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E.B.: This is Liz Beckman here with R.T. at the Brody Learning Commons on March 21, 2025, for the first-generation-FLI ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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E.B.: college student oral history interviews. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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E.B.: So to start us off, could you tell me where you were born and a little bit about your ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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E.B.: family? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: Yeah. So I was born in Van Nuys, California, although I grew up in Palmdale, California. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: It’s like a really small desert town in L.A. County. And my both of my parents are originally ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: from El Salvador. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: They came, I believe, mid to late 90s. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: I have an older brother, who we have an 11 year age gap. So that was kind of interesting ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: growing up. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: And then I have my grandmother, who’s currently 90 years old, lives with ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: us, but she has always been a part of my life. And I think, if I remember correctly, she officially ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: moved in with my family, I want to say in, like, 2010 around somewhere there. So yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: And then all of my extended family still lives back in El Salvador, and ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: I have one family member that moved to Mexico. But yeah, it’s really just me and my immediate ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: family that lives here in the States. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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E.B.: And did your grandma come at the same time as your parents? Or did she come later? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: No, my grandma came later. So my parents came in around 19, I think, 95, somewhere around ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: there. And then my grandmother moved in with us, around 2010, maybe 2012, just because ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: her husband, my grandfather, passed away around 2004, and then her health started to decline. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: And my mom, she’s my mom’s mom, my mom has two older brothers, and they, like, automatically, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: said, like, “Hey, like, we can’t take care of her. We don’t know how to take care of ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: her.” They’re both – one’s an engineer, the other one is a pastor. So they were like, “ ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: We don’t know what we’re doing.” My mom was already working and studying as a nurse, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: so she was like, “Yeah, she has to come live with us.” She was already coming back and forth, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: you know, visiting for three months, going back to, for three months. But it was then that, yeah, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: she fully came to the States. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: Yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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E.B.: Yeah. And then your brother, with that big, big age difference is – what does he do? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: He recently, actually, just graduated with his PhD in, I believe, computer science engineering. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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E.B.: Oh, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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E.B.: wow. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: I can’t remember if it’s a double Ph.D., or if it’s a double masters and a Ph.D. But yeah, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: he has all three to some level. So he just graduated in that, and then he just also started ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: teaching computer science at the University of Colorado. And I can’t remember if it’s Colorado ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: State or U Colorado, but one of those. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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E.B.: Wow. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: So yeah, he’s just, he just started a huge part of his career. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: And then, yeah, he works in the Boeing industry. So, yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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E.B.: Cool. So what do your parents do for a living? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: So my mom, growing up, she worked as a certified nurse assistant. And then, she got laid off because, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: you know, the economy went down, and a bunch of people were getting out of work. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: And then, she started working as a, like, a home nurse, like assisted living. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: But then within the last, I want to say, five years, my grandmother’s health really started ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: to decline, and she couldn’t, like, really be we couldn’t leave her by herself at home anymore. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: So then she started, you know, working as her home nurse, her caregiver. So she does that full-time ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: now. My dad, growing up, which I might be a little bit inaccurate with, he never really ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: talked about it growing up, but from what I’ve heard now, is he used to do, like, metal work, like ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: a metal workshop, like sandblasting and stuff like that. But now, he currently works, I believe his ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: position is, like, environmental technician. So, like, basically, if there’s like, oil spills, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: biohazard in the street after, like, car accidents, and all of that, he does all the cleaning for that. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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E.B.: Oh, wow. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: So, yeah, it’s a – I didn’t think it was a pretty, I guess, labor- intensive job, or even, like, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: emotionally. But after COVID happened, he, like, started telling me some of, like, the stuff that ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: he started seeing where he was just like, yeah, like, somebody’s like – and this might get a little ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: graphic for those who are listening, like there was a car accident where somebody’s body was just, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: like, dismembered all around the street. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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E.B.: Oh, wow. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: He’s like, “Yeah, we had to clean that up.” ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: Or, like, he’s had to go down into like, sewer drains. And there was a car accident by my house ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: this past summer, where me and my partner actually had witnessed it happen, and then he got called to ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: clean up the site, like, at 4 in the morning, so maybe, like, six hours after. And they had to ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: take like, pictures of the site for, like, record purposes. And he showed me because we just ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: wanted to know what had happened, because we were right there in front of it when it ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: happened. And when he, like, talks about those things, when he shows me those pictures, I’m just like, “ ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: How are you not going to therapy or something?” Because, you know, like, that stuff is ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: just hard to deal with, and look at, and hear, like, every single day. But he handles it pretty well. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: And you know, my dad’s always been that type of person where he’s, like, super, I guess, strongminded, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: where he doesn’t let anything get to him. But yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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E.B.: Wow. Yeah. And that’s one of those things, too, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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E.B.: I think that you don’t necessarily think about the people who are doing those sorts of things, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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E.B.: and the impact that it has on them. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: Yeah. And I never even knew about, like, that type of job ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: existing. And then I knew when he was applying for that job, but I didn’t really understand what ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: it was. And then, once I started hearing those stories, I was like, “Oh, so, like, you’re that guy that goes ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: to, like, you know, clean all this stuff up that you hear that happens, but you don’t know, like, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: what happens afterwards.” But, yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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E.B.: Wow. And sort of what made them decide to come to the US, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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E.B.: your parents? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: The Salvadorian Civil War. So my parents didn’t meet, actually, till they were here ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: in the States, up in North Hollywood. They worked at a McDonald’s, and then that’s how they met. But my ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: dad, I believe my dad came after my mom, but my mom was able to come here more easily, I guess you ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: could say. She was able to get a student visa, and come here to try and study as a nurse because of ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: the civil war. And there’s like, I would guess, I would say, like, different experiences of those ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: who were in El Salvador at the time. My mom was still, like, going, you know, to school there, and ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: everything, and they were trying to live as normal as possible. But just recently, I started even ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: asking like, my parents about like their experience, because I had to do, like, an assignment for it for ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: one of my classes. And I just I never got their backstory. And my mom, and even my grandma, too, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: she was just like, “Yeah, like, when everything was happening, we would, like, be walking to the grocery ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: store, like walking from school, and we would just see like dead bodies, like, on the ground. And we ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: would hear like sirens of, you know, possible like bombings happening. You would hear gunshots ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: everywhere.” And then finally, I believe, with my mom, the moment she and her, my grandparents, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: her parents were like, “No, you have to get out of here,” was – she told me she was in like a lecture ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: hall at the college that she was going to. And all of a sudden, they call them the guerillas. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: So like, I would, I would say, like, the gang members, or whatever you want to call them, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: walk into the classroom. And she thinks that it was kind of pre-planned, or they just warned the ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: professor, like, “Hey, we’re going to walk in.” And they walked in with like, these massive guns, and they ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: were basically, like telling – trying to, like, quote, unquote, “inspire” the students to, like, join their ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: movement and like to fight in the war. And she was like, “Oh yeah, I was terrified, because I thought, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: like, we’re all going to die here if, like, we say, like, no, we’re not joining.” But luckily, they didn’t do ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: anything. It was more kind of, like a, I guess, a threat in a sense. And they left. And then I think ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: after that is when she was like, “Yeah. No, we – I have to get out of here. If I want to keep ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: studying, like, there’s no way I can stay here.” And then with my dad, his was a little more crazy, in my ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: opinion. According to his sister, my aunt, or I call her my tia, it would, he, it was him, and I believe ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: three other sisters. He was the youngest one, so he was the only boy of the family. And his father had ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: already died. And I would say my dad’s family is the more traditional one, because they lived on a ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: ranch, and they still do live on that ranch. My mom was part of, I would say, the richer side of the ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: country, and she lived like actually in the city. And so being that my dad’s family was a little ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: bit more traditional, where, you know, you have to have a man of the household, he got drafted at the ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: age of 18, and because he was the only boy of the family, and his father had already died. His mom, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: my grandmother, on his side, kind of, like, just became frantic, and she was like, “No, like, you can’t ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: take my son. Like, he’s my only son.” So according to my aunt, she went to wherever, you know, they were ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: holding him with all the other people who were drafted. And she went up to one of the guards, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: and apparently, she, like, begged. She like begged them, like, “Release my son, like, he’s my only son, like, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: please. Like, we don’t have any other male figure in the family.” And they let him go, you know, luckily. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: And it was after that, when his mom was like, “You have to go to the States.” ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: But with him, because they were part of the poor side of the country, they didn’t have ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: resources, they didn’t have connections, he actually came on foot, but they say, like, “By the river.” ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: And my dad actually still has, like, the backpack that he came with, what he crossed the border with. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: And it’s just like, it’s, it’s, I gotta say it’s the ugliest bag I’ve ever seen. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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E.B.: [Laughter] ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: It’s this bright ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: yellow, like, drawstring, and he keeps his socks in it. And even to this day, like, me and my mom are, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: like, “Dad, like, when are you going to get rid of that? Like, that thing has holes.” And he’s like, “No, like, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: I came to the States with that backpack. I’m going to die with that backpack.” And it’s sweet, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: because my dad’s not like an emotional person, but to see that he has, like, that connection, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: it’s really sweet. So yeah, that was their story. And unfortunately, with my dad, he ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: was studying to go to medical school in El Salvador, but he couldn’t follow his dream when ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: he came to the States. So, yeah, I guess that’s also part of the reason why I want to continue ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:11:49.080 - 00:11:51.800

R.T.: going into medicine. So yeah. Yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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E.B.: Yeah, wow, that’s really, thank you for sharing ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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E.B.: that. Yeah, that’s really quite an experience. Yeah. I guess you’ve sort of touched on this a ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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E.B.: little bit on your parents’ educations, but could you tell me a little bit more. So your mom ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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E.B.: is a nurse, and studied to be a nurse. And your dad wanted to go into medicine, but…yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: So with my ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:12:22.980 - 00:12:28.520

R.T.: dad, it’s a little confusing, because I’ve always heard he didn’t finish high school, but then ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: apparently he was able to start college for medicine. And again, for those who are listening, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: the medical school system in El Salvador is completely different than here, where it’s like ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: as long as you test in to go to college as soon as you start undergrad, like that’s you starting ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:12:44.260 - 00:12:50.620

R.T.: medical school. So he was able to start, basically, medical school. But to my understanding, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: he never actually fully finished high school, and he never continued his education here. With my mom, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: she did some college here, and then she wanted to continue going to nursing school, to, like, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: go up in the chain of nursing. So she was a CNA, and I think she wanted to try to become at least ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: an LVN or an RN. But then she got pregnant with my brother, and being that it was just her and my dad ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: at the time, she was just like, “No, like, we can’t both work and study at the same time,” so she also ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: had to give that up. Yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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E.B.: Yeah. So what was the town that you grew up in like? Did you ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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E.B.: grow up in the same town the whole time? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: Yeah, and I still – we still live in that town, Palmdale, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: California. Even it’s funny talking about it, because even people that I’ve met here at Hopkins ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: that are from L.A., and even when somebody asked me, like, “Where are you from,” I always say, “L.A.”, because L. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: A. City or L.A. County is just so huge. And even people from California, I say, “Palmdale,” and they’re ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: like, “Where’s that?” And I’m like, “Don’t you live, like, two hours away?” And they’re like, “Yeah, but I don’t ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:14:00.440 - 00:14:07.540

R.T.: know what that is.” So, yeah, Palmdale is just, I mean, I would call – I always like to call it like ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:14:07.540 - 00:14:13.220

R.T.: the city in the middle of nowhere. We’re basically just like a little stopping point for ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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R.T.: people who are traveling, I guess, from east to west or west to east in L.A. County. But I love ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:14:20.980 - 00:14:26.340

R.T.: my hometown. And I think the thing that I love about it the most is that we’re in this valley where, like, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:14:26.340 - 00:14:31.980

R.T.: all around us is all these mountains. And every time I go back home, I just like, I like to just ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:14:31.980 - 00:14:37.820

R.T.: stare at them. And I don’t know what it is about it, but I just love the, I guess, the landscape of ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:14:37.820 - 00:14:43.500

R.T.: my city. Even though it’s super dry. There’s, like, no grass. The trees are kind of, you know, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:14:44.100 - 00:14:52.140

R.T.: ugly and brown, but it’s home. And, yeah, there’s not, I would say, like, there’s not much to do in ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:14:52.140 - 00:15:00.880

R.T.: it, but I think it’s such a small community where someone that you haven’t seen in either ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:15:00.880 - 00:15:06.880

R.T.: months or years, like, you’re bound to run into them. And even, like, even at my high school, like, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:15:07.300 - 00:15:11.960

R.T.: even the high schools, they’re so small, that I still keep in touch with all of my high school ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:15:11.960 - 00:15:17.260

R.T.: teachers. And sometimes, I’ve even ran into them at, like, my local grocery store, my high school teacher. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:15:17.260 - 00:15:23.140

R.T.: So it’s really nice. But, yeah, it’s not like, the prettiest in California, and it’s definitely not ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:15:23.140 - 00:15:25.340

R.T.: the biggest, but, yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:15:25.340 - 00:15:33.420

E.B.: Yeah. So sort of suburban L.A.-ish, but, like, still, that kind of ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:15:33.420 - 00:15:35.600

E.B.: community sort of feel. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:15:35.600 - 00:15:39.860

R.T.: Yeah. Yeah. And a famous NBA player actually went to one of our high ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:15:39.860 - 00:15:47.640

R.T.: schools in Palmdale. I can’t remember. He went to Pete Knight High School. And I always forget his ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:15:47.640 - 00:15:55.460

R.T.: name, something James, or no. Something, Peter something. But he actually attended one of ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:15:55.460 - 00:16:00.360

R.T.: the high schools in Palmdale, and he still donates to the high school, which is nice that, you know, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:16:00.440 - 00:16:05.320

R.T.: like someone who’s famous, and has, like, a really huge career still remembers little old Palmdale. But yeah. [Laughter] ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:16:08.120 - 00:16:14.880

E.B.: Well, I guess that sort of leads into the question of what your high school experience was like. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:16:15.820 - 00:16:22.080

E.B.: What kinds of activities did you do, classes did you take, things like that? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:16:22.080 - 00:16:23.560

R.T.: Yeah, I loved high ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:16:23.560 - 00:16:29.840

R.T.: school. Even when I go back and I visit, you know, old teachers ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:16:29.840 - 00:16:35.360

R.T.: or old coaches, and they say, “Oh, do you have, like, a word for the high schoolers?” I’m like, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:16:35.500 - 00:16:40.680

R.T.: “Enjoy it while you, while it lasts,” because I always wish I can go back. But I was super busy in high school. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:16:41.340 - 00:16:48.560

R.T.: I was a part of this medical academy program that they had, where your last two years, you got ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:16:48.560 - 00:16:55.540

R.T.: training and hours to qualify to be a California-certified medical assistant. And then the first ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:16:55.540 - 00:17:00.940

R.T.: two years, you basically just study, like, the basic fundamentals of medicine that you need. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:17:01.760 - 00:17:08.780

R.T.: And so it actually allowed me to become certified as a medical assistant when I tested my – ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:17:10.040 - 00:17:14.800

R.T.: when I tested summer, going into my sophomore year here at Hopkins. So that was a huge thing for me. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:17:15.440 - 00:17:20.660

R.T.: But I was a part of that program. And then I also played soccer for the last three years. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:17:21.740 - 00:17:28.620

R.T.: And that was a huge part of my life. And I always miss that sport every single day. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:17:29.160 - 00:17:38.260

R.T.: And I think it really was something that helped me, I think, grow and mature mentally so much, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:17:38.700 - 00:17:43.580

R.T.: especially because of the discipline that it required for me. I had played soccer since I was ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:17:43.580 - 00:17:48.540

R.T.: eight, so it wasn’t like I was new to the sport, but I think it took me to a whole different level ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:17:48.540 - 00:17:53.680

R.T.: in terms of, like, the expectations that my coaches had for me. And then also it was, like, the first ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:17:53.680 - 00:18:00.180

R.T.: time where I had – my first year playing there, I had experience, kind of like, I guess, like a ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:18:00.180 - 00:18:06.360

R.T.: butting heads with some teammates. Obviously, I’m not going to say, like, I was, like, the best on the ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:18:06.360 - 00:18:11.540

R.T.: team, because clearly I wasn’t, but I knew that I had varsity potential. And there was just these ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:18:11.540 - 00:18:17.260

R.T.: few girls that had already been on the varsity team, more like they just, I don’t know, they had ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:18:17.260 - 00:18:20.980

R.T.: this attitude where it was like, “Oh, if you’re not up to my standard, then like, we’re not, we’re not ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:18:20.980 - 00:18:25.180

R.T.: going to be friends, we’re not going to be cool.” And I hated that. And so for that, as soon as like, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:18:25.180 - 00:18:29.900

R.T.: that moment hit, I was like, “Yeah, I’m going to, like, step back, and make sure that I don’t ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:18:29.900 - 00:18:34.340

R.T.: make it to varsity, because I don’t want to play with these girls.” And then the following year, it ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:18:34.340 - 00:18:40.520

R.T.: kind of happened again the same way, but it was more that I stopped letting that get to me, and it ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:18:40.520 - 00:18:45.740

R.T.: was more like a self-doubt type of thing, where as soon as I made, like, a little mistake on the field, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:18:45.740 - 00:18:51.160

R.T.: I let it hit me so hard, and then the rest of my game was just bad, because I was constantly just, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:18:51.160 - 00:18:54.880

R.T.: like, oh, you keep missing, if you keep messing up, like, get it together. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:18:54.880 - 00:18:55.840

E.B.: That sort of just mental ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:18:55.840 - 00:18:56.540

E.B.: aspect of the game. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:18:56.540 - 00:19:01.300

R.T.: Yeah, that mental game type of thing. And then, finally, at the end of that season, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:19:01.880 - 00:19:08.520

R.T.: which was right before the COVID shutdown, my coach was like, “You know what, [name], ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:19:09.460 - 00:19:12.660

R.T.: if you want to make it into - if you want to play soccer next year, you’re going to be senior, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:19:12.660 - 00:19:17.040

R.T.: it’s varsity, or it’s nothing.” And that’s when I kind of, like, opened my eyes, and I was like, “ ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:19:17.180 - 00:19:23.000

R.T.: This is my last chance. Like, I have to do it.” And COVID shutdown happened, and ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:19:25.660 - 00:19:32.040

R.T.: immediately, I was, like, this is my one chance to become the best athlete that I could possibly be, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:19:32.040 - 00:19:36.820

R.T.: so that I don’t have an excuse to say why I didn’t make it into varsity. And that entire summer, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:19:36.820 - 00:19:48.200

R.T.: and every single day, even when I had, you know, class online with COVID, I trained in a way that, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:19:48.200 - 00:19:52.960

R.T.: like I had never trained before. And I was up at like 5-6 in the morning, training for, like, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:19:53.440 - 00:19:58.720

R.T.: three to four hours a day. And my high school coach even put me on a club team. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:19:58.740 - 00:20:05.260

R.T.: She was like, “I’m going to put you here, so it’ll help you improve even more.” And it was, it was definitely ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:20:05.260 - 00:20:11.540

R.T.: like, a huge turnaround for me mentally, and I had learned so much about myself, even just like ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:20:12.040 - 00:20:19.340

R.T.: as a person outside of soccer, you know. And I owe that time of my life, I guess, so much, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:20:19.520 - 00:20:22.400

R.T.: I don’t even know the words, like, so much respect, I guess, because I don’t think I would ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:20:22.940 - 00:20:30.060

R.T.: be where I am today had I not experienced that. And then, I was going to say one more thing. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:20:30.060 - 00:20:35.980

R.T.: Oh yeah. And so then when I finally actually made varsity, it was kind of crazy to see, because I ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:20:35.980 - 00:20:40.620

