathon, and I have volunteered at Athens Regional Medical Center.
High School: Lakeside High School
Hometown: Augusta, Georgia
I chose to attend UGA because...
I chose to attend the University of Georgia for many reasons other than the fact that
my parents went to school here, and were actually married on North Campus.
I was particularly drawn by the Honors Program and by the caliber of the faculty
and the students of Moore College. The Honors Program is,
without doubt, incomparable. I could not have found a more challenging and
enlightening framework by which to learn. Also, I wanted to take advantage
of the endless number of research opportunities at UGA through the Center for
Undergraduate Research, as well as become involved in a number of the various
student organizations at UGA.
My
favorite things to do on campus are...
...attending lectures in the Chapel and at Moore
College as well as cultural events like India Night
and Latina Noche. I also really love visiting the
Georgia Museum of Art and watching dance performances
by the UGA Ballroom Performance Group. However,
after I graduate, the thing I will miss the most
is walking to class on Tuesday afternoons and listening
to the professors playing their banjos in front
of the Ecology building.
When I have free time, I like...
...practicing my Spanish, Latin dancing, painting, sailing,
playing intramural sports, running at the Botanical Gardens, eating downtown,
and most of all just hanging out with my friends.
The craziest thing I've done is...
...I climbed into a ring with an angry
bull at a rodeo during the "Esperanza" celebration in
Nosara, Costa Rica to
take a picture. I ended up sliding back under the wooden gate
about 20 seconds later and, needless to say, took a lovely
shot of the ground.
My
favorite place to study is...
I am quite fond of spending afternoons
at the Botanical Gardens by the river with my books.
I can get away from everything, and really concentrate.
My favorite professor is...
...Katherina Wilson in Comparative Literature.
She has made my experience here at UGA unique in so many
ways. She helped reveal to me the similarities between
the humanities and the sciences and to gather a more
holistic approach to the world of academia. Dr. Wilson
is also brilliant woman with such a loving and compassionate
heart, and she has always encouraged me to follow my
dreams regardless of how crazy they are.
If I could
share an afternoon with anyone, I would love to share
it with...
...the world-renowned Paul Farmer. He is an infectious
disease specialist and anthropologist at Harvard and
founder of Partners in Health. He works four months
out of the year in the U.S. so that he can spend the
last 8 months running a hospital in Haiti. I am so
fascinated by his dedication to medicine and especially
by his dedication to humanity. All too often, perfectly
capable individuals are held back when confronted by
the difficulty and the enormity of trying to make a
difference in the world, and yet Dr. Farmer doesn't
even stop to think, he just acts.
If money was not a consideration, I would love to...
...have enough money to fund the construction
and operation of a number of clinics in the most underserved regions of Nicaragua,
and in other countries where there is essentially no healthcare infrastructure.
Then, I would have teams of students and physicians come help out on their
vacation time.
After graduation, I plan to...
Before starting at the Medical College
of Georgia in the fall
of 2006, I will be taking two
trips. First, I will be returning to Nicaragua with a
group of UGA students. We will be traveling throughout
the country and providing medical and dental care to
patients in underserved areas. In July I will leave for
Phuket
, Thailand with
The ArtReach Foundation, an organization that does art therapy with
children who have lived through war and natural disaster.
I will be on the Island for a year conducting a study with
children suffering from Post-traumatic stress disorder caused
by the tsunami and the positive effects of art therapy.
The one UGA experience I will always remember
will be...
...my last football game in Sanford Stadium against Georgia Tech.
It was cold and wet, but being there cold and wet with a group of your
closest friends while the Dawgs were winning could not have been better.
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