Major: Kinesiology - Sports Medicine Concentration
Research Advisor: Dr. Laura Kabiri and Dr. Cassandra Diep

I am currently double majoring in Sports Medicine & Exercise Physiology and in Health Sciences. Sports Medicine & Exercise Physiology initially piqued my interest because it often discusses the idea of holistic medicine in its coursework.  Holistic medicine focuses on preventive care by promoting healthier lifestyles and ultimately eliminating the need for a great deal of pharmaceutical therapies in treatment plans. I believe this type of treatment would be extremely effective for a wide variety of ailments and would be helpful in improving a patients’ overall quality of life.
 
I increased my involvement in the Kinesiology Department during my sophomore year when I worked on research with Dr. Cassandra Diep. We discussed the advantages of using BIA, DEXA, waist circumference measurement, and waist-to-height ratio to measure the cardiovascular risk of homeschooled children; versus simply using BMI. We also more generally explored whether homeschooled children are disadvantaged health-wise and/or are at a higher CVD risk than public school children.  Our finding was that no significant difference was present. I also helped with the statistical data component using SPSS with Dr. Augusto Rodriguez. 
 
Over the summer, I worked closely with Dr. Laura Kabiri in writing a literature review. We are looking at all relevant past research that has studied cardiovascular, muscular, activity, and body composition of homeschooled children. Our reason for doing this review is for its application in the current state of the United States. With so many children shifted to online / homeschooling mode during the pandemic, we want to study and possibly project how their fitness may be affected. In the fall, we plan on conducting research that will compare gulf area private schools with gulf area home school populations in order to assess their resiliency in terms of exercise during COVID-19, using a self-survey component. 
 
I am also involved in an internship at the Children’s Nutrition Research Center. My main task involves coding and helping edit a 1-2 month program. The program serves as a guide to help parents regulate their child’s weight gain during the summer, as it is typical for school-aged children to gain weight during this time. The program will teach parents how to maintain their child’s circadian rhythm, the importance of proper sleep/ light exposure in terms of weight gain, and how to set goals with their child to ultimately maintain their weight.
 
On campus, I am involved in several clubs. I am the Outreach Chair in Rice’s Model United Nations club, which hosted Rice’s first MUN conference in about 10 years on campus in Spring of 2019. Additionally, I am the treasurer for Rice’s Athletic Pre Med Society. I am also an athletic and yearlong Peer Academic Advisor (PAA). For work, I tutor anatomy for student athletes.
 
In terms of volunteering, this year I plan on working with Casa El Buen, which provides healthcare information and treatment to low-income and uninsured populations in the Houston community. During volunteering, I schedule patient appointments, verify addresses, confirm appointment times, and/or relay messages from the clinic to the patient in Spanish.
 
I am also on Rice’s Cross Country and Track teams. I love my coach and my team so much. I have met so many amazing, sweet, and driven women here. I love running and find it very relaxing as I get to explore the city when I do so.
 
My achievements from Cross Country/Track:

• Arthur Ashe Award (an academic award honoring high achieving minority athletes)
• Conference USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll (3.75 and above)
• Freshman year made third team all-conference (finished 17th/ 100+ girls at our conference meet in 2018)

In the future, I hope to attend medical school and pursue psychiatry. I enjoy one-on-one, in-person interactions with people & want to be able to build long term relationships with patients.