R.T.: wanted to make it on this team for myself, to be able to say, “I did it,” you know, “I accomplished ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:20:40.620 - 00:20:46.960

R.T.: the goal that I had.” But to see the attitude change that came from the players that had already ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:20:46.960 - 00:20:52.000

R.T.: been in varsity for so long, suddenly, they were like, “Hey, like, you be my partner. Hey, play with ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:20:52.000 - 00:20:56.600

R.T.: me here. Scrimmage with me.” And it was just like, I don’t know, it was kind of like this realization of, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:20:56.600 - 00:21:02.320

R.T.: like, you know, sometimes people are only going to be nice to you when they see that you’re becoming ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:21:02.320 - 00:21:07.300

R.T.: better than them, or you’re finally at the level that you are. And it was kind of cool, you know, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:21:07.320 - 00:21:11.500

R.T.: to get the respect that I felt like I finally deserved. But at the same time, I was just like, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:21:11.660 - 00:21:18.320

R.T.: it shouldn’t be this way. You know, it showed me that I didn’t want to be that type of player, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:21:18.320 - 00:21:23.180

R.T.: where it was like, “Oh, if you’re not up to this standard, don’t talk to me.” I wanted to be that ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:21:23.180 - 00:21:28.000

R.T.: player where it was like, “You know what? Work on this that way, if you admire, like, this skill ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:21:28.000 - 00:21:35.700

R.T.: that I have, you can also get to that point, too.” So, yeah, I did that. I did soccer. And then I, also, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:21:36.660 - 00:21:43.520

R.T.: I think it was the first, either two years, or, like, the middle two years of high school, I did ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:21:43.520 - 00:21:49.920

R.T.: college orchestra. They had this program - I believe it was my first two years, they had this they had this program ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:21:50.800 - 00:21:55.760

R.T.: through the community college where, like anybody between the ages, I think it was, like, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:21:56.800 - 00:22:02.980

R.T.: I want to say eight to like 18. They were like, “We’re going to give free, you know, string lessons.” ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:22:03.480 - 00:22:08.080

R.T.: And my mom always dreamed of me like playing an instrument, and I always said, “Violin, violin, violin.” ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:22:08.240 - 00:22:12.140

R.T.: And obviously, it was so expensive. So when she saw this, she was like, “We’re doing it. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:22:12.240 - 00:22:19.100

R.T.: You’re going to try it. It’s free. And if you don’t like it, well, you know, like, oh well, you know, at least you ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:22:19.100 - 00:22:24.200

R.T.: tried it.” And I loved it. I loved it. I loved it. And it was so fun. We had to learn so fast that I couldn’t ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:22:24.200 - 00:22:29.440

R.T.: really, like, fully, fully learn the basics, or, like, the fundamentals, but I had learned enough to, like, keep ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:22:29.440 - 00:22:35.800

R.T.: up. And then, it was a community college professor that ran the program. So at the end of the summer ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:22:35.800 - 00:22:42.480

R.T.: program, he was like, “Hey, I could tell, like, you pick up stuff a lot.” He’s like, “Join my college ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:22:42.480 - 00:22:46.980

R.T.: class during the fall and the spring,” and he was like, “Just try it out, because I think you can do ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:22:46.980 - 00:22:50.600

R.T.: it.” I was freaking out. And I was, like, there’s no way I could perform at the college level. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:22:50.760 - 00:22:55.480

R.T.: And my mom was like, “Just do it. He’s inviting you.” My mom has always been the type of person where she ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:22:55.480 - 00:23:01.280

R.T.: pushes me to do stuff. So I tried it, and we were, like, it was me, and, like, two other students ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:23:01.280 - 00:23:06.300

R.T.: from the same program. They were way older than me, I think, by like two, maybe three years. So ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:23:07.580 - 00:23:12.140

R.T.: we’re at the back of, like, the orchestra, and we played, like, violin three. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:23:12.900 - 00:23:17.320

R.T.: It was so much fun, and I learned so much. So I did that for the first two years. But then ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:23:17.320 - 00:23:21.840

R.T.: high school started to pick up, especially with AP classes. And I told my mom, I was like, “Mom, I ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:23:21.840 - 00:23:27.400

R.T.: can’t do both,” because I would go to high school, I would have soccer practice, and then I would go ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:23:27.400 - 00:23:28.910

R.T.: to community college all on the same day. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:23:28.910 - 00:23:29.840

E.B.: Wow. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:23:29.840 - 00:23:31.920

R.T.: And then I also have to go home and do homework. And ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:23:31.920 - 00:23:36.060

R.T.: at that point, I was just like, you know, “Mom, I love it. I truly do.” I was like, “But I can’t. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:23:36.820 - 00:23:42.060

R.T.: I can’t.” And I didn’t want to let myself to get to a point where, suddenly, I hated soccer and ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:23:42.060 - 00:23:46.780

R.T.: I hated violin because it was so much work. So instead, I was like, you know, I think I learned ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:23:46.780 - 00:23:52.800

R.T.: enough violin for now. I want to stick to soccer because I feel like I can put more time and effort ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:23:52.800 - 00:23:58.060

R.T.: into this. And so, yeah, so then my last two years of high school, I just strictly did ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:23:58.640 - 00:24:00.510

R.T.: soccer, and then the medical program, so. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:24:00.510 - 00:24:01.100

E.B.: Wow. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:24:01.100 - 00:24:03.580

R.T.: Yeah. [Laughter] ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:24:03.580 - 00:24:06.100

E.B.: Wow. So you were, you were how old when you started playing ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:24:06.100 - 00:24:09.140

E.B.: violin? Was that freshman year, or was that before? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:24:09.140 - 00:24:11.020

R.T.: It was summer going into freshman year, so I want ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:24:11.020 - 00:24:13.980

R.T.: to say, like, 14. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:24:13.980 - 00:24:14.560

E.B.: Wow. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:24:14.560 - 00:24:20.280

R.T.: Yeah. I wish I had started earlier, but I still, yeah, I picked it up fairly ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:24:20.280 - 00:24:25.900

R.T.: fast, and I enjoyed it so much. I even bought, like, my own violin afterward, which I feel so guilty, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:24:25.900 - 00:24:30.840

R.T.: I have to pick it up, and [unintelligible] more. But yeah, it was a lot of fun. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:24:30.840 - 00:24:31.520

E.B.: Do any of your other ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:24:31.520 - 00:24:32.920

E.B.: family members play music, or? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:24:32.920 - 00:24:38.140

R.T.: My brother growing up. He was part of, like, the church band. So he played ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:24:38.140 - 00:24:44.600

R.T.: piano and he played guitar. Recently, I don’t know if he’s picked up an instrument. When he was ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:24:44.600 - 00:24:50.480

R.T.: an undergrad, I knew that he was still buying guitars, and, you know, playing them, and all that ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:24:50.480 - 00:24:57.440

R.T.: stuff. But recently, I don’t know if he still picks up any instruments. My mom did learn piano for a ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:24:57.440 - 00:24:59.620

R.T.: while when she was attending community college. I don’t think my dad ever picked up an instrument. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:24:59.620 - 00:25:02.600

E.B.: [Laughter] ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:25:02.600 - 00:25:03.980

R.T.: My dad was more of a sports guy. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:25:03.980 - 00:25:07.420

R.T.: My dad was definitely more of a sports guy. But, yeah… ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:25:07.420 - 00:25:09.760

E.B.: Did you listen to a lot of music as a family, or just [ ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:25:11.460 - 00:25:11.510

E.B.: crosstalk]? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:25:11.510 - 00:25:18.180

R.T.: When CDs were still a thing, every time when I was with my dad, definitely, he’s a sports guy and he’s a ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:25:18.180 - 00:25:23.460

R.T.: music guy. He always popped in his favorite CD, or, like, especially when we were, like, on a long drive, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:25:23.600 - 00:25:30.400

R.T.: he’d be like, “Get the specific CD out of the console.” Or with my mom, it’s more the radio. So, yeah, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:25:30.400 - 00:25:36.000

R.T.: definitely more in the car rides, we listened to a lot of music together. Or when I was younger, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:25:36.000 - 00:25:40.720

R.T.: too, and it was Saturday morning, you know, being a Hispanic family, Saturday is cleaning day. So they ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:25:40.720 - 00:25:43.640

R.T.: would wake me up by blasting music [laughter] from the living room. And that would be your sign to get up and clean. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:25:43.640 - 00:25:46.560

E.B.: [Laughter] ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:25:47.560 - 00:25:49.920

R.T.: So yeah. Those were good days. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:25:49.920 - 00:25:52.600

E.B.: Yeah. So ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:25:55.640 - 00:26:05.720

E.B.: you mentioned, too, the medical program at your high school. I guess you’ve talked a ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:26:05.720 - 00:26:11.180

E.B.: little bit about that, but what kind of got you interested in that? Was it your parents ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:26:11.740 - 00:26:22.020

E.B.: and sort of their experiences and interest in medicine, or? So, I think, even from when I was in kindergarten, I knew that I ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:26:22.020 - 00:26:28.860

E.B.: wanted to go into medicine. And I don’t even remember how young I was when I initially told my mom, but I just ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:26:28.860 - 00:26:33.180

E.B.: know for a fact that as soon as like, I told her, or she knew that I wanted to go into medicine, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:26:33.380 - 00:26:37.880

E.B.: she was like, “You’re not going to go into nursing.” And not because she thought like it was a bad ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:26:37.880 - 00:26:43.360

E.B.: experience, but like my mom has always held me and my brother to higher standards, where it was, like, “If ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:26:43.400 - 00:26:47.760

E.B.: you’re going to get into something, you try and reach the top as much as you can.” ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:26:47.760 - 00:26:51.760

E.B.: And so she was like, “Don’t go into nursing.” She’s like, “If you want to go into medicine, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:26:52.200 - 00:26:57.680

E.B.: you should try and go for a doctor.” And I was like, “Okay.” And, so, initially, you know, a ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:26:57.980 - 00:27:07.080

E.B.: little kid, Internet had just came out relatively, and I think it was maybe third grade, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:27:08.600 - 00:27:12.220

E.B.: they wanted us to do, like, “What do you want to be when you grow up,” type of thing. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:27:12.220 - 00:27:19.840

E.B.: And in kindergarten, too, they took pictures of us at the playground, and underneath, they asked us, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:27:19.880 - 00:27:23.020

E.B.: like, “What do you want to be?” And so my mom still has this picture of me on the playground, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:27:23.160 - 00:27:24.800

E.B.: and it says “doctor” on the bottom. Aw… ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:27:24.800 - 00:27:28.160

R.T.: And she still has in the living room to this day. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:27:28.620 - 00:27:34.060

R.T.: But in third grade, when I had to do that, like, career report, I put that I wanted to work ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:27:34.800 - 00:27:40.460

R.T.: in the NICU with babies, so like a neonatologist. And it was mainly because, you know, as a ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:27:40.460 - 00:27:45.140

R.T.: little kid, being a girl, you know, babies are always like, you know, super cute and all that ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:27:45.140 - 00:27:53.600

R.T.: stuff. But then, I think it was middle school, I read this book by Dr. Ben Carson at Johns Hopkins ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:27:53.600 - 00:28:01.580

R.T.: Hospital. And I had watched this film before, “Gifted Hands”, and I always found brain surgery ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:28:01.580 - 00:28:09.800

R.T.: fascinating, but I never, I guess, found it as something I wanted to do, mainly because I was like, “That’s ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:28:09.800 - 00:28:15.140

R.T.: too hard. Like, there’s no way I could do that.” And then, when I read his book about what it was like, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:28:15.500 - 00:28:20.180

R.T.: you know, from a first-person perspective, going through that training, having to perform those ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:28:20.180 - 00:28:27.360

R.T.: surgeries, immediately I was, like, drawn in. And I think one thing that, I guess, like, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:28:27.520 - 00:28:31.740

R.T.: kind of like, caught me was, like, in a part, a specific part of his book, he talks about how, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:28:31.900 - 00:28:38.520

R.T.: like, it’s kind of like he goes through this mental shift of what it’s like actually going ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:28:38.520 - 00:28:43.900

R.T.: from, like, cutting from the outside of, you know, the head or the brain, to then when you’re ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:28:43.900 - 00:28:49.280

R.T.: actually inside. Because I always found myself the same way, because every time like, I see ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:28:49.340 - 00:28:54.940

R.T.: like someone’s wound or something, I’m like, “Oh, like, that must hurt like, so, so much.” I don’t ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:28:54.940 - 00:28:59.560

R.T.: get, like, icky or anything, but I’m just, like, it’s, like, I feel the pain for them. But then once, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:28:59.560 - 00:29:02.920

R.T.: like, you’re inside and I’m actually seeing anything, then I can, like, analyze everything ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:29:02.920 - 00:29:10.940

R.T.: in, like, a logical type of framework. So I always knew that I wanted to be a doctor. And then my mom ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:29:10.940 - 00:29:16.300

R.T.: knew of that medical program, because at that same high school, they also had what was called ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:29:16.300 - 00:29:21.820

R.T.: a “FAST Academy”, which was, like, you know, like car mechanics. And my brother went into that. So ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:29:21.820 - 00:29:26.720

R.T.: I think it was through that thing, or like that program with my brother, that she also found out ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:29:26.720 - 00:29:30.080

R.T.: about it. So she was like, “If you want to go into medicine, I think you should do this. You get ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:29:30.080 - 00:29:36.100

R.T.: exposure.” And I had to apply because I wasn’t zoned for that school. But I got accepted, luckily. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:29:36.600 - 00:29:42.360

R.T.: And then, even if you go to that high school, you also then have to apply again to get ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:29:42.360 - 00:29:46.860

R.T.: into the medical assisting portion, where you actually go into clinics, you know, go through ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:29:46.860 - 00:29:55.220

R.T.: rotations. And I got accepted. So, yeah, I wanted to do it to make sure that medicine was something ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:29:55.220 - 00:30:01.000

R.T.: that I was going to put, like, my heart and soul into, and it was something that I could tolerate. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:30:01.420 - 00:30:08.600

R.T.: And I learned a lot. And there was this one moment during, I think it was my last year, my senior year, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:30:08.600 - 00:30:14.540

R.T.: right before COVID. I was at this urgent care clinic. And other students had told me before, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:30:14.640 - 00:30:19.780

R.T.: like, “Oh, you’re not going to do much,” because, you know, we weren’t, like, certified in anything yet, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:30:19.780 - 00:30:24.980

R.T.: so there wasn’t much we could do. But my teacher always told us, she was like, “Make sure that, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:30:25.420 - 00:30:29.520

R.T.: you know, even if they don’t give you guys tasks, like, observe, like, that’s the best way of learning.” ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:30:29.620 - 00:30:35.540

R.T.: And I took that to heart, and I still use that to this day. And there’s one time we were sitting in ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:30:35.540 - 00:30:39.380

R.T.: urgent care, and you know, trying to watch, and we were trying to see if we could, at least, like, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:30:39.380 - 00:30:44.720

R.T.: stock up supplies. And then all of a sudden, this nurse comes, and she’s like, “Do any of you speak ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:30:44.720 - 00:30:51.900

R.T.: Spanish?” And I was like, I looked around, and I was like, the only Hispanic student there, out of the ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:30:51.900 - 00:30:58.700

R.T.: four of us, everybody else was white or Asian. And I was like, “I do.” And immediately she was like, “Okay, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:30:58.700 - 00:31:04.940

R.T.: come with me.” And my heart drops, and I’m like, “Oh my god. I’m scared.” And I spoke Spanish, you ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:31:04.940 - 00:31:11.240

R.T.: know, in my household. I think before college, it was mainly English, and then my parents would ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:31:11.240 - 00:31:16.720

R.T.: speak to me in Spanish, and every once in a while I would respond in Spanish. At my church, I fully, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:31:16.720 - 00:31:22.060

R.T.: fully spoke Spanish. So it was, like, you know, basic fluent Spanish. I could hold a conversation. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:31:22.440 - 00:31:27.320

R.T.: So I wasn’t too worried. I was more, like, this is the first time I’m doing it in a clinic. And so ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:31:27.320 - 00:31:34.080

R.T.: I go help this nurse that’s triaging this patient. And it’s a middle-aged daughter with her mother, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:31:34.580 - 00:31:41.760

R.T.: who was basically, like, 80 percent deaf. And there, this nurse was trying to triage her. And immediately, you ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:31:41.760 - 00:31:47.600

R.T.: could tell that the nurse was, like, either in a bad mood, or stressed or just something was off. But ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:31:48.700 - 00:31:51.820

R.T.: I was, like, okay, whatever. And the nurse said, “Okay, I need you to translate.” And so, you know, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:31:51.860 - 00:31:56.840

R.T.: I start asking her basic questions, like, what are you here for? What are your symptoms? And there was ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:31:56.840 - 00:32:02.280

R.T.: this one word that the daughter had said, which was ronchas, which basically means, like, it’s, like, hives. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:32:02.280 - 00:32:09.760

R.T.: And I had never heard that word before, because obviously, you know, in my house, we don’t ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:32:09.760 - 00:32:11.340

R.T.: like use it. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:32:11.340 - 00:32:13.360

E.B.: No, that’s not really one that comes up in conversation unless you need… ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:32:13.360 - 00:32:15.200

R.T.: Yeah, even with my grandmother, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:32:15.800 - 00:32:19.580

R.T.: you know, she has a pacemaker, and she was constantly going to the doctors, but, like, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:32:19.620 - 00:32:25.060

R.T.: she never had hives. So the medical words that I knew, it wasn’t skin stuff, or stuff like that, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:32:25.080 - 00:32:30.340

R.T.: was more like cardio, and, you know, blood pressure and all of that. So I turned to the nurse, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:32:30.500 - 00:32:35.300

R.T.: I’m like, “basically the daughter has said, she has ronchas on her back.” So I ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:32:35.300 - 00:32:40.640

R.T.: understood something, back. And so I told the nurse, “she has something on her back.” And ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:32:40.700 - 00:32:44.380

R.T.: in my head, I was like, I’m going to go, I’m going to tell the nurse, and I’m going to go back and ask ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:32:44.380 - 00:32:50.680

R.T.: her to elaborate. And so I told her, like, “XYZ, and she says she has ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:32:50.680 - 00:32:55.660

R.T.: something with her back.” And then the nurse just turns to me, and she’s like, “What do you mean? She ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:32:55.660 - 00:32:59.120

R.T.: has something on her back?” And I’m like, “She said a word that I don’t know.” And I kept trying to ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:32:59.120 - 00:33:03.500

R.T.: turn to, like, talk to the patient. And she basically wouldn’t let me. She kept cutting me off. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:33:04.440 - 00:33:11.960

R.T.: And then suddenly, she was just like, “Are you sure you speak Spanish?” [Laughter] Yeah, so, immediately, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:33:11.960 - 00:33:18.060

R.T.: like, it hurt me. It, like, it jabbed at me really hard. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:33:18.300 - 00:33:19.400

E.B.: And you were a high school student, right? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:33:19.400 - 00:33:21.880

R.T.: And I was a high school student. I was, like, I think I was ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:33:21.880 - 00:33:23.280

R.T.: like, 16, 17. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:33:23.280 - 00:33:26.460

E.B.: Wow. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:33:26.460 - 00:33:29.380

R.T.: I was so offended, but I was like, I don’t have time for this. I was, like, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:33:29.400 - 00:33:34.440

R.T.: we have to get this patient in. And so I go back to the, I go back to the daughter. I’m like, “ ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:33:34.520 - 00:33:38.920

R.T.: Can you explain what ronchas are? I’m not familiar with it.” And so she started to explain to me. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:33:38.920 - 00:33:43.260

