Sujeiri Venegas from Atwater, California

I was born in La Piedad, a small city located inside the state of Michoacan in Mexico. My family immigrated to the U.S. in 2001 when I was 9 months old. They did this in hopes that my older sister and I could have a chance at the American dream. Growing up in the small farming county of Atwater, California, allowed me to recognize all of the economic inequalities present throughout my community. Being in and out of health care facilities due to my mother’s many painful diseases gave me the opportunity to figure out my passion for medicine. I aspire to become the health care professional who can help the patients that are a part of my own community while at the same time being able to communicate with them in both english and spanish. As a child, the responsibility of being the translator for my mother and her specialist served to prove that a medical dilemma was created due to indirect dialogue between patient and physician. Continuing to involve myself in health-care, I strengthened my abilities in the Stanford Medical Youth Science Program. With the help of my amazing teacher Ms. Mehat in my medical technologies class at Atwater High School, I was able to venture outside of my comfort zone. This has given me the confidence I need for one day working at a hospital. My ultimate goal is to serve my community as a nurse practitioner and create an atmosphere where a spanish-speaking patient can communicate to me directly.