I was born in Saudi Arabia, but have considered Las Vegas my hometown. I attended Rancho High School and its Medical Magnet Program.

UNLV was not my original choice as I had been accepted to UNR. Complicated circumstances involving friends, wanting to work as an EMT after getting an EMT-B license from the magnet program, and financial reasons forced my path to become a student at UNLV. Currently, I am a senior pursuing a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry and a minor in biology.

Biochemistry just sounded daunting and required hard work. Since I am a science nerd, I jumped at the chance to study in-depth biochemical reactions and pathways that are responsible for medical diseases and methods of infection. I believe this major would be more vital to me as a prospective medical student than a biology major because I wanted to contribute more in terms of research than just practicing patient care.

There is still a lot of schooling ahead of me, as I am trying to earn an M.D./Ph.D. I have decided to postpone my graduation for a semester because I want to be able to present the tremendous amount of research that I have done in the course of my undergraduate career via poster symposiums. After I have enough research under my belt and gone through the dual degree program, I want to be a part of a research team that participates in drug design and running clinical trials on potential pharmaceuticals.

Do not waste time trying to figure out what you want to do with your life in college. That will consume so much time and money. Choose a major that grabs your attention the most and where you feel like you can contribute the most to and run with it. Even if it’s the wrong thing, go for it. There is a wide range of options that you can pursue with just one degree, and opportunities will always be open for you to take. You only have to be smart enough to know when to do so.

I was presented with an award from the American Chemical Society as being the top sophomore biochemistry major in spring 2013. I also was nominated for the top student in organic chemistry award. I hope to present my research this fall. I also am a McNair Scholar. The McNair Scholar Program helps you to succeed in pursuing a graduate career as long as you are focused and willing to put forth the effort. They provide great research opportunities and prepare you for the long journey ahead. I hope to one day be able to give back to this amazing program for all that they have helped me with.

I participate in clubs like Alpha Epsilon Delta (AED), a pre-health honor society, and the American Society of Microbiology (ASM). These two clubs enable to me to volunteer in the community with organizations such as Habitat for Humanity, Las Vegas Rescue Mission, events with Opportunity Village, Relay for life, and even outreach programs whose goal is to bring science to K-12 students. Notably, I designed and mentored elementary students on their science fair projects. Some of my “students” were able to present their poster boards at UNLV in a science fair competition.