R.T.: She’s like, “They’re like, the blisters, but they’re not, like, you know, like filled or whatever.” ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:33:43.900 - 00:33:50.440

R.T.: And then the nurse, and she was African American, so, I think she was able to connect dots. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:33:50.440 - 00:33:56.980

R.T.: Because, again, also Palmdale is mainly Hispanics, so a lot of Mexican, a lot of Salvadorian, Guatemalans. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:33:56.980 - 00:34:03.540

R.T.: So in any clinical setting, almost every patient is Hispanic in my experience there. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:34:04.120 - 00:34:07.300

R.T.: So I think the nurse is able to put it together. Like, “Oh, ronchas, she means, like, hives.” ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:34:07.380 - 00:34:11.760

R.T.: And then the daughter, she was like, “Yeah, yeah, yeah, that.” And I was like, okay, we figured it out. Fine. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:34:12.240 - 00:34:16.820

R.T.: And so the nurse was like, “You know what? Just to be sure, just tell the tell the patient to show me.” And I ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:34:16.820 - 00:34:22.740

R.T.: was, okay, yeah. I asked her, like, “Hey, can you show us where they are,” blah, blah, blah. And then all that ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:34:22.740 - 00:34:26.740

R.T.: happened, and I’m just trying not to become angry at this point, because it’s still ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:34:26.740 - 00:34:32.300

R.T.: in my head that she had, like, the audacity to tell me that. And I still went on to do a whole ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:34:32.300 - 00:34:37.220

R.T.: neurological exam in Spanish. I had to ask the mom, like, “Hey, who’s the president? Do you know ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:34:37.220 - 00:34:43.140

R.T.: where you are, you know your name, the day,” blah blah. I did that all 100 percent fine. So I kept telling myself, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:34:43.140 - 00:34:49.040

R.T.: you know what, I didn’t know one word, and I was able to do this entire triage. You’re fine. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:34:49.280 - 00:34:53.740

R.T.: This nurse just having a bad day or whatever. And even after everything, the daughter ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:34:53.740 - 00:34:57.080

R.T.: and the mom were like, “Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you so much.” And I was like, “ ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:34:57.160 - 00:35:03.060

R.T.: Yeah, of course.” And so, you know, I was trying to be respectful, and I didn’t leave until the ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:35:03.060 - 00:35:07.960

R.T.: nurse was like, “Okay, like, you’re dismissed.” I didn’t say anything or anything, but right ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:35:07.960 - 00:35:11.380

R.T.: before she told me I was dismissed, she was like, you know, like, “I’m really sorry. It’s just, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:35:11.380 - 00:35:15.860

R.T.: you know, we’re really busy.” And, you know, “I’m like, stressed out a little bit.” And I was just like, “ ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:35:16.120 - 00:35:21.140

R.T.: Yeah, it’s fine. Like, I understand.” In the back of my head, obviously, I wish I could have told her ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:35:21.140 - 00:35:26.020

R.T.: like, “You had no right to talk to me like that. I’m 16.” It’s not like you go home and ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:35:26.020 - 00:35:31.660

R.T.: say hypoglycemia to your kids all the time, you know, even in English, you know. Someone who ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:35:31.660 - 00:35:36.580

R.T.: doesn’t work in the medical field isn’t going to know what that is. So, yeah. But then after that, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:35:36.580 - 00:35:41.820

R.T.: it was kind of like a turning point where I realized that I wanted to perfect my Spanish ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:35:41.820 - 00:35:48.140

R.T.: more, especially going into medicine, and having been a part of a community where medical providers ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:35:48.140 - 00:35:53.860

R.T.: are non-[Spanish] speaking. I knew that that was something that I wanted to carry with me on my journey to ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:35:53.860 - 00:35:59.440

R.T.: becoming a doctor. So when I came here to Hopkins, and I saw that I can take Spanish classes, I was, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:35:59.440 - 00:36:03.540

R.T.: like, we’re going into it. And I did everything that I could to perfect it. And I even took medical ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:36:03.540 - 00:36:09.200

R.T.: Spanish, because I was, like, I refuse to let that happen to me again, or at least not to the extent ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:36:09.200 - 00:36:17.400

R.T.: that it did. And so that was a huge lesson that I took from that experience. And then my senior ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:36:17.400 - 00:36:22.280

R.T.: year was when COVID happened, and we were in the middle, we were in the middle of a rotation day, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:36:22.460 - 00:36:28.600

R.T.: and then my instructor, or my teacher, sent us a text, and she was like, “Okay, guys, we have to leave ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:36:28.600 - 00:36:35.000

R.T.: early because they’re shutting everything down.” And it was kind of surreal. Because it was just, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:36:35.000 - 00:36:39.360

R.T.: it was like a normal high school day where in the middle of the day you go to the hospital. Then, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:36:39.360 - 00:36:44.900

R.T.: for fifth period, you come back. And then we were getting all these like notifications. We were like, “ ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:36:44.920 - 00:36:52.520

R.T.: What is going on?” So, yeah, that was like a crazy experience, like being in the medical field when ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:36:52.520 - 00:36:58.080

R.T.: everything started happening. Because that day, I was in the laboratory at the hospital in my city, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:36:58.920 - 00:37:05.320

R.T.: and I remember being in the room where they prep, like, all the slides to look under a ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:37:05.320 - 00:37:10.040

R.T.: microscope. And they were, like, you know, telling us how they do everything, and they were being super, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:37:10.040 - 00:37:15.480

R.T.: like, informative and all this stuff. And we kept realizing that, like, the phone kept ringing. And ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:37:15.480 - 00:37:20.480

R.T.: the main, I guess, technician in charge, she kept having to pick it up, pick it up, pick it up. And then, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:37:20.480 - 00:37:24.660

R.T.: the other technician that was basically instructing us, she was like, “Sorry for the phone guys, like, we keep ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:37:24.660 - 00:37:29.340

R.T.: getting these phone calls because of COVID,” and all this stuff. And that’s when we were like, “Whoa. Like, this is real. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:37:29.480 - 00:37:31.040

R.T.: Like, this is happening now.” ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:37:31.040 - 00:37:31.220

E.B.: Wow. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:37:31.220 - 00:37:33.740

R.T.: So, like, even already in that moment, like the hospital is ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:37:33.740 - 00:37:37.240

R.T.: already prepping for everything, I’m pretty sure they were trying to figure out, like, what to look ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:37:37.240 - 00:37:42.520

R.T.: for, you know, at a microscopic level, and if they were having any patients that were showing any ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:37:42.520 - 00:37:47.940

R.T.: signs and symptoms. But, yeah, that was a, that was my experience with that program. [Laughter] ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:37:47.940 - 00:37:59.700

E.B.: Wow. Wow. [Laughter] Wow. It seems like it very much required a level of, like, maturity. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:37:59.700 - 00:38:07.840

E.B.: Have you met any peers here at Hopkins who have had like similar ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:38:07.840 - 00:38:12.420

E.B.: experiences, or do you feel, in some way, like that has sort of – ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:38:14.920 - 00:38:20.540

E.B.: I’m trying to think of the best way to ask what I’m trying to get at with the question. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:38:23.420 - 00:38:31.060

E.B.: I guess, how do you feel like that experience compares to your peers here? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:38:32.060 - 00:38:38.380

R.T.: Right. So I’ve met one other person, this year, actually, that had a similar program ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:38:38.380 - 00:38:45.180

R.T.: in her high school, and she got certified as a medical assistant, too. And I feel like it ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:38:46.440 - 00:38:53.600

R.T.: molds your mentality in a way where I relate so much to her, in terms of, you know, the experiences ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:38:53.600 - 00:38:59.960

R.T.: I’ve had with patients and all of that. And even, you know, with some healthcare providers, where ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:39:00.540 - 00:39:03.660

R.T.: their attitudes are just – they’re not what you expect them to be. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:39:04.220 - 00:39:13.400

R.T.: And then, I think, it just, it prepares you for medicine in a way, that if you’re going ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:39:13.400 - 00:39:19.880

R.T.: into medical school, you’re not going to have these moments until right when you’re in the middle of ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:39:19.880 - 00:39:26.860

R.T.: it, where you don’t even have time to, like, process what’s really happening. Because I have ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:39:26.860 - 00:39:31.740

R.T.: another friend that she didn’t have a program like that. And, you know, she’s an amazing ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:39:31.740 - 00:39:37.780

R.T.: friend. She’s an amazing person, super intelligent, all that. But I just sometimes when I talk about ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:39:38.720 - 00:39:45.240

R.T.: my personal clinical experiences, and, like, I guess, the lessons that I’ve learned from it, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:39:45.260 - 00:39:49.260

R.T.: she kind of has, like, we have, like, that gap, in a sense, where she can’t really, like, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:39:50.440 - 00:39:55.260

R.T.: I guess, understand what it would be like to experience it, or to even have that type of ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:39:55.260 - 00:40:00.300

R.T.: mentality. So I don’t think it’s a bad thing, but I definitely think it’s something that’s ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:40:01.220 - 00:40:08.700

R.T.: so, so helpful. Because another thing, too is, like, the training aspect of it all. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:40:10.100 - 00:40:17.660

R.T.: You know, like, obviously, you have to get CPR certified. You have to, you know, we have to take ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:40:17.660 - 00:40:24.840

R.T.: very, very basic anatomy and physiology, and, you know, injection training, first aid training, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:40:25.560 - 00:40:29.500

R.T.: trauma triage training. Like, we do simulations where, like, if a natural disaster would happen, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:40:29.500 - 00:40:39.800

R.T.: like you have to know how to react. Learning how to, I guess, act in those situations, is something you’re ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:40:39.800 - 00:40:45.420

R.T.: not going to get in, like, a classroom setting. And I’ve met people here that they come in pre-med, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:40:45.840 - 00:40:48.860

R.T.: and they’re like, “Yeah, I’m going into medicine.” And then a year or two in, they’re like, “I can’t ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:40:48.860 - 00:40:53.680

R.T.: do it.” And I feel like a huge part of it, you know, sometimes it’s just people don’t realize, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:40:53.680 - 00:40:57.120

R.T.: like, if you’ve never been in a clinic before, they don’t realize, like, “Oh, I can’t, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:40:57.120 - 00:41:01.700

R.T.: I can’t stand the look of blood,” or, and all of this and that, which is fine, you know. Obviously, like, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:41:02.020 - 00:41:06.800

R.T.: you’re not going to see those things inside your house either. But I think a huge part of it, too, is ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:41:06.800 - 00:41:13.140

R.T.: the mental discipline of it all. And if you realize that you can’t get into, like, I call it like the ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:41:13.140 - 00:41:21.200

R.T.: focus mode, where nothing, you, nothing else matters, sometimes you realize it too late. And you know, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:41:21.200 - 00:41:28.000

R.T.: not to say you can’t change your mind in undergrad in college, but I think it’s way better ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:41:28.000 - 00:41:35.900

R.T.: to find out what you want to do beforehand, you know, so that you don’t have to think of plan B ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:41:35.900 - 00:41:46.520

R.T.: in the middle of it. So I think, also, too, it just, being in a program like that, it changes your, I ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:41:46.520 - 00:41:56.220

R.T.: guess, your empathy towards people. I worked in a pediatric clinic my summer going into junior ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:41:56.220 - 00:42:02.840

R.T.: year here, and the doctors, and all the other medical assistants, were so impressed with, like, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:42:02.840 - 00:42:07.600

R.T.: how I was able to, like, compose myself, and, you know, pick up on things so quick. And, you know, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:42:07.700 - 00:42:12.100

R.T.: stuff like that is super beneficial in, like, the professional world, because even the stuff ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:42:12.100 - 00:42:16.240

R.T.: that I’ve learned in a clinical setting, I apply it to other things. Like, I just came back from ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:42:17.040 - 00:42:21.720

R.T.: an internship working as a production assistant for a professor here at Hopkins, who’s in the ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:42:21.720 - 00:42:25.200

R.T.: middle of making a documentary. And they told me the same thing. They’re like, “You pick up on stuff ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:42:25.200 - 00:42:32.880

R.T.: so fast. You know, you read the room so well.” And it just helps you carry so many things into the ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:42:32.880 - 00:42:39.640

R.T.: professional world, without having to learn it at first, I think, especially at the age we’re at, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:42:39.640 - 00:42:44.660

R.T.: you know, a lot of professionals, now, already expect you to be at some sort of level, and I ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:42:44.660 - 00:42:49.400

R.T.: think that that helps with that. But then also with my family experience, you know, my grandmother, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:42:49.400 - 00:42:55.800

R.T.: being in her 90s, late 80s, you know, we’ve had moments where, like, it’s emergencies, and you have ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:42:55.800 - 00:43:00.680

R.T.: to act fast. Or with other people, too. We’ve had friends and family throughout that they’re not in ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:43:00.680 - 00:43:04.880

R.T.: the medical field. So when something happens, they freeze, they don’t know what to do. And, you know, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:43:04.900 - 00:43:09.440

R.T.: I’ve had moments where, like, with my grandmother, like, I freeze, and my mom, like, has to snap me back. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:43:09.440 - 00:43:14.040

R.T.: And she’s like, “You have to do this. You have to help me with that.” Or recently, it’s been more, like, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:43:14.100 - 00:43:21.480

R.T.: I have to snap my mom back in, you know. And I think being in those moments where, like, in the ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:43:21.480 - 00:43:27.180

R.T.: hospital, figuring out, like, what’s going on with my grandmother, it gives me a different – it’s ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:43:27.180 - 00:43:31.520

R.T.: completely different being on the other side of the room. Having both of those perspectives has ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:43:31.520 - 00:43:38.280

R.T.: definitely, like, not only changed, I think, my perspective on medicine, but I think also with ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:43:38.280 - 00:43:42.560

R.T.: the patient experience. Because it’s one thing you know, telling someone like you know, this, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:43:42.700 - 00:43:47.800

R.T.: this and this is happening. We expect – this is a prognosis. This is the treatment. And being on the ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:43:47.800 - 00:43:57.680

R.T.: other side of it, it makes you see both sides in a completely, completely different way. And I don’t ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:43:57.680 - 00:44:03.480

R.T.: think a lot of people have that privilege of experiencing it. And obviously, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:44:03.700 - 00:44:07.600

R.T.: you know, those moments where you’re on the other side of, you know, the patient room, they’re not ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:44:07.600 - 00:44:12.180

R.T.: pretty, but I’m thankful to have been on both sides to know what it’s like, you know, because ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:44:12.720 - 00:44:18.520

R.T.: I still have those moments when I’m the patient family member, and, you know, the doctor, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:44:18.600 - 00:44:22.340

R.T.: the nurse, they’re not the nicest person in the world. And they, in fact, make things worse and ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:44:22.360 - 00:44:27.580

R.T.: not better. And I’ve also had doctors and nurses, where they make your life so much ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:44:27.580 - 00:44:31.880

R.T.: easier, and they reassure you, make sure, you know, “we’re here for you. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:44:31.880 - 00:44:37.920

R.T.: Everything’s going to be okay.” And so I think it, it gives you like, almost like, a three-dimensional ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:44:37.920 - 00:44:43.520

R.T.: perspective on things that you can’t just learn from a textbook. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:44:43.520 - 00:44:43.620

E.B.: Yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:44:43.620 - 00:44:44.420

R.T.: Yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:44:44.420 - 00:44:45.380

E.B.: Yeah, it’s sort of that. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:44:45.820 - 00:44:51.820

E.B.: It’s, I guess bedside manner is kind of a cliche, but it’s sort of so important at ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:44:51.820 - 00:44:54.800

E.B.: the same time, yeah, those interpersonal skills. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:44:54.800 - 00:44:57.000

R.T.: Yeah, because even my teacher, when, you know, being high school ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:44:57.000 - 00:45:02.460

R.T.: students, she was just like, “Okay, like, make sure, like, if you have to excuse yourself from the room ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:45:02.460 - 00:45:08.000

R.T.: because you’re having some sort of icky reaction, you know, do it respectfully.” You know, don’t have ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:45:08.000 - 00:45:13.700

R.T.: these reactions, or don’t ask, you know, questions at certain moments. And it made sense at the time. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:45:13.980 - 00:45:19.260

R.T.: But then again, being on the other side, sometimes, it’s just like, whoa. Like, I never would have ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:45:19.260 - 00:45:23.520

R.T.: thought this was something you have to keep in mind as a physician. Yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:45:23.520 - 00:45:25.360

E.B.: Yeah. Yeah. Wow. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:45:27.000 - 00:45:33.840

E.B.: I guess, shifting gears a little bit back to, sort of, to your parents and your family, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:45:34.500 - 00:45:39.000

E.B.: and, like, kind of, generally speaking, their thoughts on education. And you’ve touched ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:45:39.560 - 00:45:46.360

E.B.: on some of that already, and some of their educational experiences. But I think kind of ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:45:46.360 - 00:45:56.980

E.B.: the idea here is sort of their expectations around you, and your education and college, and things like that. And I guess, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:45:56.980 - 00:46:01.720

E.B.: too, with your brother as well, since he, kind of significantly before you, was kind of going through of the whole educational process. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:46:02.320 - 00:46:11.140

R.T.: Yeah. I think the main, I guess, massive experience I had was deciding where to go for ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:46:11.140 - 00:46:16.860

R.T.: undergrad. When it came to my dad, because he never continued his education here, I think he ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:46:16.860 - 00:46:22.400

R.T.: wasn’t exposed to, like, obviously, a lot of different colleges, and what it meant to go here ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:46:22.400 - 00:46:29.480

R.T.: and not there. My original plan was to go to Temple U. And so, because I had talked to him ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:46:29.480 - 00:46:35.800

R.T.: about that for so long, you know, before even applying to college, he trusted me. He was like, “ ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:46:35.980 - 00:46:39.540

R.T.: Okay, you know what, you sound like you have a plan. You sound like you know what you’re doing. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:46:39.820 - 00:46:44.040

R.T.: I trust you.” And my parents were never ones to say, like, you have to stay close to home. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:46:44.080 - 00:46:47.440

R.T.: You know, they always like, “You go do what you know that you have to do.” ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:46:48.400 - 00:46:54.560

R.T.: And my mom, because she’s the one who obviously helped my brother more in terms of the college stuff – ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:46:54.740 - 00:46:57.980

R.T.: it’s weird because my brother went to college when things were still on paper, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:46:58.620 - 00:47:05.520

R.T.: and I went to college when things were all electronic now, and there were bigger names now. The only ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:47:05.520 - 00:47:10.040

R.T.: reason I applied to Hopkins was because of my mom. I didn’t think that, you know, someone from ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:47:10.040 - 00:47:16.500

R.T.: Palmdale, California, like, me, could even be accepted. And so I was, I got accepted to ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:47:16.500 - 00:47:20.580

R.T.: Temple. And I was like, no, I got accepted. Like, I’m going. And my mom was like, “Apply to ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:47:20.580 - 00:47:24.920

R.T.: Hopkins. Like, apply to Hopkins.” And she’s always the one where, like, “if you can get into the ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:47:24.920 - 00:47:32.060

R.T.: best of the best universities,” she was [like] “you have to go.” I could go back and forth on that. I feel iffy about ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:47:32.060 - 00:47:37.800

R.T.: both. But she was like, “Apply, apply, apply.” And I was like, “Okay, I’ll do it just for you. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:47:38.080 - 00:47:43.900

R.T.: Don’t get your hopes up.” And I ended up getting in to [Hopkins] – like, it was completely to my surprise. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:47:44.840 - 00:47:52.040

R.T.: And that’s when I was like, maybe I have to rethink things over. And it was more just like ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:47:52.040 - 00:47:55.800

