Service / Patient support · Education · Community
My service connects hospital volunteering, EMT training, pediatric care packages, free tutoring, and community leadership. Across them, I keep returning to one question: what would actually help?
Over two summers at Connecticut Children's, I spent more than 88 hours as a Patient Ambassador, helping patients, families, and medical staff. This gave me a way to contribute to healthcare while learning from the people experiencing it every day.
I noticed how much a small thing could change a child's day in the hospital. That observation stayed with me. Alongside my interests in laboratory science and medical technology, volunteering helped me pay attention to the everyday experience of patients and families.
Seeing patients up close keeps me grounded. A scientific question can begin with a gene or a laboratory result, but healthcare ultimately involves a person. My hospital experience helps me keep that connection in mind as I explore biomedical engineering.
Small things can change a child's day.
That became the starting point for Wonder Box: a way to carry what I noticed as a volunteer into a practical service initiative.
I completed an intensive EMT course covering airway management, trauma assessment, cardiac emergencies, and patient transport protocols. My training includes more than 32 hours of skill labs and 22 hours dedicated to learning and research.
The hands-on work adds an immediate, patient-focused perspective to my laboratory and hospital experiences. It calls for focus under pressure and connects my interest in healthcare with the practical skills involved in an emergency response.
Care packages planned for pediatric patients at Connecticut Children's and Yale New Haven Children's Hospital.
After my time as a Patient Ambassador, I wanted to turn the intention to brighten a child's hospital experience into something tangible. Wonder Box brings that idea into the work of planning care packages.
I coordinate directly with hospital Child Life and Volunteer Services teams to structure package contents by patient age group and work through distribution logistics. I'm also raising funds through an online campaign.
The work is currently focused on fundraising and coordination. Different ages call for different package contents, and hospital teams help guide how the initiative fits the setting. Listening to their experience is part of building something useful.
This has connected service with entrepreneurship for me: identifying a need, organizing a response, and following through on the practical details.
Explore the Wonder Box initiative ↗I've contributed more than 25 hours of free virtual tutoring through UPchieve, supporting underserved students in Algebra, Biology, and Geometry.
Tutoring is a different way to put my academic interests to work for someone else. Instead of using what I know only in my own coursework, I can help another student engage with a subject.
Whether I'm explaining a biology problem or planning a pediatric care package, I want to begin with what would actually be useful. That means paying attention to the person receiving the help, rather than assuming that the same approach works for everyone.
To really help people, you have to ask the ones who do this every day.
School organizations and Civil Air Patrol give me more ways to contribute to my community.
Alongside my cadet leadership responsibilities, I've participated in public service events and community outreach programs. This adds a direct community service dimension to my experience in Civil Air Patrol.
Read about my CAP leadership ↗I've supported charitable initiatives and school community events through Interact Club, contributing as part of a group working toward shared service goals.
As a committee chair, I help organize schoolwide and local donation drives, promote campaigns, and encourage student engagement. My NHS involvement also includes more than 10 hours of community service and peer tutoring.
Hospital volunteering led me toward Wonder Box. Tutoring lets me share my academic interests. School and community organizations give me opportunities to work with others. Together, these experiences shape how I think about healthcare, leadership, and taking an idea into action.