1. Why did you choose to attend UCSD?
Chen:
During high school, I actually only applied to San Diego colleges - SDSU, USD and UCSD. My mother passed away during my sophomore year of high school and my father became paraplegic as a result of two strokes shortly after. I have three younger siblings and had to assume care for them, as well as my father, during high school. I knew I would have to continue caring for my family during my college education, as my youngest sister was still seven when I started at UCSD, so I knew I could not leave San Diego. UCSD seemed like a great university and the best option for me at the time, so that’s how I made my decision.
2. What were your first impressions of UCSD?
Chen: That it had a very large campus. At the time I remember wondering how I was going to remember where everything was and find my way around.
3. What are some "outside the classroom" life lessons you learned as a UCSD student?
Chen: I learned how to make the best out of every situation, how to interact with different groups of people, how to be a student leader, how to create change in student life, how to make your voice heard, and most importantly, how to be comfortable with whom you are.
4. What is most important to you in life?
Chen: The happiness and success of my family. They have always been, and will always be, the most important thing to me.
5. What is the biggest challenge you’ve ever encountered and how did you overcome it?
Chen: The biggest challenge has been being able to live a balanced life, in terms of balancing between family responsibilities, work, school, and time for myself. In many ways I have not entirely overcome this challenge. I have adapted many strategies to get better at balancing everything - more efficient time management, delegating responsibilities to my siblings as they get older, and making sure to spend enough time taking care of myself, physically and emotionally. However, I feel that as life goes on, new challenges and responsibilities always arise, so you just have to take things one day at a time and tackle each challenge as it comes. One thing that helped me a lot was running. Running really keeps me feeling good physically and mentally - it’s really one of the best de-stressors I’ve found that works for me.
6. Who has had the biggest impact on your life?
Chen: My father has had the biggest impact. His strength, determination and focus in everything he does - from moving my family to America and working to obtain his Ph.D. to never giving up in his physical therapies when he became disabled - all these things I have observed throughout my childhood. As I continue into my adulthood and begin to pursue further education and career, I will always carry his character, perseverance and resilience with me.
7. What was your favorite part of being an Orientation Leader?
Chen: I applied for the OL position because one of my good friends (who was one of the first people I met at UCSD at Welcome Week) told me she was applying and that I should come check it out with her. I didn’t know that you could just apply to be an OL. I thought you had to be chosen by the college staff or something of the sort. Then, I remembered back to my orientation experience when all the OL’s seemed to have such a great time, and I thought maybe this would be something I’d like to do.
I was a freshman orientation leader for two years and a transfer orientation leader for one year. I was also dean’s intern over the summer of 2004, where another intern and I programmed the fall 2004 Welcome Week. There are too many wonderful things to say about my orientation leader experience; I really cannot pick a favorite part. A few of the highlights:
-Being a mentor to new students. I had such a great time my first year at UCSD; I was extremely excited to share that experience with new students and advise them on how they could make the best out of their academic and social experience here. I still stay in contact with, and have become good friends with, some students who were in my group during orientation.
-Meeting new people!! I did not know a single person in the OL group when we started training in spring quarter, but when we left in June, I really missed every person in the group. I have great memories of good times spent with everyone. I felt that I had made friends with such a diverse group of people, many of whom I would probably not have met or spent time with had it not been for being an OL, and many of whom I still keep in contact with today. In addition to the other OL’s, you also meet so many new students, previous OL’s who come to help, students from other leadership organizations, and you also have a chance to really get to know the Marshall administration staff better, professionally and personally.
-For me being an OL really opened up many other opportunities for me to get involved in the college and campus. The more involved I got, the more I enjoyed what I was doing. I probably would never have thought to apply for the dean’s intern position had I not been an OL for two years first.
8. What advice would you give to an incoming freshman student about succeeding at UCSD?
Chen:
Live a balanced college life. Yes, academics are important, working is important, but remember to take time for yourself and have fun. And vice versa. Some of the most important lessons you learn in college are not directly from the classroom, but are perhaps from something you learned in class, applied to an outside-of-class experience, such as being involved in an internship or leadership position in an organization. So get involved in anything and everything that interests you. It’s never too early or too late, so just do it. Also, be open to trying new things - whether it’s attending a culture show or attending an ethnic food event, surround yourself with diverse groups of people and experience as much as you can.
9. What is your fondest memory at UCSD?
Chen: My fondest memory happened on Tuesday, April 17, 2007. I was in the bathroom at Solis Hall, just finishing washing my hands, when I received the phone call from the UCSD School of Medicine telling me they wanted to offer me an acceptance. Applying to medical school was a big decision for me and my family, because this meant that my siblings would have to begin assuming a lot of the responsibilities at home that I previously handled. I took a big risk applying to only one medical school, and this was the moment when I knew all the hard work of the past five years had paid off. I didn’t get accepted just because of my grades, but because of everything I had done in college, from working to support my family to establishing relationships with my professors, and being an orientation leader. All the sacrifices my family made on my behalf so that I could apply to medical school had been worth it. I would have never gotten to this point in my life without the support of my family and friends, and I felt such a tremendous wave of gratitude and love from everyone around me. I couldn’t have been happier, and if I wasn’t about to walk into class then, I probably would have sat there on a bench, outside of Solis and just cried.
10. What are your favorite spots on campus?
Chen: I’ve come to like RIMAC a lot. I love the recreation classes there. I find exercise - whether it’s running, weight training, yoga, or stretching - extremely relaxing and de-stressing for me. I make it a priority to go to RIMAC on the days I’m on campus and have a break between classes. When you get busy, taking care of your body can be the easiest thing to overlook. It’s good to see people value and take care of their physical health.
11. When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Chen: For a long time I wanted to be a news anchorwoman. As a child, my family moved a lot, and I was always sort of shy about making new friends every time I switched schools. I think that’s why I always really admired the confidence, poise, and charisma of good anchormen and women; they maintain such class and confidence knowing so many people are watching them. I also thought it would be really fun to travel, experience different lifestyles and cultures, and be able to inform and educate the public.
12. Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
Chen: In 10 years, I hope to have completed residency smoothly and be a practicing physician. Also, I hope to be married and have at least one child. It’s really hard to say what will happen down the road, but I’ve learned that life is really about how you as a person decide to process events as they happen and how you choose to respond to them. So in 10 years, I don’t know if all that I hope to happen will happen accordingly. But I can say for certain that I will still love my family and I will still make the most of what I do have in life.
|