R.T.: a confusing moment, because I was, like, I’ve been set on Temple for so long, though. Is it bad if ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:47:55.800 - 00:48:00.640

R.T.: I change my mind now? But then I was like, but it’s Hopkins, you know? Like, it was COVID. They were, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:48:00.640 - 00:48:05.340

R.T.: they were leading everything during the time. They were a huge name at the time. So I was just like ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:48:05.440 - 00:48:09.760

R.T.: should I really change my mind? Should I really do this? And I didn’t even know where Hopkins University ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:48:09.760 - 00:48:14.600

R.T.: was at the time, I was, like, I feel like I’m jumping off a mountain without seeing the ground ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:48:15.120 - 00:48:20.240

R.T.: at that point. And my dad was really nervous. My dad didn’t really know the Hopkins name. He didn’t ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:48:20.240 - 00:48:25.180

R.T.: know their reputation. So I remember he even, like, called my brother this one night, and he was just like, “ ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:48:25.320 - 00:48:26.680

R.T.: Are you sure your sister knows what she’s doing?” ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:48:26.680 - 00:48:27.340

E.B.: [Laughter] ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:48:27.340 - 00:48:29.400

R.T.: “Like, I think, you should talk to her.” ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:48:31.080 - 00:48:36.800

R.T.: And at the time, my brother was also applying to Hopkins for, I think, a masters. And he didn’t get ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:48:36.930 - 00:48:42.330

R.T.: in. But he was obviously aware of their reputation. So he told my dad. He was like, “Dad, you know, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:48:42.490 - 00:48:46.810

R.T.: I think you just, you need to let her go. She needs to experience this. She needs to figure ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:48:46.810 - 00:48:51.250

R.T.: things out.” And he was just like, “They’re a good school, I could tell you that.” And he was ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:48:51.250 - 00:48:56.130

R.T.: like, you know, “Just trust her on this.” Like, everything’s going to be fine, you know. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:48:56.230 - 00:49:04.130

R.T.: And my dad was, was really scared. And I remember when it was getting close to the time for me to, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:49:04.130 - 00:49:08.850

R.T.: you know, pack up my bags and leave, my dad like every time that he asked me ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:49:08.850 - 00:49:12.030

R.T.: about college, he was like, “Are you sure you want to do this? You sure you want to do this?” ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:49:12.370 - 00:49:16.350

R.T.: And he always told me, he’s like, you know, “You don’t have to go.” He always ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:49:16.970 - 00:49:22.970

R.T.: made me remember that, like, if I wanted to change my mind I could. And he was super supportive. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:49:24.530 - 00:49:28.450

R.T.: And every time he asked me, I was just like, “Are you asking me this because you don’t ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:49:28.530 - 00:49:31.670

R.T.: trust me, or are you asking me this because you just don’t want me to leave,” you know? So it was kind of ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:49:31.670 - 00:49:35.670

R.T.: nice to see, again, like my dad be emotional, because he’s never like that. But even like ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:49:35.670 - 00:49:39.250

R.T.: right before I was even to the airport, he’s like, “You sure you want to do this? You sure?” ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:49:39.510 - 00:49:48.270

R.T.: And I was like, “Yeah, Dad, like, I’ll be fine. I’ll be fine.” And so, yeah, it turned out to be a great experience. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:49:48.990 - 00:49:56.130

R.T.: And now that, like, being in my fourth year, after all, throughout the years, after, after, you know, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:49:56.150 - 00:50:00.170

R.T.: they’ve heard all the things that I’ve been able to do and the education that I’ve been able ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:50:00.170 - 00:50:06.330

R.T.: to get, they’re super proud. But now, like, it’s coming to the point where I have to start thinking ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:50:06.330 - 00:50:11.050

R.T.: about med school, and I’m going to take two gap years. But now, like, both of them again, they’re ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:50:11.050 - 00:50:17.530

R.T.: like, “Okay, like, what’s the plan now? What do we have to do?” And now they’re, they’re more at a point where ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:50:17.530 - 00:50:22.530

R.T.: they know that they can push me a little harder again. And my mom, again, is back at the point, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:50:22.530 - 00:50:27.170

R.T.: she’s like, “Okay, what about Harvard? What about Stanford? What about Hopkins?” I’m like, “Mom, like, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:50:27.170 - 00:50:32.670

R.T.: what if I want to stay home?” She’s like, “No, no, no, no, no. Like, if you, if you get accepted to a big ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:50:32.670 - 00:50:41.030

R.T.: college again, you have to go.” And then my dad, he’s more now, like, intrigued with me studying ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:50:41.030 - 00:50:47.190

R.T.: for my MCAT. And so now he’s just, like, “You got your books? You got, yeah, everything you need to study for? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:50:47.290 - 00:50:52.370

R.T.: You know the plan that you’re going to study?” I’m like, “Yeah, Dad, I got it. I got it.” So they’re definitely ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:50:52.370 - 00:50:59.070

R.T.: always on my back, but in a good way, especially my mom. But yeah, they’re really excited, and ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:51:00.030 - 00:51:08.170

R.T.: they’re definitely always telling me to go for the highest I can possibly go. And then with my ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:51:08.170 - 00:51:14.610

R.T.: brother, my dad was so proud. His – I forgot what it’s called, like when they present, like ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:51:14.730 - 00:51:17.590

R.T.: their Ph.D. project? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:51:17.590 - 00:51:18.490

E.B.: Defense? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:51:18.490 - 00:51:20.890

R.T.: Yeah. So when my brother did his defense, it was over Zoom, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:51:20.890 - 00:51:27.330

R.T.: and so we were all able to watch, which was really nice. But when he presented everything, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:51:27.510 - 00:51:30.100

R.T.: and they, like, finally announced, like, “Okay, you’re a doctor. You’re Dr. [name],” my dad started crying. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:51:30.100 - 00:51:34.810

E.B.: Aw. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:51:34.810 - 00:51:35.290

R.T.: And ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:51:35.290 - 00:51:42.750

R.T.: I just could tell that he was so proud. And, like, I could see that, like, it meant a lot to him, that ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:51:42.750 - 00:51:48.710

R.T.: with all the sacrifices that he made, you know, it also felt like it was part of his success. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:51:48.710 - 00:51:54.190

R.T.: And it is. You know, I owe all of my success to my parents, and I’m pretty sure that ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:51:54.190 - 00:51:58.570

R.T.: my brother feels the same way. I’ve heard, I’ve always heard him talk about, especially my dad, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:51:58.650 - 00:52:02.410

R.T.: he always tells other people, like, you know, my dad’s the hardest working person I’ve ever met. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:52:02.590 - 00:52:08.210

R.T.: Like, there’s never a day where if – as long as he has a little bit of energy left, like ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:52:08.230 - 00:52:14.930

R.T.: he will work until he drops. And my mom has always been, like, the most supportive, loving ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:52:14.930 - 00:52:19.890

R.T.: person out there. So yeah, they’re super proud of us, and they’re always trying to tell us to ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:52:19.890 - 00:52:22.870

R.T.: do better and be better. So yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:52:22.870 - 00:52:31.790

E.B.: That’s so great. Could you describe the first few weeks of the undergraduate ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:52:31.790 - 00:52:42.270

E.B.: experience here? You sort of, you talked about, you know, flying over here, and, yeah, just that whole, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:52:43.510 - 00:52:51.030

E.B.: whole transition from home to, you know, to the other side of the country. How, how did that ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:52:51.190 - 00:52:52.610

E.B.: go for you? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:52:52.610 - 00:52:55.450

R.T.: Yeah. Oh my god. Looking back, that that was four years ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:52:55.450 - 00:52:58.550

R.T.: ago. It’s crazy. It felt so surreal. I felt like a fever dream… ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:52:58.550 - 00:53:02.230

E.B.: [Laughter] ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:53:02.230 - 00:53:04.750

R.T.: …when I was living in – it was only me and my mom that came ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:53:04.750 - 00:53:09.310

R.T.: when, you know, I first moved here to Hopkins. And it was the first time we traveled alone. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:53:09.310 - 00:53:15.530

R.T.: I had traveled, you know, out of state, driven to Mexico before, but it was always somebody else, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:53:15.530 - 00:53:20.450

R.T.: like, saying, like, “Okay, just follow us, or we’re going to take you here.” And this time, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:53:20.510 - 00:53:24.730

R.T.: it was officially, you know, me and her. It was like, “All right, you got the GPS?” ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:53:25.210 - 00:53:30.510

R.T.: It was scary. And my mom’s always a nervous traveler, even going to the airport, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:53:30.710 - 00:53:37.970

R.T.: she’s like, freaking out all the time. And so I was so excited, you know, living in California, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:53:38.430 - 00:53:43.050

R.T.: Palmdale, my whole life, I was like, “I’m going to see the other side of the country. This is ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:53:43.050 - 00:53:49.690

R.T.: exciting.” And, you know, my mom was so excited. She was so nervous to like, you know, drive around ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:53:49.690 - 00:53:58.250

R.T.: here and figure out where everything was. But I remember the first few days we were here, before ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:53:58.250 - 00:54:04.710

R.T.: I could actually move into my dorm, my mom and I were, like, it’s so different here, even just like, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:54:04.710 - 00:54:09.970

R.T.: geographically, or even like landscape wise. Like, the one-way streets, we were freaking out. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:54:10.070 - 00:54:11.820

R.T.: We were like, “Oh my god, like, we can’t get into the wrong street.” ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:54:11.820 - 00:54:13.650

E.B.: [Laughter] ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:54:13.650 - 00:54:15.330

R.T.: So it was so funny, and it was ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:54:15.330 - 00:54:20.090

R.T.: such an adventure, you know, discovering this new place together with my mom. We’d never done that ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:54:20.090 - 00:54:27.450

R.T.: before. But then I remember the day of, where we came to campus for the first time to move into ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:54:27.450 - 00:54:32.790

R.T.: my dorm. It was bittersweet, because, you know, I lived in my parents’ house, obviously, my whole ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:54:32.790 - 00:54:37.230

R.T.: life. And suddenly, I was getting dropped off at college, and I wasn’t going to see them for another ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:54:37.230 - 00:54:47.910

R.T.: four months at least. And it was just kind of like a, I don’t even know. When I was walking around ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:54:47.910 - 00:54:54.530

R.T.: campus for the first time, it was just like, “Wow, I made it,” type of moment. And with my mom being ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:54:54.530 - 00:55:02.770

R.T.: there, I don’t think I would have had it any other way. And I could just tell from everything, she ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:55:02.770 - 00:55:06.970

R.T.: was just, like, the way, even the way that she just looked at the campuses and like the buildings, she ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:55:06.970 - 00:55:12.430

R.T.: was just like, “This is incredible,” you know. And, you know, when she left, I was a little sad. I was ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:55:12.430 - 00:55:19.230

R.T.: like, “Oh my god, like, I’m starting my life on my own. This is crazy.” And it was, I was a little ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:55:19.230 - 00:55:25.650

R.T.: nervous at first, you know, being obviously – being in a city you don’t know, alone is one thing, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:55:26.270 - 00:55:30.450

R.T.: and then being 3,000 miles away from home on top of that is a whole other thing. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:55:31.870 - 00:55:41.030

R.T.: So that was a huge, you know, thing to adjust to. Luckily, I had pretty good roommates. We kind of had ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:55:41.030 - 00:55:49.790

R.T.: some, like, I guess, tricky moments later at the end of the – more at the end of the year. We were ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:55:49.790 - 00:55:54.870

R.T.: rooming together, and it didn’t really end well. But, you know, I learned lessons, and, yeah, we moved on. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:55:55.090 - 00:55:58.730

R.T.: And even my mom always told me, she’s like, you know, “It’s okay. You know, things happen for a reason. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:55:58.730 - 00:56:06.870

R.T.: You learn, move on,” and things like that. But, yeah, I was so excited being here. But I think ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:56:06.870 - 00:56:12.950

R.T.: it definitely, it put me through the ringer, you know, having to figure things out on my own. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:56:14.810 - 00:56:20.530

R.T.: And I think even just one of the hardest things that I had to learn and adjust to was learning ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:56:20.530 - 00:56:25.210

R.T.: how to study, you know, because studying in high school was one thing for my classes. I didn’t have to ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:56:25.210 - 00:56:30.990

R.T.: try a lot. I caught up on things really easy. And then, for freshman year here was COVID. Everything ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:56:30.990 - 00:56:37.010

R.T.: was online. You know, learning calculus through Zoom was the greatest thing in the world. I was ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:56:37.010 - 00:56:39.220

R.T.: like, I don’t even have to pay attention. Like I’m catching everything so fast. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:56:39.220 - 00:56:40.330

E.B.: [Laughter] ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:56:40.330 - 00:56:43.650

R.T.: It was great. And then with, like, chemistry, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:56:44.110 - 00:56:51.350

R.T.: I struggled so hard. And I really went through a period in time, my freshman year where I was like, “ ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:56:51.350 - 00:56:58.110

R.T.: Am I really built for this? Like, can I actually do this?” Because every time that, you know, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:56:58.110 - 00:57:02.410

R.T.: I got a bad grade, I didn’t do well on a quiz, it – especially in chemistry, I was, like, this is ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:57:02.570 - 00:57:06.710

R.T.: the basic fundamental of medicine. I was, like, how are you struggling in this? And I never ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:57:06.710 - 00:57:10.950

R.T.: struggled in high school, either. So that was a whole other thing. I was really ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:57:10.950 - 00:57:15.830

R.T.: questioning myself. I was like, “Am I really capable of going into medicine? Can I even ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:57:15.830 - 00:57:21.890

R.T.: graduate from Hopkins at this point?” It was a huge mental battle where it was me against me all the ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:57:21.890 - 00:57:28.530

R.T.: time. And I had to realize, you know, I had to keep telling myself, like, “It’s not that you’re ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:57:28.530 - 00:57:32.830

R.T.: not trying hard enough. You just have to look at things differently. You have to change your ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:57:32.830 - 00:57:40.710

R.T.: perspective.” And I didn’t realize, it took me a while to realize that, you know, I just had ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:57:40.710 - 00:57:44.210

R.T.: to change the way I was studying. It wasn’t that I wasn’t smart enough. It wasn’t that, like, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:57:44.670 - 00:57:49.230

R.T.: I wasn’t meant to be a Hopkins student. It was just that, you know, nobody tells you, like, “Hey, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:57:49.370 - 00:57:53.630

R.T.: like, you know, maybe you just have to try a different way of learning.” Because, like, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:57:53.750 - 00:58:00.210

R.T.: I even went to, like, my professor’s office hours, and I was just like, “I’m not getting it.” And then ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:58:00.210 - 00:58:06.330

R.T.: finally, I changed the way I studied, and grades were going up. And I was like, “Finally.” And so ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:58:06.330 - 00:58:11.590

R.T.: second semester came around, and then gen chem two came around, and I did even better. And it was ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:58:11.590 - 00:58:15.350

R.T.: like a breath of fresh air. And I was like, okay, you know what? No, I can do this. I can, I can ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:58:15.350 - 00:58:21.930

R.T.: push through. And I passed with, like, a B. I don’t know how, but you know. That was definitely, I think, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:58:21.950 - 00:58:30.230

R.T.: one of the hardest things I had to learn. And I think I had a hard time admitting that to my ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:58:30.230 - 00:58:35.170

R.T.: parents, because especially them being Hispanic, it was more of just, like, when you tell ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:58:35.170 - 00:58:40.590

R.T.: Hispanic parents that you’re struggling with something or that like you’re changing your mind to them, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:58:40.590 - 00:58:46.130

R.T.: it’s the end of the world. And, you know, I originally came in a neuroscience major ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:58:46.790 - 00:58:51.370

R.T.: because I want to be a neurosurgeon, and I wanted to work on the brain. And I thought like, “Oh, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:58:51.430 - 00:58:53.980

R.T.: obviously I should do neuroscience.” But I hated gen chem lab. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:58:53.980 - 00:58:56.590

E.B.: [Laughter] ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:58:56.590 - 00:58:59.070

R.T.: I hated wet labs. And so when I ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:58:59.070 - 00:59:05.130

R.T.: realized that for neuro, you have to do wet labs a majority of your semesters, I was like I don’t – that’s ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:59:05.190 - 00:59:10.330

R.T.: not what I want to do. And so that’s when I was like, okay, well, it doesn’t mean that it’s the end of ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:59:10.330 - 00:59:14.770

R.T.: the road for me. It doesn’t mean I can’t go into medicine. It’s just where else do I go? And a ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:59:14.770 - 00:59:20.490

R.T.: lot of people kept telling me, “You know what? Don’t just go into like, biology or, you know, like ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:59:20.630 - 00:59:27.050

R.T.: bio,” what was the other one, bio, molecular cellular biology. Like, “Don’t just do it because everybody says to do it.” ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:59:27.790 - 00:59:31.870

R.T.: I was, like, yeah, because I don’t want to just fully focus on science. And there was something ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:59:32.490 - 00:59:36.450

R.T.: missing there that I knew, that I hadn’t been exposed to yet, that I wanted to study. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:59:37.630 - 00:59:42.770

R.T.: And I think one of the greatest parts of my freshman year, especially my first semester, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:59:42.950 - 00:59:47.990

R.T.: was my FYS class, my First-Year Seminar. I’m so thankful that Hopkins does those classes ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:59:48.530 - 00:59:54.990

R.T.: because, you know, you build relationships with professors and other students so easily. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:59:55.330 - 00:59:59.370

R.T.: And they’re such interesting classes, too, that it was like a break, you know, from all like the science and ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:59:59.370 - 01:00:02.810

R.T.: STEM classes. I really enjoyed that class. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:00:02.810 - 01:00:04.250

E.B.: What was the subject of yours? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:00:04.250 - 01:00:04.730

R.T.: Mine was – ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:00:04.730 - 01:00:11.390

R.T.: it was called “The Hospital”. So we literally just watched films, read articles, read books ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:00:12.670 - 01:00:21.090

R.T.: about, you know, the history of hospitals, from like 500 AD, you know, to, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:00:22.050 - 01:00:27.810

R.T.: you know, the modern hospital. And it was super interesting. And the way that we studied ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:00:27.810 - 01:00:37.690

R.T.: medicine, humanistically, was what caught my attention. And we had to do a end of the ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:00:37.690 - 01:00:45.150

R.T.: semester project, where he wanted us to do kind of like a film. Do we need to pause? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:00:45.150 - 01:00:45.530

E.B.: We might need ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:00:45.530 - 01:00:50.630

E.B.: to pause. [Side ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:00:50.630 - 01:00:53.360

E.B.: conversation] All right, we’re back. We’re back. Okay. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:00:53.360 - 01:00:56.810

R.T.: [Laughter] ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:00:56.810 - 01:00:58.810

E.B.: So yeah, my FYS class, he wanted, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:00:58.950 - 01:01:04.830

E.B.: my professor wanted us to do like an end of the semester project. He wanted us to do, like, a storyboard ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:01:04.830 - 01:01:14.290

E.B.: of some sort of take on the hospital. And we were, like, we were put into teams. It was me and ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:01:14.290 - 01:01:21.170

E.B.: two other people. And we were like, okay, why don’t we focus on how COVID has changed hospitals, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:01:21.170 - 01:01:25.450

E.B.: and the way that they function, the way that they’re structured. And so we were going to do a storyboard, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:01:25.450 - 01:01:29.590

E.B.: where it’s kind of like a comic strip, but it was basically, like, okay, scene one of this ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:01:30.050 - 01:01:35.330

E.B.: film was going to be this. Scene two. Scene three. And my professor automatically, he’s like, “It ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:01:35.330 - 01:01:41.250

E.B.: doesn’t have to look pretty. You can literally use like online, like, software, so it looks like ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:01:42.190 - 01:01:48.070

E.B.: cartoonish.” And we’re like, “Okay.” Me being a perfectionist. I was, like, I hate the way that ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:01:48.070 - 01:01:52.310

E.B.: the storyboard looks, like, I was, like, I can’t draw. None of us can draw. And I was, like, I just ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:01:52.310 - 01:01:59.530

E.B.: hate the, like, fakeness of it. And I was like, “Guys, what if we do like a trailer, like a movie ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:01:59.530 - 01:02:04.550

E.B.: trailer?” And they’re like, “Yeah, we could do that.” And I had discovered, like, the old iMovie, I still ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:02:04.550 - 01:02:09.070

E.B.: had, like, the old MacBook, and I was like, “We could do it on this.” And so we were like, “Yeah, yeah, yeah, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:02:09.070 - 01:02:14.870

E.B.: let’s do this.” And so we literally just started looking on YouTube, and you know, we found, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:02:14.870 - 01:02:21.010

E.B.: like, little clips and snippets of, like, news coverage on, during the COVID pandemic of like, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:02:21.010 - 01:02:27.810

E.B.: different hospitals around the world. And we had discovered that some company, at the time, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:02:27.950 - 01:02:36.790

E.B.: I think, the year before, like recently, they had created, like, mini hospitals with, like, these shipping ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:02:36.790 - 01:02:42.330

E.B.: containers. And so inside, you know, they give you, like, a huge view of, like, what it looks like. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:02:42.530 - 01:02:46.250

E.B.: And, like, you know, it was crazy. It was crazy. And we were like, “Okay, let’s make this a center ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:02:46.250 - 01:02:51.410

E.B.: focus that, like, hospitals are being overrun, and they’re packed, and there’s no room for patients.” ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:02:51.790 - 01:02:55.390

E.B.: So then we were going to like, switch to like, oh now, we have these shipping container hospitals. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:02:56.110 - 01:03:05.430

E.B.: And so we literally, like, cut and pasted stuff. Copyright was, like, out the window. We’re like, “Oh well” And my two ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:03:05.430 - 01:03:09.610

E.B.: classmates were kind of like, “We’ll let you do – here’s like, the videos, you cut and paste ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:03:09.650 - 01:03:15.390

E.B.: whatever you want. We’ll trust you with it.” And I loved it. I fell in love with it. And I was like, “ ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:03:15.410 - 01:03:22.110

E.B.: This is so fun. It’s just great.” And I love the way that I was able to tell stories, you know, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:03:22.210 - 01:03:27.330

E.B.: through that. And so I presented it in class, and then my professor was like, “You know what? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:03:27.330 - 01:03:34.530

E.B.: You might have a future in film.” And so I was like, “Do I though?” [Laughter] ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:03:34.530 - 01:03:35.910

R.T.: I was studying medicine. I don’t ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:03:35.910 - 01:03:43.630

R.T.: know if I can actually do this. And so I just kept it in the back of my head. And then, I think it was ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:03:43.630 - 01:03:47.810

R.T.: around that time was when, at the same time, I was like, I don’t want to continue with neuro ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:03:48.850 - 01:03:54.250

R.T.: and then I can’t remember how, but I discovered MSH, medicine, science and humanities, the major. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:03:55.050 - 01:04:00.810

R.T.: And I was, like, I had already also taken, on top of the FYS class, some other classes ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:04:01.450 - 01:04:08.690

R.T.: that were part of the MSH department, the major, and I was, like, this is what I want to do. I was, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:04:08.690 - 01:04:14.570

R.T.: like, I want to study medicine outside of the normal math, science and all of this. And I knew ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:04:14.570 - 01:04:21.050

R.T.: that I loved it, immediately with that class. And then, I think I also took – ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:04:23.610 - 01:04:32.670

R.T.: I took some other medical – oh, I took history of medicine, and I took medical terminology my ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:04:34.630 - 01:04:39.950

R.T.: second semester. And so when I realized that all those three were that department, I was, like, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:04:40.030 - 01:04:45.470

R.T.: I’m going to focus on this. My parents weren’t too happy, [laughter] because, you know, to them, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:04:45.470 - 01:04:50.730

R.T.: they weren’t really knowledgeable of, like, the process of changing your major. And they thought, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:04:50.730 - 01:04:55.030

R.T.: like, “Oh, now you have to start from scratch.” I was, “No, no, no, no, no. Like, we’re in a good spot. Like, I’m ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:04:55.030 - 01:04:55.710

R.T.: fine.” ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:04:55.710 - 01:04:58.550

E.B.: This is an evolution, not a [crosstalk]. I’m learning things. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:04:58.550 - 01:05:02.410

R.T.: Yeah. [Laughter] Just like, I’m not wasting time. Like, I promise I’m ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:05:02.410 - 01:05:07.450

R.T.: not wasting money. Like, literally, the only things that are important right now are that I’m taking ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:05:07.450 - 01:05:11.810

R.T.: chemistry and calculus. Nothing else really matters right now. And so then they’re just like, “ ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:05:11.810 - 01:05:17.130

R.T.: You know what, though, if this is what you know that you want to do, you stick to it, but you’re ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:05:17.150 - 01:05:21.910

R.T.: going to stick to it.” And my dad told me he, too, he was, like, “I don’t want to hear that you’re going to ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:05:21.910 - 01:05:25.310

R.T.: change your mind again, because now it just sounds like you don’t know what you’re doing.” I was like, “Dad, like, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:05:25.530 - 01:05:32.710

R.T.: this is what I want to do.” And I stuck to it. And I love the MSH degree. I learned so much ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:05:33.510 - 01:05:39.270

R.T.: about medicine and science, like, again, just in a way that I didn’t even think you could think of things ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:05:39.270 - 01:05:49.850

R.T.: that way. And I didn’t realize that I had to have, like, a focus area under the, under the major. And so I was ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:05:49.850 - 01:05:54.270

R.T.: like, well, what do I do, I was, like, I can do it in Spanish. But then I was, like, do I really ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:05:54.270 - 01:05:59.930

R.T.: want to, though? Because I just want to perfect my Spanish, and leave it at that. And I was like, oh, well, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:06:00.030 - 01:06:06.310

R.T.: but I really like, like, Greek and Roman history. So I was like, oh, maybe I could do it in that. But then I found ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:06:06.310 - 01:06:13.610

R.T.: out I can do a focus in film and media, and that they have a specific production track. And I was ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:06:13.610 - 01:06:20.470

R.T.: like, oh, this is it. And I was like, I already know that I love to edit, you know, with real camera footage. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:06:20.470 - 01:06:23.110

R.T.: And I was, like, I’m going to go into this. And I was like, I’m going to try it out. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:06:24.230 - 01:06:30.270

R.T.: And so I stuck with it, and I started taking production classes. And, you know, obviously, we had to ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:06:30.270 - 01:06:34.810

R.T.: do projects where we have to film things on our own, and then we’d have to edit them on our own. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:06:35.370 - 01:06:40.710

R.T.: And it was great. And I think intertwining all these things together have just ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:06:40.710 - 01:06:47.570

R.T.: given me an outlook, not even just, like, medicine and academics, but like ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:06:47.570 - 01:06:54.270

R.T.: life, and people, and society, in general, that I’d never thought that I could even comprehend. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:06:55.390 - 01:07:00.510

R.T.: And it’s been great. And I ended up minoring in film because it was like two extra classes. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:07:01.150 - 01:07:06.330

R.T.: And it’s been so good, and it’s taught me so much, and I think it definitely has shaped me ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:07:06.910 - 01:07:12.310

R.T.: as a person in general. So yeah, it’s been an experiment, all these four years. It’s been ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:07:12.510 - 01:07:12.560

R.T.: great. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:07:12.560 - 01:07:17.870

E.B.: Yeah, but, like, before your First-Year Seminar, had you had any inkling at all that, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:07:17.870 - 01:07:20.770

E.B.: like, film was something that you wanted to do, or was that just really because of that? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:07:20.770 - 01:07:23.670

R.T.: No. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:07:23.850 - 01:07:28.170

R.T.: It was really because of that. I knew that I always loved it, you know, taking photos with like, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:07:28.170 - 01:07:34.750

R.T.: my phone camera. Or, like, you know, when I was little. I was always, like, taking photos and videos ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:07:34.750 - 01:07:40.450

R.T.: with, like, my mom’s phone and stuff. But it was, it was never more than that. You know, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:07:41.130 - 01:07:43.010

R.T.: I loved the superhero Marvel movies, but I never thought like, “Oh, I want to, I want to make a” [crosstalk]. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:07:43.010 - 01:07:46.510

E.B.: I can make that. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:07:46.510 - 01:07:46.770

R.T.: Yeah, I can make a movie like that. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:07:48.050 - 01:07:54.770

R.T.: And then, you know, I think today’s society, I think especially in, like, little high schools, like, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:07:54.770 - 01:07:59.950

R.T.: where I came from, they don’t tell you, like, you know, you can be multi-disciplinary. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:08:00.590 - 01:08:02.910

R.T.: It was always, like, all right, if you’re going to go into medicine, that’s it. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:08:03.570 - 01:08:09.910

R.T.: But when I came here, and professors, and even counselors started – and even other students ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:08:09.910 - 01:08:15.690

R.T.: started telling me, like, “You could do both. You could totally go into the arts, and then, you know, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:08:15.990 - 01:08:22.790

R.T.: do medicine as well at the same time.” And I remember my first ever CS double ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:08:23.790 - 01:08:27.910

R.T.: A, I think it’s called, CSAA, my first counselor through them, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:08:30.130 - 01:08:33.990

R.T.: when I first started discussing her, like, “Hey, I’m thinking of changing my major, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:08:34.490 - 01:08:38.070

R.T.: and I kind of want to minor in film,” and I wanted her take on it. I was like, “What do you think?” ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:08:38.210 - 01:08:41.690

R.T.: Because I don’t want to, like, do something, and then suddenly I graduate, and they’re like, “ ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:08:41.750 - 01:08:45.250

R.T.: Yeah, you’re not right for med school.” And she was just like – ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:08:45.310 - 01:08:50.470

R.T.: she told me a story. She was like, “I met this one doctor, and he was an art major, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:08:50.470 - 01:08:56.190

R.T.: went to medical school, and he has been my favorite doctor in my entire lifetime.” ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:08:57.030 - 01:09:02.410

R.T.: And that’s when I kind of realized, you know what, I could do that, like I can be that type of doctor. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:09:02.830 - 01:09:08.490

R.T.: And that’s when I started to realize, too, you know, like, physicians who, I think, venture outside of ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:09:08.490 - 01:09:14.090

R.T.: the STEM world, and use their creative part of their brain a whole lot more. They’re just a ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:09:14.090 - 01:09:18.870

R.T.: different type of person. You know, they’re not robotic. They don’t just, “All right, what are your symptoms? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:09:18.870 - 01:09:23.810

R.T.: Here’s a diagnosis. Here’s a prognosis. Bye.” I feel like medicine should be so much ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:09:23.810 - 01:09:28.490

R.T.: more where you create relationships with your patients, with your, you know, coworkers, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:09:28.790 - 01:09:35.450

R.T.: your nurses, medical assistants, and all of that. And I think something that doing studies in the ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:09:35.450 - 01:09:41.170

R.T.: humanities and the arts helps you, you know, propel within your brain, and then as a person, too. So, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:09:41.690 - 01:09:46.350

R.T.: yeah, I never thought that I was going to end up where I am now, but I’m so thankful for it. Yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:09:46.350 - 01:09:58.470

E.B.: Yeah. That’s so cool. That’s so exciting. In terms of, like, support systems at Hopkins, too, like, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:10:00.130 - 01:10:12.150

E.B.: did you meet a lot of other, like, first-gen students? Did, like, what was that all sort of, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:10:12.150 - 01:10:14.200

E.B.: like, in terms of, like, you’ve talked a little bit, I guess, about academic support, too. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:10:14.200 - 01:10:18.240

R.T.: Mm-hmm. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:10:18.240 - 01:10:18.440

E.B.: Yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:10:19.730 - 01:10:27.330

R.T.: I didn’t really meet a lot of other first-gen students. And it might also just been that, like, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:10:27.330 - 01:10:33.490

R.T.: with the people that I met, I didn’t ask, so I didn’t realize they were first-gen. But yeah, I’ve met a few ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:10:33.490 - 01:10:38.450

R.T.: people that I do know are first-gen, and it was a relief, especially because they were also Hispanic. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:10:38.450 - 01:10:46.970

R.T.: So it’s just, like, okay, I found my people, you know. But I’ve also, my closest friend right now, she’s ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:10:46.970 - 01:10:54.390

R.T.: technically not first-gen, but she is also part of the Hispanic community. So I think ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:10:55.090 - 01:11:01.690

R.T.: with me, and my experience here at Hopkins, my support system here on campus has been more so ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:11:01.690 - 01:11:07.290

R.T.: coming from people that come from the same cultural background. I didn’t really notice ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:11:08.450 - 01:11:12.290

R.T.: too much of a difference between, like, people that I knew who were first-gen and weren’t. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:11:13.110 - 01:11:18.770

R.T.: I think, sometimes, it’s just like, I guess when you hear like stories about their parents, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:11:18.870 - 01:11:22.970

R.T.: and when I compare it to stories with my parents I’m just, like, “Oh, I don’t what that’s ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:11:22.970 - 01:11:28.410

R.T.: like.” Or, like, a lot of people that I know that aren’t first-gen, you know, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:11:28.410 - 01:11:34.970

R.T.: they talk about, like, going on these vacations with their parents, or, like, you know, they ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:11:36.610 - 01:11:43.410

R.T.: are able to, like, afford to live in these certain locations, or they have like, these specific, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:11:43.410 - 01:11:48.650

R.T.: you know, family stories [unintelligible] like, I don’t know what that’s like. Because ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:11:49.350 - 01:11:54.710

R.T.: even when I was little, I wasn’t around my parents a lot because they were just constantly working. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:11:55.170 - 01:11:59.790

R.T.: So I was always at a babysitter’s. It was 4 in the morning. Before my parents would go to work, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:11:59.930 - 01:12:03.650

R.T.: they would drop me off at a babysitter’s house. They would take me to school. They would pick me ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:12:03.650 - 01:12:08.930

R.T.: up from school. And then either my mom or my dad would pick me up when it was already dark outside. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:12:09.730 - 01:12:17.730

R.T.: So that was what it was like, you know, when I was really little. And then going, like, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:12:18.230 - 01:12:25.070

R.T.: end of like, sixth grade, middle school, my mom switched jobs, and she started working in the city ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:12:25.070 - 01:12:30.970

R.T.: instead of in Van Nuys, having to leave at, like, 4 in the morning. I saw my mom a little more ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:12:30.970 - 01:12:34.390

R.T.: around, and she was able to, like, take me to school, pick me up from school. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:12:35.350 - 01:12:39.670

R.T.: But sometimes she would be late from work, and she would be like, “Hey, like, you need ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:12:39.670 - 01:12:44.370

R.T.: to walk home today.” And it was fine, you know, she would get home, like, a couple hours later. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:12:44.510 - 01:12:51.610

R.T.: And that was nice. But then my dad always, was always getting home from work late. And then, now, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:12:51.610 - 01:12:56.650

R.T.: with my dad’s new job, he’s always on call. So, you know, he goes days where either he doesn’t work at ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:12:56.650 - 01:13:04.490

R.T.: all, sometimes, he works 16, 18-hour days. Sometimes, he’s scheduled, sometimes, he’s not. So it goes up ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:13:04.490 - 01:13:05.410

R.T.: and down, you know… ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:13:05.410 - 01:13:06.770

E.B.: Just at like all hours, too. Yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:13:06.770 - 01:13:09.470

R.T.: Yeah, yeah. And, so, like, I think with things like ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:13:09.470 - 01:13:15.270

R.T.: that, that’s where it differs, because I never really had the opportunity to go on, like, family ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:13:15.270 - 01:13:20.650

R.T.: vacations with my parents because of that type of thing. But then also, it was like, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:13:23.470 - 01:13:29.910

R.T.: because of my parents’ education, they could only help me so much with my personal academics. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:13:30.770 - 01:13:37.570

R.T.: I mean, even figuring out FAFSA was like a whole thing, you know, like they had no experience ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:13:37.570 - 01:13:43.470

R.T.: with it. And then, well, the fact that the system had changed, you know, my mom was just, like, “I don’t ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:13:43.470 - 01:13:47.730

R.T.: even know what half of these questions are.” She’d be like, “Ask your brother.” And my brother was ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:13:47.730 - 01:13:48.680

R.T.: just like, “Dude, I don’t know what this is.” ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:13:48.680 - 01:13:50.470

E.B.: [Laughter] ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:13:50.470 - 01:13:50.570

R.T.: “It’s completely different.” ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:13:50.570 - 01:13:51.210

E.B.: It’s changed, yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:13:51.210 - 01:13:52.470

R.T.: He’s like, “I don’t remember.” ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:13:52.610 - 01:13:55.170

E.B.: Just the bureaucracy of it all changes so much, yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:13:55.170 - 01:13:58.070

R.T.: Yeah. So I think those are, like, the main things ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:13:58.070 - 01:14:02.870

R.T.: that I’ve seen different. But then I try not to, like, you know, focus on those things. So I’m like, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:14:02.910 - 01:14:08.030

R.T.: you know what, they’re always going to be people that, like, always have more money, or, you know, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:14:08.190 - 01:14:14.570

R.T.: like, they always have a, I guess, better, more luxurious lifestyle, you know. But it doesn’t, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:14:15.230 - 01:14:18.630

R.T.: I guess that’s not what really matters, you know. Because then, there’s always still going to be ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:14:18.630 - 01:14:24.650

R.T.: people that are more luxurious, more richer than them. And I think the thing that I focus on the ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:14:24.650 - 01:14:32.970

R.T.: most is the type of person that they are, and having friends that, you know, we can relate to ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:14:32.970 - 01:14:37.970

R.T.: because of like the food that we eat, or, like, the jokes that we have, or, you know, the type of ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:14:37.970 - 01:14:44.350

R.T.: environment that we grew up in because of our parents’ background was really nice. And then, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:14:44.350 - 01:14:54.050

R.T.: I think ,academically, or I guess, like, on campus, the support systems, CSAA’s program was so ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:14:54.050 - 01:14:59.730

R.T.: helpful with, like, navigating everything. I always text my counselor, I’m like, “Hey, I don’t know what ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:14:59.730 - 01:15:05.170

R.T.: this is,” with, like, an e-mail that I get from like, one of the offices here with like, financial aid. And ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:15:05.170 - 01:15:13.750

R.T.: it makes things so much easier. And my freshman through sophomore year, I even seeked counseling ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:15:13.750 - 01:15:19.630

R.T.: through the Counseling Center here at Hopkins. And it was like a weight lifted off my shoulders ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:15:19.890 - 01:15:23.850

R.T.: knowing that, like, I was getting the help that I knew that I needed, and I didn’t have to worry ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:15:23.850 - 01:15:30.650

R.T.: about anything, you know, financially. And that was such a huge support system, that I didn’t even ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:15:30.650 - 01:15:37.470

R.T.: know that I needed. Because I think one of the things that, I guess, I didn’t realize I would ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:15:37.470 - 01:15:42.070

R.T.: have to, I guess, also learn and adapt to my freshman year was, because now I was away from ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:15:42.110 - 01:15:48.930

R.T.: my family, you kind of, like, I guess, break away from those mental barriers, or even, like, those ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:15:48.930 - 01:15:55.370

R.T.: routines that you get out of. And it kind of caused me to spiral a little bit. And I think with, you ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:15:55.370 - 01:15:59.610

R.T.: know, the academic stress that I was having, where I started to feel like I wasn’t smart enough, and ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:15:59.610 - 01:16:05.370

R.T.: all this, it was a lot. And I never went to my parents for, like, emotional support, because ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:16:05.370 - 01:16:10.550

R.T.: they themselves don’t know how to even process their own emotions, sometimes, because of the way ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:16:10.550 - 01:16:16.670

R.T.: that they grew up. So I was so scared to go to the counseling center, because I was just ,like, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:16:17.130 - 01:16:21.590

R.T.: I’m not like, psychotic. You know, like, I don’t need to be, like, institutionalized. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:16:22.050 - 01:16:26.870

R.T.: And I felt like I was being dramatic, and I was just like, your life isn’t that ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:16:26.870 - 01:16:32.890

R.T.: hard. But with the help that I got, it made me realize, like, you know what, even though ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:16:32.890 - 01:16:38.170

R.T.: you may not have, like, you know, financial struggles where you don’t know where your next ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:16:38.170 - 01:16:43.190

R.T.: meal is going to come from, like, your mental struggles are a lot, so, and they matter. And ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:16:43.930 - 01:16:52.710

R.T.: it was a huge, I think, obstacle that I had to learn how to navigate and overcome, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:16:53.770 - 01:17:03.010

R.T.: and it changed me for the better. I mean, it helped me, I think, gain mental discipline in a healthy way, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:17:03.010 - 01:17:11.010

R.T.: but then also learn how to take care of myself without punishing myself for, I guess, struggling ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:17:11.010 - 01:17:17.630

R.T.: in the first place, you know. So yeah, the support systems here on campus are great from ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:17:17.630 - 01:17:20.150

R.T.: all angles and areas. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:17:20.150 - 01:17:24.640

E.B.: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I’m glad that that was, like, was available for you. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:17:24.640 - 01:17:28.150

R.T.: Yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:17:28.150 - 01:17:39.490

E.B.: Yeah. Yeah. So your living arrangements, while you’ve been here, you were in the dorms. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:17:39.590 - 01:17:43.350

E.B.: I guess people are in the dorms the first two years… ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:17:43.350 - 01:17:43.790

R.T.: Yeah, two years. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:17:43.790 - 01:17:46.970

E.B.: Yeah. And then, kind of navigating ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:17:46.970 - 01:17:54.410

E.B.: the off-campus housing after that. Like, what’s, what has all that been like, the whole ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:17:54.930 - 01:17:57.430

E.B.: dorm, and then, yeah, then housing situation. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:17:57.430 - 01:17:59.710

R.T.: I was scared. [Laughter] I was just like, “Oh my god, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:17:59.810 - 01:18:04.270

R.T.: what is this like?” Like, I don’t even know where to start. The Off-Campus ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:18:04.270 - 01:18:10.750

R.T.: Housing department, another great support system. They broke everything down so well, so easily. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:18:10.750 - 01:18:17.130

R.T.: Because at first, I was just, like, what do I even look for? How do I even know, like, apartments that ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:18:17.130 - 01:18:26.970

R.T.: are available and aren’t? And I think a huge worry for me was the finances. Because, you know, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:18:27.570 - 01:18:34.190

R.T.: thankfully, my tuition was, is being covered by, you know, FAFSA and scholarships here through Hopkins. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:18:34.550 - 01:18:40.210

R.T.: And I’m so, so extremely grateful for all of that. But you know, I didn’t have to worry ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:18:40.210 - 01:18:44.330

R.T.: about, like, the cost of, like, living in a dorm, because automatically, you know, Hopkins is like, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:18:44.330 - 01:18:49.350

R.T.: “Oh yeah, it’s through us, so we’re covering it, obviously.” But then it was, like, well, now I have ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:18:49.350 - 01:18:54.530

R.T.: to pay rent out of my pocket. I was like, “How do I do that?” And through the off- campus housing, they’re ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:18:54.610 - 01:18:58.290

R.T.: like, “Okay, talk to the financial aid.” And I asked them, I was just like, “Hey, like, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:18:58.350 - 01:19:04.390

R.T.: I’m just trying to get an idea of, like, this is what I’ve gotten aid in the last two years. Like, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:19:04.410 - 01:19:09.850

R.T.: what am I looking at getting, you know, in terms of off- campus housing, so I know, like, what my ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:19:09.850 - 01:19:15.290

R.T.: budget is, you know, for rent.” And that was super helpful, and it helped me, like, really ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:19:15.290 - 01:19:20.570

R.T.: organize, like, okay, what type of apartment do I want, but what’s the rent range that I want, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:19:21.090 - 01:19:26.550

R.T.: you know, utilities and all of that. And so once I had people tell me, like, “Okay, this is what we’re going ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:19:26.550 - 01:19:31.550

R.T.: to give you. This is what you should look for. These are your options,” it made life, like, so much ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:19:31.550 - 01:19:41.870

R.T.: easier. And then, yeah, I was able to find my current apartment through the off-campus housing ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:19:41.870 - 01:19:46.170

R.T.: connections. So they kind of give you, like, a packet, oh, these are all the closest, you ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:19:46.170 - 01:19:52.890

R.T.: know, apartment complexes nearby. These are like the utilities that they include or that they don’t. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:19:53.510 - 01:19:59.350

R.T.: And I knew I wanted, at first, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to live with, like a roommate or by myself. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:20:00.370 - 01:20:07.410

R.T.: But then again, I mentioned, like, I had a mishap with my first roommates or dorm mates, and so ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:20:07.490 - 01:20:11.250

R.T.: after that, I was just kind of like, “No, like, I’m going to live alone.” But I wanted to make sure, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:20:11.250 - 01:20:14.650

R.T.: you know, if I was going to live alone, I was going to live in like, a building that was relatively safe, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:20:15.010 - 01:20:21.370

R.T.: and, you know, was comfortable, obviously, and that I could afford by myself. And so I found my ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:20:21.370 - 01:20:28.030

R.T.: current apartment complex, and it was like a – it’s a very cute, like, studio apartment, and it’s like, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:20:28.030 - 01:20:36.030

R.T.: perfect size for just myself. And the financial support that Hopkins gives is, like, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:20:36.330 - 01:20:43.710

R.T.: just perfect. I’m able to, like, I guess, budget with, like, the money that they give. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:20:43.810 - 01:20:48.810

R.T.: So I already, like, set my rent money aside. And then with what I have left over, I like, divide it ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:20:48.810 - 01:20:54.350

R.T.: based on, you know, how many months there are in, like, the semester. So it was definitely less ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:20:54.350 - 01:20:58.990

R.T.: stressful than I thought it was going to be. I think the hardest part was moving into my apartment by ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:20:58.990 - 01:21:05.650

R.T.: myself. Because I got here so early, because I wanted time, you know, to put my belongings, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:21:05.650 - 01:21:11.510

R.T.: and arrange everything in my apartment, that none of my friends were on campus yet. So I had to go ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:21:12.110 - 01:21:21.130

R.T.: get everything out of my storage unit by myself, drive by myself, unload everything up four floors ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:21:21.910 - 01:21:29.690

R.T.: in and out of the car. But it wasn’t too bad. You know, it was just a lot, like, lifting, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:21:30.050 - 01:21:34.270

R.T.: you know, all of that stuff at the end of the day. I was, like, exhausted, but it wasn’t ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:21:34.270 - 01:21:41.810

R.T.: like, you know, extremely bad. [Laughter] So yeah, other than that, yeah, it was great. But then, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:21:41.830 - 01:21:47.950

R.T.: luckily, with my little tutoring job here on campus, I was able to keep my apartment for ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:21:47.950 - 01:21:49.910

R.T.: a 12-year lease, so that I wouldn’t have to move in and out over the summer. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:21:49.910 - 01:21:51.870

E.B.: Hmm. That’s ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:21:52.630 - 01:21:52.680

E.B.: good. Yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:21:52.680 - 01:21:59.190

R.T.: So yeah, it made things so much easier, so much better for my last year here. And yeah, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:21:59.250 - 01:22:01.650

R.T.: that was my experience with that. It wasn’t too bad. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:22:01.650 - 01:22:05.130

E.B.: Nice. Yeah. Yeah, I guess sort of talking about tutoring ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:22:05.130 - 01:22:12.930

E.B.: kind of leads into the next question about what kind of clubs you joined here, or activities, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:22:12.930 - 01:22:17.190

E.B.: and things that you’ve participated in while you’ve been here. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:22:17.190 - 01:22:19.450

R.T.: Yeah. So, and when it comes to ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:22:19.450 - 01:22:26.850

R.T.: clubs, I really tried really hard my first, like, two years here at Hopkins to get involved. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:22:28.190 - 01:22:34.990

R.T.: I’ve never been, like, a sorority, fraternity fan, so I never joined one of those. I’m very ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:22:35.150 - 01:22:42.070

R.T.: also, like, kind of picky with, like, you know, friends and stuff like that. And I hate parties. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:22:42.070 - 01:22:45.910

R.T.: Don’t like drinking or anything like this. I was just like, “Yeah, I’m going to stay away from that.” ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:22:48.010 - 01:22:52.830

R.T.: But I tried to get involved with some clubs here. I like, I remember I tried with, like, American ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:22:52.830 - 01:22:58.350

R.T.: Red Cross, but it just felt so superficial, because it’s such a big of a club, that they’re ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:22:58.350 - 01:23:04.530

R.T.: just like, “Okay, scan the QR code. You guys have to click on this link and sign up for a volunteer ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:23:04.530 - 01:23:09.170

R.T.: shift. Then you guys get your hours, and that’s it.” And you know, it was cool, because I was like, “Oh ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:23:09.170 - 01:23:14.650

R.T.: yeah, volunteer hours.” But then I was just like, “I want, like, an actual, like, deep ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:23:14.650 - 01:23:15.970

R.T.: relationship with people.” ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:23:15.970 - 01:23:16.270

E.B.: Yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:23:16.270 - 01:23:18.610

R.T.: And so after that, I kind of just stopped trying. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:23:19.670 - 01:23:26.170

R.T.: And then recently, which I think it’s fairly new, I started trying to be involved with ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:23:27.390 - 01:23:32.650

R.T.: Health, I think it’s called Health and Humanities club. I think they just started, like, within the ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:23:32.650 - 01:23:37.410

R.T.: last year. And I just attended, like, one of their Zoom meetings that they had with, like, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:23:37.410 - 01:23:42.790

R.T.: some medical students from a medical school. And it was really nice, because obviously, it’s ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:23:42.890 - 01:23:46.830

R.T.: like, same thing with, like, MSH, same type of concept, because they talked about, like, how ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:23:46.830 - 01:23:52.530

R.T.: they, as medical students now, like, still try to pursue the humanities and ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:23:52.550 - 01:23:55.630

R.T.: through all that stuff. And then, I remember, I also tried with this other club, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:23:56.130 - 01:24:01.770

R.T.: Humans in Health, where it’s basically, they basically just create, like, a magazine with like, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:24:01.850 - 01:24:06.330

R.T.: all these different interviews of like, different physicians, different professors here on campus ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:24:08.150 - 01:24:14.410

R.T.: relating to health humanities. But my hardest thing, too, besides, like, the superficialness of ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:24:14.410 - 01:24:19.650

R.T.: some of these clubs, was that the ones that I really liked, their meetings were at, like, 9 p.m. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:24:19.650 - 01:24:26.550

R.T.: And I was just, like, I hate being out that late. I live like two blocks away ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:24:26.550 - 01:24:31.670

R.T.: from campus, where there’s not even security guards anymore. And you know that area, it’s already ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:24:31.670 - 01:24:36.710

R.T.: like public and there’s like a main street. And you know, we’re always getting e-mails about, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:24:36.710 - 01:24:40.630

R.T.: like, “Two students were held at gunpoint. Two students were robbed” and all this stuff. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:24:40.730 - 01:24:44.570

R.T.: And I was just, I always tell myself, like, if you don’t need to be out at night, don’t. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:24:44.770 - 01:24:48.410

R.T.: It’s not worth the risk.” And my parents always told me the same, too, they’re like, “ ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:24:48.470 - 01:24:52.690

R.T.: Don’t be out late at night. If you have to, you know, get a Lyft, or get one of the Hopkins shuttles ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:24:52.690 - 01:24:58.890

R.T.: home directly.” And so I think that was the hardest part, that it was just, like, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:24:59.590 - 01:25:05.490

R.T.: when I got my own apartment, you know, as well, I wasn’t here at the library ‘till midnight anymore. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:25:05.490 - 01:25:09.350

R.T.: So I couldn’t, like, oh, just walk to the different building and then come back to the ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:25:09.350 - 01:25:14.950

R.T.: library, and then get picked up here at the library to go home. Because, you know, sometimes the ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:25:14.950 - 01:25:18.350

R.T.: shuttles, too, they take, like, 30 minutes to come show up. And so I was like, I’m not going to order a ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:25:18.350 - 01:25:22.390

R.T.: shuttle just to go to a meeting that’s going to be like ten minutes long, and then wait another ten ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:25:22.390 - 01:25:27.670

R.T.: minutes to go back. So I tried. I think for some people, it works really well. They’re always ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:25:27.670 - 01:25:29.590

R.T.: here on campus, but that’s not my type of lifestyle. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:25:29.590 - 01:25:30.950

E.B.: Yeah. Yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:25:30.950 - 01:25:33.430

R.T.: You know, and then, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:25:38.190 - 01:25:40.910

R.T.: now, I think, since when was it, 2020 – ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:25:42.470 - 01:25:49.790

R.T.: was it ‘22 or ’23? I think it was 2023, I started working as a Learning Den tutor ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:25:50.310 - 01:25:57.110

R.T.: here on campus for calc one and calc two. And I already had a prior experience tutoring. Oh, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:25:57.110 - 01:26:02.390

R.T.: I guess it was another thing, I forgot to mention high school, I tutored in high school. So I already had ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:26:02.390 - 01:26:08.670

R.T.: experience tutoring. And so I was, reached out to [by] the coordinator at the time because I had done ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:26:08.670 - 01:26:14.410

R.T.: really well in calc one and calc two. And I interviewed, and I got the job. And ever since then, I’ve been ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:26:14.410 - 01:26:20.470

R.T.: tutoring calc one and calc two, and I really enjoy it. I still do it. It’s my last semester, and it’s a ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:26:20.470 - 01:26:26.510

R.T.: little bittersweet, you know, because it became part of my routine by the semester. But, yeah, it’s been ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:26:26.510 - 01:26:32.930

R.T.: really nice. And, you know, you learn a lot, you meet people, you meet a lot of people. And my students ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:26:32.930 - 01:26:40.950

R.T.: are always freshmen every single semester, so it’s really nice that, like, I guess, I’m able to give them ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:26:40.950 - 01:26:46.190

R.T.: some sort of guidance in terms of, like, “Hey, you know what? Like, there’s these clubs, or, like, you should try ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:26:46.890 - 01:26:53.230

R.T.: this, or, you know, how are your other classes going? You know, try studying this way, this and that.” So ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:26:53.230 - 01:26:56.790

R.T.: it’s really nice to be, I guess, like a mentor. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:26:56.790 - 01:26:58.890

E.B.: Yeah, you can sort of pass on what you learned ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:26:58.890 - 01:27:04.130

E.B.: through your experience to them, so that they maybe hopefully have a little bit of an easier time. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:27:04.590 - 01:27:09.670

R.T.: Yeah, exactly. I use the lessons I learned so that they don’t have to learn them, hopefully. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:27:09.670 - 01:27:10.450

E.B.: Yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:27:10.670 - 01:27:14.050

E.B.: Could you talk a little bit about how you’ve spent your summers and your breaks? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:27:14.050 - 01:27:17.430

R.T.: Mm-hmm. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:27:18.990 - 01:27:25.450

R.T.: So my summer going into my sophomore year, which I think earlier, I might have said ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:27:25.450 - 01:27:28.950

R.T.: junior, so that was inaccurate. Summer going into my sophomore year here is ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:27:30.050 - 01:27:37.410

R.T.: when I interned at that pediatric clinic back in my hometown. It was a great experience. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:27:37.770 - 01:27:46.730

R.T.: I learned a lot. I was finally able to, like, put my medical assisting skills to use. You know, I ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:27:46.730 - 01:27:53.110

R.T.: was, like, giving vaccines to these kids. It was really scary, at first, especially with, you know, the little, little ones. Like, I keep saying, there’s ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:27:53.110 - 01:27:57.950

R.T.: things that in medicine that, like, you don’t – you can’t learn in the classroom, but like, also, like, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:27:58.530 - 01:28:04.130

R.T.: you know, when we were trained to give injections you use, like, a dummy. It’s like this little, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:28:04.130 - 01:28:09.330

R.T.: like, Play Doh thing, or, like, you give them to each other. And so, like, you know, it becomes, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:28:10.430 - 01:28:13.450

R.T.: I guess, second nature, in a sense, where, like, you don’t have to think about it. You’re just like, okay, bevel ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:28:13.450 - 01:28:21.030

R.T.: up, pinch, and then go. But you’re never trained how to give it to like a crying ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:28:21.030 - 01:28:26.570

R.T.: toddler. And so I remember the first time I tried to give it to a toddler, she wasn’t even ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:28:27.190 - 01:28:34.150

R.T.: that much of a toddler. She was probably, like, maybe six years old. But she started crying, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:28:34.150 - 01:28:44.090

R.T.: and I didn’t realize that when a child – when anybody cries, but really mainly when a child cries, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:28:44.770 - 01:28:51.490

R.T.: their muscles tense up. And so, you know, you try to put a vaccine when the muscles are tense, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:28:51.770 - 01:28:56.570

R.T.: the needle’s going to break or it’s not going to go in. And so I remember the first time it happened ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:28:56.570 - 01:29:01.390

R.T.: to me, the needle wouldn’t go in. And obviously, I didn’t want to, like, force it. But I was, like, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:29:01.390 - 01:29:04.080

R.T.: it’s not going in, so I gave up. And we had to give that patient probably four vaccines in total. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:29:04.080 - 01:29:06.770

E.B.: Oh, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:29:07.230 - 01:29:07.310

E.B.: yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:29:07.310 - 01:29:13.290

R.T.: So we gave two and two, and then I think the very last one, I couldn’t give. And I felt so ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:29:13.290 - 01:29:18.790

R.T.: defeated, and I thought, like it was my fault. And luckily, the MA, who was basically training me, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:29:18.850 - 01:29:22.170

R.T.: she was just like, “No, no, no. Like, it’s okay. We just have to chart it, you know, to make sure, like, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:29:22.390 - 01:29:27.090

R.T.: we say, like, it didn’t go in, and, like, this was the one that wasn’t given.” But, like, things like ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:29:27.090 - 01:29:31.050

R.T.: that was, like, eye opening. And I was like, dang, I didn’t realize, you know, sometimes, you have to ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:29:31.050 - 01:29:33.940

R.T.: time vaccines really well. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:29:33.940 - 01:29:33.990

E.B.: Yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:29:33.990 - 01:29:39.710

R.T.: But then also I learned that you have to be very patient in pediatrics, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:29:40.250 - 01:29:43.910

R.T.: sometimes, not just with like the babies or the kids, or sometimes, you know, with the parents. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:29:44.070 - 01:29:50.150

R.T.: I had this one patient, her and her family had just moved from Australia to California, so they ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:29:50.150 - 01:29:55.730

R.T.: were getting all caught up on, like, vaccines and stuff. And this girl, I want to say she was maybe ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:29:55.730 - 01:30:01.730

R.T.: eight to ten years old, super scared of needles, which is fine. You know, some people, people have their ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:30:01.730 - 01:30:09.970

R.T.: phobias. But before I started giving vaccines, when I was still watching the MAs ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:30:09.970 - 01:30:16.390

R.T.: give vaccines, the ones that always stuck with me were when either the kids or the parents, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:30:16.910 - 01:30:23.550

R.T.: they were so, like, traumatized when they had to, like, pin the kid down, and just give the vaccine, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:30:23.550 - 01:30:30.590

R.T.: so that they could get in and get out. And so when I started seeing that, I was like, “Whoa. This is not ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:30:30.590 - 01:30:35.890

R.T.: how I would want this to go.” Because I started thinking, like, if that was my kid, I would say, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:30:36.010 - 01:30:42.150

R.T.: like, “Hey, hey, like, let’s, let’s calm them down first,” so that, you know, like, as they grow up, it doesn’t ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:30:42.150 - 01:30:43.710

R.T.: get worse. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:30:43.710 - 01:30:43.760

E.B.: Right. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:30:43.760 - 01:30:46.830

R.T.: But then also, like, sometimes there’s parents out there that they’re like, “You made my ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:30:46.890 - 01:30:53.990

R.T.: kid cry, and you know, we’re going to have a problem now.” And so with this girl, that even though she ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:30:53.990 - 01:31:00.430

R.T.: was on the older side, you know, she just moved to the States. And obviously, you ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:31:00.430 - 01:31:04.750

R.T.: know, healthcare in America is completely different than healthcare somewhere else. I was like, I know ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:31:04.750 - 01:31:11.230

R.T.: she’s nervous, just in general. And the fact that, when she was, she told us, she told me, and ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:31:11.230 - 01:31:16.850

R.T.: my, I guess, my supervisor, medical assistant, she’s like “I’m scared of needles.” But her mom was like, “No, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:31:16.890 - 01:31:21.390

R.T.: but, like, you have to get it. Like, we’ll get it. It’ll be fast and it’s fine.” And again, I didn’t want to traumatize ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:31:21.390 - 01:31:26.930

R.T.: her, especially being new in America. This is not the impression I want to give you. And so I ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:31:26.930 - 01:31:32.530

R.T.: was trying to be super, super patient. And I was like, okay, I walked her through it, and I was like okay, look, I’m ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:31:32.830 - 01:31:37.370

R.T.: just going to clean you. Don’t touch it. And then whenever you tell me you’re ready, we’ll go. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:31:37.850 - 01:31:42.490

R.T.: And so we went through it a while. She would be like, “Okay, go.” And then she’d be ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:31:42.490 - 01:31:47.050

R.T.: like, “No, no, no, no”, and hesitate away. And I’d be like, “You know what? Take your time. You know, we’re ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:31:47.050 - 01:31:54.890

R.T.: ready.” And finally, in the moment where she, I think her mom came to, like, stand next to her, so that ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:31:54.890 - 01:31:59.290

R.T.: she couldn’t walk away. So I was like, “Okay, like, if you get nervous, press into your mom. But, like, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:31:59.650 - 01:32:04.710

R.T.: relax your arm, because then it’s going to hurt more.” And finally, I was able to give it to her, and she ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:32:04.710 - 01:32:09.350

R.T.: was like, “Oh, that wasn’t that bad.” And I was like, okay, you know, it was a relief for ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:32:09.350 - 01:32:16.230

R.T.: her to say that, like, she wasn’t traumatized. And she wasn’t, like, freaking out. But then after ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:32:16.230 - 01:32:21.550

R.T.: that, literally, that patient, my supervisor, was like, “You’re so patient with people.” And I’m like, “ ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:32:21.790 - 01:32:27.170

R.T.: Well, yeah, like, I don’t want to traumatize these people.” You know, it’s crazy. And then you know, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:32:27.190 - 01:32:32.410

R.T.: it even, like, uped my credibility, because after that, they no longer felt like they had to supervise ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:32:32.410 - 01:32:35.670

R.T.: me to give vaccines. They were just like, “Hey, can you give this to, like, patient, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:32:35.730 - 01:32:41.650

R.T.: two, whatever.” And it was fine. I never, I still didn’t grow the guts to, like, give it to the ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:32:41.650 - 01:32:46.410

R.T.: babies, because I was like, no, no, no, like, I need to, like, watch it first to time it well. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:32:46.650 - 01:32:51.750

R.T.: So even today, like, I’m still, if I ever go back into pediatrics, like, I have to keep that in mind, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:32:51.790 - 01:32:58.270

R.T.: and make sure that, like, I time it right. But working in that clinic taught me a lot, because ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:32:58.270 - 01:33:06.250

R.T.: there’s even patients that, you know, their parents didn’t speak a drop of English. And ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:33:06.250 - 01:33:10.610

R.T.: sometimes, the doctor was just wasn’t empathetic, and he was, he basically treated them as if they were, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:33:10.650 - 01:33:15.150

R.T.: like, dumb. And I was just like, “No, like, they just, you can’t speak their language, and they ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:33:15.150 - 01:33:20.770

R.T.: can’t speak yours. What’s wrong with that?” And so, you know, I learned a lot of those types of things. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:33:20.770 - 01:33:28.250

R.T.: And I think seeing how even the slightest bit of compassion changes the way someone ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:33:28.730 - 01:33:34.410

R.T.: feels towards doctors, and nurses, and medical assistants. It really makes you think like, “Hey, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:33:34.590 - 01:33:41.990

R.T.: like you have to change the way that you are with some people.” Because, you know, for some ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:33:41.990 - 01:33:47.870

R.T.: people, medicine is life or death. And for us, medicine is a job, and it’s not black and white ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:33:47.870 - 01:33:54.550

R.T.: all the time, you know. But after that summer, I tried to then volunteer at my local hospital ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:33:56.050 - 01:34:01.470

R.T.: as a volunteer, not as a medical assistant. But it fell through, because they had to do like ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:34:01.590 - 01:34:05.810

R.T.: a background check. And I was there, I was only at home for like two months, and it literally ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:34:05.810 - 01:34:12.550

R.T.: took a month and a half to get the background going. So that fell through. And it kind of sucks, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:34:12.550 - 01:34:18.390

R.T.: and it’s kind of one of my biggest regrets, because the reason why I stayed that summer in ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:34:18.390 - 01:34:23.630

R.T.: California was to do the volunteer work because my mom and my grandma went to El Salvador, back to El Salvador for ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:34:24.230 - 01:34:29.410

R.T.: the first time. My mom, it was her first time back in El Salvador from when she moved to the States. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:34:29.850 - 01:34:29.900

E.B.: Wow. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:34:29.900 - 01:34:33.430

R.T.: So it was almost, like, 30 years. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:34:33.430 - 01:34:33.480

E.B.: Wow. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:34:33.480 - 01:34:37.010

R.T.: And she really wanted me to go, but I was too much in the ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:34:37.010 - 01:34:41.050

R.T.: mindset where I was like, “No, I have to get volunteer hours.” And, you know, I have to start ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:34:41.050 - 01:34:44.590

R.T.: looking good for medical school. And the fact that I didn’t even end up volunteering, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:34:46.210 - 01:34:49.450

R.T.: it’s just something that, like, I always say, like, “Damn. Like, why didn’t I just go?” ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:34:49.930 - 01:34:54.070

R.T.: And then, now, it doesn’t seem like my grandma will be healthy enough to go back. So it’s one of those ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:34:54.070 - 01:34:58.270

R.T.: things where it’s just, like, you know, it didn’t go the way that I wanted. I know that in the back of – deep ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:34:58.650 - 01:35:03.110

R.T.: in my mom’s heart, she’ll always hold it against me. And, you know, sometimes I’m just ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:35:03.290 - 01:35:09.130

R.T.: like, that’s not fair, but at the same time, just, like, I understand. But I think that taught me that, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:35:10.690 - 01:35:16.570

R.T.: sometimes, you have to choose family over careers, and, you know, volunteer hours and things like ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:35:16.570 - 01:35:23.510

R.T.: that, because now I’ll never get that back. And I think it really made me appreciate my time ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:35:23.510 - 01:35:29.890

R.T.: with my grandmother more. Because right after she came back from that trip is when her health really ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:35:29.890 - 01:35:37.170

R.T.: just went downhill. And that’s when I was just like, “You know what? Like, I’m not going to put ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:35:38.370 - 01:35:45.270

R.T.: something that can be done later, when I could be spending time with somebody that once they’re ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:35:45.270 - 01:35:51.010

R.T.: gone, they’re gone.” And so that was the mentality that I took with me this past summer. I didn’t ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:35:51.010 - 01:35:56.210

R.T.: really, I didn’t do anything this past summer because my grandmother’s health, we were ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:35:56.210 - 01:36:03.170

R.T.: preparing for end-of- life care. And I was, I told myself, I was like, “No, like, nothing else is ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:36:03.170 - 01:36:10.210

R.T.: more important in life now than being here with her at this moment.” You know, luckily even Hopkins, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:36:10.330 - 01:36:15.510

R.T.: through outreach support, was able to fund a flight back home for me for spring break, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:36:15.530 - 01:36:20.250

R.T.: because we really thought she had weeks, days left, and I was able to go home and at least see her. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:36:20.310 - 01:36:25.970

R.T.: Because I was like, if she’s going to go, like, I at least want to say goodbye. And so she’s ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:36:25.970 - 01:36:32.810

R.T.: stable now. You know, it’s still, you know, up and down, back and forth. But I think that these last ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:36:32.810 - 01:36:38.210

R.T.: few summers have taught me a lot, that, you know, sometimes it’s not – those sort of things just aren’t ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:36:38.210 - 01:36:39.230

R.T.: worth it. Yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:36:39.230 - 01:36:43.190

E.B.: Yeah. It sounds like you’ve learned a lot about, like, your relationship ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:36:43.190 - 01:36:48.130

E.B.: with your family versus relationship with, like, studies and career. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:36:48.130 - 01:36:49.130

R.T.: Definitely. Yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:36:49.130 - 01:36:49.490

E.B.: Yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:36:49.490 - 01:36:49.810

R.T.: And I ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:36:49.810 - 01:36:59.470

R.T.: think it’s some it’s a hard lesson to just learn or even realize when you attend a university that’s ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:36:59.470 - 01:37:04.990

R.T.: so prestigious like this, because I’ve met people that they’re just, like, “No, medicine and ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:37:04.990 - 01:37:11.610

R.T.: academics are my blood sweat and tears. I wake up, and it’s school. And I go to sleep, and ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:37:11.610 - 01:37:18.610

R.T.: it’s school.” And I think you lose a lot of sense of humanity in that sense, or you forget, like, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:37:18.610 - 01:37:24.790

R.T.: what’s important in life. And I think it sucks that for some people that are like that, it will take ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:37:24.790 - 01:37:26.860

R.T.: a death, or, you know, some sort of traumatic thing to occur. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:37:26.860 - 01:37:29.490

E.B.: Tragedy of some kind. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:37:29.490 - 01:37:31.010

R.T.: Yeah, it shouldn’t ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:37:31.010 - 01:37:37.830

R.T.: be that way. And one of my closest friends now, she also went through the same similar thing, where one ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:37:37.830 - 01:37:47.110

R.T.: of her, one of her grandparents, passed away in the recent years. So, you know, we’re able – ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:37:47.590 - 01:37:52.050

R.T.: knowing that she also has the same mentality where she’s like, “Yeah, some things just aren’t ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:37:52.050 - 01:37:57.230

R.T.: worth it, because once your family’s gone, they’re gone.” It really reassured me, like, you know what? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:37:57.270 - 01:38:02.350

R.T.: No, it’s not that, like, you’re not smart enough, or you’re not dedicated enough. It’s just that, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:38:02.350 - 01:38:08.670

R.T.: you know, life is so short. And sometimes, you don’t realize how short it is until you really, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:38:08.790 - 01:38:11.210

R.T.: you’re counting down the hours. Yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:38:11.210 - 01:38:15.810

E.B.: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that’s a really valuable perspective, I ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:38:15.810 - 01:38:16.210

E.B.: think. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:38:16.210 - 01:38:18.670

R.T.: Yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:38:18.670 - 01:38:25.730

E.B.: Yeah. This is sort of shifting gears a little bit. But were there any, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:38:26.470 - 01:38:33.290

E.B.: like, specific programs, or initiatives, and you talked a bit about these, but sort of ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:38:33.290 - 01:38:41.790

E.B.: specifically as first-gen, FLI, what were there specific programs or initiatives that ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:38:41.790 - 01:38:50.030

E.B.: you found helpful, and what can the university do, in your opinion, to increase support for first- ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:38:50.030 - 01:38:52.510

E.B.: gen and FLI students? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:38:52.510 - 01:39:00.390

R.T.: I think some of the – so I’m not 100 percent sure, like, how FLI is directly ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:39:00.390 - 01:39:11.770

R.T.: correlated with some of the programs here. But I know for, specifically, for pre-med, some of the big ones are JUMP, and then, obviously, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:39:11.770 - 01:39:16.710

R.T.: like the pre-health advising office. I know they have great, you know, seminars where they bring either physicians or medical students, or ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:39:16.710 - 01:39:22.670

R.T.: even, like medical school, I guess, like, admissions officers to come and speak to us, which ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:39:22.670 - 01:39:31.290

R.T.: is super helpful. And just recently, which it might be totally my fault on this end, but the pre-health ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:39:31.290 - 01:39:38.410

R.T.: newsletter that they send out, they have like internship opportunities on there ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:39:38.580 - 01:39:42.660

R.T.: posted of, like, all these jobs, or just these internships that you can have, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:39:42.660 - 01:39:47.720

R.T.: like, all across the country. And you know, they have, like, all these connections that they give ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:39:47.720 - 01:39:55.160

R.T.: us students, you know, to try and take advantage of. And I didn’t know, I never started ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:39:55.160 - 01:40:00.420

R.T.: checking these newsletters until recently, which might be totally my fault. Because they only ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:40:00.420 - 01:40:05.340

R.T.: send it out through e-mail. But I think also, too, with some of like these other programs that I’ve ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:40:05.340 - 01:40:10.180

R.T.: heard on campus, I feel like there’s more that they can do to get it out there. Because I have ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:40:10.180 - 01:40:16.660

R.T.: friends that they’re like, “Oh, I didn’t even know that, like, we had access to these sorts of things.” ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:40:16.660 - 01:40:22.760

R.T.: Like, you know, like we can get a committee letter through the pre- health office for ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:40:22.760 - 01:40:28.660

R.T.: med school. And I think, recently, I think it was one of my friends, or, if not, was just a classmate, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:40:29.020 - 01:40:34.980

R.T.: where she was just like, “I didn’t even know that we had to get a committee letter.” And so, sometimes, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:40:34.980 - 01:40:40.680

R.T.: I, you know, I go back and forth, and think, like, oh, you know, maybe some of these offices should ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:40:40.680 - 01:40:46.140

R.T.: do a little more to get students aware of these things. Because you know, there’s ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:40:46.140 - 01:40:47.930

R.T.: some people, sometimes, like me, I don’t check my email. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:40:47.930 - 01:40:49.840

E.B.: Yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:40:49.840 - 01:40:51.520

R.T.: Or, like, some of the stuff that just looks ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:40:51.520 - 01:40:55.880

R.T.: like spam, like I’m not checking it. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:40:55.880 - 01:40:57.760

E.B.: Even as a staff member, I think I miss some, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:40:57.760 - 01:41:01.900

E.B.: sometimes. It seems like, it’s, like, this is just a – you know. Yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:41:01.900 - 01:41:03.660

R.T.: So, sometimes, I feel like there’s a little ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:41:03.660 - 01:41:09.860

R.T.: more that they could do. But at the same time, you know, they’re there. And you know, there are people who do ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:41:09.860 - 01:41:16.300

R.T.: check their e-mail, who, you do go through newsletters, you know, like, I think they’re able to take advantage ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:41:16.300 - 01:41:21.100

R.T.: of such great opportunities that are really hard to get, you know, on your own. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:41:21.100 - 01:41:21.580

E.B.: Are there other, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:41:21.580 - 01:41:28.220

E.B.: like, sort of mediums that might – do you feel like would be better, like people pay more attention to, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:41:28.220 - 01:41:31.420

E.B.: or? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:41:31.420 - 01:41:38.340

R.T.: Let me think. So here’s my take. I always am checking Instagram more than my e-mails, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:41:38.820 - 01:41:41.270

R.T.: so I find out about a lot of the campus events through Instagram. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:41:41.270 - 01:41:43.880

E.B.: Yeah. Yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:41:43.880 - 01:41:46.180

R.T.: So, sometimes I feel like, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:41:46.380 - 01:41:57.440

R.T.: especially with, like, the pre-health newsletter, like, I don’t know, I think they’re either weekly or monthly. I think they’re ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:41:57.440 - 01:42:04.680

R.T.: weekly. Either, like, you know how someone posts weekly on Instagram. People are checking that more nowadays. Or ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:42:06.100 - 01:42:08.310

R.T.: I just know that there’s, like, a better way. Put up flyers. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:42:08.310 - 01:42:10.420

E.B.: Yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:42:10.420 - 01:42:12.740

R.T.: Sometimes, when I walk through, I think ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:42:12.740 - 01:42:18.760

R.T.: it’s the Gilman tunnel, like I find them about stuff, more about stuff there, more easily than I do, you ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:42:18.760 - 01:42:29.260

R.T.: know, looking through emails, or, I don’t know. Sometimes, some groups, let me think, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:42:30.360 - 01:42:37.260

R.T.: I know sometimes JUMP does, like, table side events where, like, you know, they’re just giving ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:42:37.260 - 01:42:41.780

R.T.: out candies, or, like, pencils and stuff like that. And it’s in like, those exact ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:42:41.780 - 01:42:44.480

R.T.: moments where they’re like, “Hey, we’re having this, like, next week. You should come.” ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:42:44.480 - 01:42:44.740

E.B.: Yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:42:44.740 - 01:42:44.940

R.T.: I think ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:42:44.940 - 01:42:50.780

R.T.: that’s super helpful. You know, like, every time I see, like, stickers or snacks at like a table, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:42:50.960 - 01:42:52.520

R.T.: like, I’m there. [Laughter] ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:42:52.520 - 01:42:52.570

E.B.: Yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:42:52.570 - 01:42:55.640

R.T.: You know, like, I feel like that would be a great way, too, because obviously ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:42:55.640 - 01:42:59.440

R.T.: everybody’s always, like, walking around campus and stuff like that. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:42:59.440 - 01:43:00.740

E.B.: Yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:43:00.740 - 01:43:02.260

R.T.: So yeah, I think ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:43:03.040 - 01:43:08.440

R.T.: there’s definitely opportunities. I think some of them can be communicated a little better, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:43:09.060 - 01:43:11.340

R.T.: but I think they’re definitely very helpful. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:43:11.340 - 01:43:11.740

E.B.: Yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:43:11.740 - 01:43:11.940

R.T.: Yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:43:14.920 - 01:43:22.180

E.B.: Has the political climate or have any social movements impacted your time here at Hopkins? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:43:23.760 - 01:43:30.380

R.T.: Well, I think recently, with the election. It’s gone a little crazy here. I remember the day of, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:43:31.500 - 01:43:37.360

R.T.: when they announced that Trump was going to be president, it felt like the whole campus went silent. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:43:37.360 - 01:43:43.700

R.T.: Like, it was a little scary. Like, you just could feel like the weight of the world on everybody ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:43:43.700 - 01:43:50.780

R.T.: here. It was devastating, honestly, because it just, I don’t know, it felt like ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:43:53.580 - 01:44:00.300

R.T.: we’re part of an institution that’s so big and so grand, and yet, even like that, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:44:00.300 - 01:44:07.740

R.T.: we weren’t able to do anything. And then recently, first, when I started getting e-mails ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:44:07.740 - 01:44:13.100

R.T.: about how faculty and staff and students here are getting nervous because, you know, funding is being ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:44:13.100 - 01:44:19.720

R.T.: cut, that was when it first hit again, where it was, like, this is getting closer and closer to me ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:44:19.720 - 01:44:25.940

R.T.: on a personal level. And then there is this, I think it was maybe like a few weeks later, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:44:26.620 - 01:44:33.240

R.T.: I have a classmate in one of my current classes that she works as, like, a student representative. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:44:34.220 - 01:44:40.860

R.T.: And she came into class just like – we use this word in Spanish, it’s, like, desesperada. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:44:41.880 - 01:44:46.980

R.T.: She was like, almost panicked in a way. Like, you could just tell on her face, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:44:46.980 - 01:44:50.980

R.T.: like, she just had been through it. And we were like, “What happened? Like, what’s going on?” ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:44:51.720 - 01:44:55.960

R.T.: And she was just like, “People are freaking out. People are coming to me, and asking for answers. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:44:56.480 - 01:45:03.220

R.T.: I don’t know what to tell them, because we don’t have answers. People are asking me am I going to get fired since I don’t have ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:45:03.220 - 01:45:09.440

R.T.: funding. Do I throw away my project on this?” And we were just like, “Oh my god, this is becoming so much bigger ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:45:09.440 - 01:45:11.800

R.T.: than we even think it is.” ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:45:11.800 - 01:45:12.220

E.B.: Yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:45:12.220 - 01:45:16.520

R.T.: And then, you know, I started seeing posts through, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:45:16.580 - 01:45:22.220

R.T.: I think it was either through Hopkins U or the Hopkins Hospital, that, you know, some of the ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:45:22.220 - 01:45:26.620

R.T.: medical research being done at the hospital had to stop, and that’s lifesaving ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:45:27.640 - 01:45:33.940

R.T.: research. And you know, it’s with things like that where it really just, it hits you in the gut, and you’re ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:45:33.940 - 01:45:41.160

R.T.: just like, “Well, like, what can I do? You know, what is there even anything for me to do,” you know. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:45:41.360 - 01:45:46.740

R.T.: And then you know, with some of the, I guess, social political movements, you know, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:45:46.820 - 01:45:50.680

R.T.: there’s people that protest on campus, and I fully believe that they have the right ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:45:50.680 - 01:45:58.340

R.T.: to do so, you know. I think, sometimes, because there are people that, you know, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:45:58.620 - 01:46:05.200

R.T.: as soon as they get the hint that you either don’t support their movement, whether it’s ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:46:05.200 - 01:46:09.300

R.T.: because you support the opposite, or you just don’t want to get involved, or you just don’t fully ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:46:09.300 - 01:46:14.180

R.T.: understand it, so you don’t really know where you stand, they become defensive. I think, sometimes ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:46:14.180 - 01:46:21.160

R.T.: I’ve had moments where with some classmates, or even some peers of peers, that they can get ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:46:21.160 - 01:46:28.640

R.T.: aggressive when you start showing those sorts of things. And when discussing some of the social ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:46:28.640 - 01:46:32.500

R.T.: movements, I tend to just kind of keep my mouth shut because I’m just like, I don’t ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:46:32.500 - 01:46:37.440

R.T.: want this to turn bad, and have it be my fault. And I didn’t even, like, intend to do that because, like, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:46:37.440 - 01:46:44.140

R.T.: with a lot of, like, for example, when the protests and everything that was happening with, like, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:46:44.140 - 01:46:50.620

R.T.: everything happening in Gaza, I tried to, like, understand it, you know, to the best of my ability. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:46:50.760 - 01:46:57.840

R.T.: But even today, like, I can’t fully, and it’s just because, like, I’ve never, even before college, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:46:57.880 - 01:47:01.800

R.T.: like, I’ve never been able to fully understand, like, government and politics and all that. It’s just, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:47:01.800 - 01:47:09.520

R.T.: it’s so hard for me to, like, connect the dots. And I hate that sometimes people just think, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:47:09.520 - 01:47:14.840

R.T.: like, oh, well, because you’re not educated, you know, like, you just you don’t support people, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:47:14.840 - 01:47:18.200

R.T.: or you support people being killed. I’m like, no, that’s not it at all. It’s just sometimes, like, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:47:18.740 - 01:47:23.000

R.T.: the same way some people don’t understand calculus, like, I just can’t understand politics ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:47:23.000 - 01:47:28.480

R.T.: at all. And so I think it’s sometimes when there’s tension in the air, it gets a little nerve-wracking. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:47:28.480 - 01:47:35.840

R.T.: You just don’t want things to end badly. But it’s not all the time, thankfully. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:47:36.780 - 01:47:42.640

R.T.: There are moments where, like, it gets a little nerve-wracking, because you just don’t know when ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:47:42.640 - 01:47:47.920

R.T.: to hold your tongue, and when to not. But I think especially with, you know, these budget ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:47:47.920 - 01:47:52.880

R.T.: cuts that are happening. And I have friends that, you know, with the Education Department ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:47:52.880 - 01:47:59.300

R.T.: being dismantled, they’re like, “Well, if I don’t get FAFSA, like, I can’t attend Hopkins.” And I was ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:47:59.300 - 01:48:03.460

R.T.: just like, “I can’t believe these are decisions we have to make.” I’m thankful that, you know, like, I’m ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:48:03.460 - 01:48:08.980

R.T.: graduating, at least I have, I will have my bachelor’s in my hand. But you know, with these underclassmen ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:48:08.980 - 01:48:16.220

R.T.: that I have connections with, and you know, they’re first-gen, it’s really hard having to hear ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:48:16.220 - 01:48:20.480

R.T.: them say that. They say, like, “I don’t know if I can continue going here if I don’t get FAFSA.” ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:48:20.480 - 01:48:27.140

R.T.: And they don’t deserve it. And it’s very hard to even know what to say in those moments. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:48:27.300 - 01:48:30.080

E.B.: To just have to contemplate that that’s the reality that we’re living. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:48:30.080 - 01:48:31.560

R.T.: Yeah, it almost makes me feel guilty, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:48:32.100 - 01:48:36.560

R.T.: because I’m just like, oh, well, you know, I don’t have to worry about that. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:48:36.560 - 01:48:42.780

R.T.: But it’s just, like, but I attended here. And just because I was born earlier, or I attended here ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:48:42.780 - 01:48:47.360

R.T.: earlier, like it’s something – that’s a problem I don’t have to deal with. So yeah, I think ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:48:47.360 - 01:48:50.760

R.T.: that’s where I’m at with those types of things. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:48:52.780 - 01:49:00.320

E.B.: On a local level, what has your relationship with Baltimore been like? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:49:00.320 - 01:49:00.370

R.T.: Love this city. [Laughter] ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:49:00.370 - 01:49:00.700

E.B.: Yeah. [Laughter] ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:49:00.700 - 01:49:00.980

R.T.: I love this city. I love this city. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:49:05.640 - 01:49:13.200

R.T.: I’ve already started to like mentally prepare to say goodbye with graduation coming around. Ah, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:49:13.200 - 01:49:19.560

R.T.: I love this city so much. In November, I brought my dad because ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:49:19.560 - 01:49:27.460

R.T.: he hadn’t come to visit me yet in college, and I was able to get Ravens tickets super ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:49:27.460 - 01:49:29.270

R.T.: cheap, and it was Ravens versus Broncos. And he’s a huge Broncos fans, I was like, “Dad, let’s go.” ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:49:29.270 - 01:49:31.070

E.B.: [Laughter] ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:49:31.070 - 01:49:32.880

R.T.: So ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:49:32.900 - 01:49:38.860

R.T.: I flew him out for like three days. And it was, like, the first time since, like, freshman year, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:49:38.860 - 01:49:43.180

R.T.: that I was really [able to] just sightsee in Baltimore with him, because obviously, like, I wanted to ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:49:43.180 - 01:49:49.820

R.T.: show him, like, all these different things. And in those moments where we were just kind of like ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:49:49.820 - 01:49:54.200

R.T.: walking around, and I was just like telling him, like, “Oh yeah, hey, Dad, this happened here, like, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:49:54.200 - 01:50:00.080

R.T.: when I was with this friend,” or like, “I ate this here, or this restaurant is really good.” ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:50:00.460 - 01:50:04.680

R.T.: I don’t know. I think it was when I started realizing, like, I’m going to have to say goodbye to ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:50:04.880 - 01:50:11.180

R.T.: this place soon, and it’s a bittersweet. Because, first of all, transportation here is ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:50:11.180 - 01:50:16.820

R.T.: great. California public transportation sucks. [Laughter] So I love how I get to take, you know, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:50:16.880 - 01:50:25.140

R.T.: the bus everywhere, like, walk everywhere. But there’s so much culture here, and there’s so ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:50:25.140 - 01:50:34.280

R.T.: much history and stories here, and it’s definitely been an experience. You know, the ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:50:34.440 - 01:50:39.940

R.T.: Ravens game was one thing. I’ve never been to – I think I’ve gone to, like, two other ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:50:39.940 - 01:50:48.540

R.T.: NFL football games. And I’ve never been to one where you don’t hear people ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:50:49.240 - 01:50:56.280

R.T.: being aggressive, ready to fight and being mean to each other. Here, everybody was so kind, and, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:50:56.600 - 01:51:03.520

R.T.: you know, so, acting like everybody was family. You know that Baltimore culture. You know, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:51:03.520 - 01:51:08.240

R.T.: even like the conversations that I hear on the bus, you know, between people, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:51:08.820 - 01:51:15.720

R.T.: and how people, you know, small talk on the street, it’s so beautiful. And then ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:51:16.260 - 01:51:22.880

R.T.: there’s so much to do here. I mean, I love the National Aquarium. I love – I took my dad to walk ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:51:22.880 - 01:51:29.340

R.T.: all of, like, from Fells Point to Inner Harbor, and like, the sites were just, you know, incredible. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:51:30.840 - 01:51:38.740

R.T.: And this semester, I’m taking a documentary class where we have to make our own film ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:51:39.220 - 01:51:46.320

R.T.: regarding transportation justice. And so my character, or subject for the film, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:51:46.580 - 01:51:51.880

R.T.: she’s Hispanic and comes from Highlandtown. And I never, like, really spent that much time there, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:51:51.980 - 01:51:55.840

R.T.: like I knew of it, but I’ve only gone there once or twice. And so, now, that I have to keep going back ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:51:55.840 - 01:52:02.020

R.T.: and forth for our film, and you know, having to interact with her, her neighbors and her family, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:52:02.820 - 01:52:08.060

R.T.: it definitely created, like, a deeper level of connection to the city, especially that, you know, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:52:08.160 - 01:52:15.200

R.T.: like it’s a Hispanic community, and being able to interact with a tight Hispanic community ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:52:15.200 - 01:52:22.580

R.T.: on a different part of the world, you know, it’s so nice, and it’s a beautiful relationship. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:52:23.820 - 01:52:28.520

R.T.: So yeah, Baltimore will always be a second home to me. Yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:52:28.520 - 01:52:29.820

E.B.: Do you feel like ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:52:30.880 - 01:52:37.080

E.B.: you were able to experience the city as a result of, like, your own initiative. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:52:37.840 - 01:52:45.260

E.B.: Was it sort of, did you have to, kind of, like, seek that out yourself, or? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:52:45.260 - 01:52:45.310

R.T.: Yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:52:45.310 - 01:52:46.100

E.B.: Yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:52:46.100 - 01:52:47.000

R.T.: I think it was a little ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:52:47.000 - 01:52:52.460

R.T.: both, because obviously, here, people on campus are like, “Hey, you should go visit, like, this place ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:52:52.460 - 01:53:01.260

R.T.: or this restaurant, or, you know, go walk around, you know, this neighborhood.” So at first, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:53:01.260 - 01:53:05.340

R.T.: it started off like that, because I was too scared to go venture out into the city by myself, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:53:05.500 - 01:53:11.100

R.T.: you know. And then, you know, through friends. And then I, they started showing me, like, “Hey, you ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:53:11.100 - 01:53:17.500

R.T.: know, this is a good spot.” Or, like, “You can walk through here, and, like, go here.” That’s when I started ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:53:17.500 - 01:53:20.940

R.T.: letting go a little bit. And it wasn’t really untill recently, it wasn’t untill within, like, the last ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:53:21.040 - 01:53:26.600

R.T.: maybe year and a half that I really started to, like, go and look out into the city. And then, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:53:26.600 - 01:53:31.820

R.T.: once I finally got comfortable, you know, I started, like, looking up by myself. And, you know, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:53:32.140 - 01:53:37.000

R.T.: things would pop up on, like, Instagram or TikTok of like, “Hey, this is, like, the one of the top ten ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:53:37.000 - 01:53:42.770

R.T.: restaurants in Baltimore, top ten coffee shops in Baltimore.” So it was definitely both. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:53:42.770 - 01:53:42.970

E.B.: Yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:53:43.360 - 01:53:50.620

R.T.: And it’s kind of nice to know that I have both of those connections, because then everything ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:53:50.620 - 01:53:54.680

R.T.: has, like, a story behind it. Because, like, now, one of my favorite restaurants in, like, Little Italy ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:53:54.680 - 01:53:59.460

R.T.: was because one of my best friends here told me about it. And we went to go eat there for the ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:53:59.460 - 01:54:04.620

R.T.: first time – or my first time, together. And it was really, it’s really nice to always, like, know that, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:54:05.500 - 01:54:07.160

R.T.: that I have that little story to tell. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:54:07.160 - 01:54:09.160

E.B.: Yeah, that association with somebody. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:54:09.160 - 01:54:10.190

R.T.: Yeah. Yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:54:10.190 - 01:54:10.390

E.B.: Yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:54:10.760 - 01:54:22.920

E.B.: That’s really cool. I’m debating, I might stop –. So would you like to share your plans ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:54:22.920 - 01:54:28.400

E.B.: for the future, academic, professional, personal? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:54:28.400 - 01:54:32.280

R.T.: Yeah. So current plan after Hopkins, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:54:32.280 - 01:54:39.360

R.T.: right after graduation, I plan on starting to study for the MCAT right after, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:54:39.640 - 01:54:47.880

R.T.: and hopefully take it around either February or April of 2026, so that I can then apply ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:54:47.880 - 01:54:54.560

R.T.: right after, and then hopefully start medical school fall of 2027. And then ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:54:54.560 - 01:55:02.060

R.T.: at the meantime, also try and work as either a medical assistant or as a medical scribe to get, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:55:02.060 - 01:55:06.040

R.T.: you know, those clinical hours, but also that clinical exposure, again, because I’ve been out ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:55:06.040 - 01:55:12.440

R.T.: of practice for a while. But then also, I think, especially, mainly, the rest of this year, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:55:12.620 - 01:55:18.540

R.T.: especially this summer, going back to that whole conversation with, like, family over business, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:55:19.160 - 01:55:24.000

R.T.: I really want to enjoy these last – or at least, you know, these next few months with my grandmother. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:55:24.500 - 01:55:30.260

R.T.: Because her health is just so unpredictable right now, that I just really want to take advantage, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:55:30.260 - 01:55:36.420

R.T.: that now I’m able to move back home, and, you know, spend as much time as I can with her, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:55:36.420 - 01:55:44.420

R.T.: being away from home for these four years. I’ve been trying to start this little cookbook ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:55:44.420 - 01:55:50.520

R.T.: from her, because she’s taught me so many recipes throughout my entire lifetime. So now, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:55:50.760 - 01:55:55.640

R.T.: I officially like want to document them, to have them for the rest of my life. I even ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:55:55.640 - 01:56:03.440

R.T.: already got her a book, I think, last year, where it basically asks her. So she’s a ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:56:03.560 - 01:56:05.770

R.T.: huge word search person. So I constantly am buying her word search books to keep her entertained. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:56:05.770 - 01:56:09.180

E.B.: [Laughter] ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:56:09.180 - 01:56:10.180

R.T.: So I bought her this ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:56:10.180 - 01:56:14.380

R.T.: one that it was, like, tell me the story of your life. And it basically asked her, like, a bunch of ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:56:14.380 - 01:56:18.320

R.T.: questions. She has to write like her answer to them. And I told her, I said, “You have to finish this ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:56:18.320 - 01:56:22.420

R.T.: book before you leave this Earth. Like you’re not allowed to leave this Earth until ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:56:22.420 - 01:56:30.600

R.T.: you finish it.” So I need to go home and make sure that she finishes it. And, yeah, I think just ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:56:31.480 - 01:56:37.080

R.T.: get back to, you know, living life, back at home, being close to family. And ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:56:37.920 - 01:56:43.840

R.T.: I think the huge thing is going to be finding that balance with work and life and relationships. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:56:44.340 - 01:56:48.540

R.T.: You know, I think that’s a huge worry that I have right now, is, like, how am I going to have ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:56:48.540 - 01:56:52.720

R.T.: enough time for everybody? Because I have, you know, have my immediate family, then I have my ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:56:52.720 - 01:56:57.280

R.T.: partner, and then I have my best friend and her family. And we all live within, you know, like, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:56:57.280 - 01:57:05.140

R.T.: probably, like, 10, 15 miles of each other. But, you know, once schedules get busy, it’s going to be ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:57:05.140 - 01:57:11.680

R.T.: really hard. And I don’t want to become that person that is always saying, like, “Oh, well, I’m busy. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:57:11.800 - 01:57:15.680

R.T.: I can’t see you,”, or, “I’ll see you whenever I see you.” That’s kind of the route that my brother took, and ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:57:15.680 - 01:57:20.960

R.T.: it’s been really hard on me and my mom recently, because especially that, like, he’s, you know, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:57:21.020 - 01:57:26.080

R.T.: once my dad, you know, starts to age, and you know, all that, so he’s supposed to be, technically, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:57:26.080 - 01:57:33.400

R.T.: the head of the household. It’s been really hard to get him to, I guess, realize that, hey, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:57:33.460 - 01:57:41.500

R.T.: like, you still have a family to worry about. And it’s caused me to, I guess, step up a lot, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:57:41.500 - 01:57:46.420

R.T.: especially with my grandmother’s health, step up a lot in the house, in terms of, you know, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:57:46.640 - 01:57:51.860

R.T.: helping my mom take care of her. And, you know, we always try, and, like, exchange shifts. So I’m, like, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:57:52.000 - 01:57:56.200

R.T.: okay, either, like, you put her to bed today, or, like, I’ll get her out of bed today, or you cook her ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:57:56.200 - 01:58:02.540

R.T.: lunch, or I cook her breakfast and all that stuff. So dealing with that, too. So definitely ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:58:02.540 - 01:58:06.640

R.T.: finding that balance is going to be a lot, but I’m excited to be back home, you know. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:58:06.640 - 01:58:07.640

E.B.: Yeah. Yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:58:07.640 - 01:58:08.140

R.T.: And then ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:58:08.140 - 01:58:15.520

R.T.: I mean way after that, I think, also just trying to find, you know, ways I can continue ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:58:15.520 - 01:58:22.380

R.T.: to be involved with health humanities, again. You know, I spent so much time doing film stuff here. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:58:22.540 - 01:58:27.580

R.T.: Like, I don’t want to have to let that go. One of my friends recently was like, “Dude, why don’t you ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:58:27.580 - 01:58:33.280

R.T.: like videograph weddings on the weekend?” And I was like, “Oh, that’s such a good idea.” I’m like, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:58:33.280 - 01:58:35.640

R.T.: “What if I do do it?” ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:58:35.640 - 01:58:35.690

E.B.: [Laughter] ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:58:35.690 - 01:58:40.360

R.T.: So, I don’t know, we’ll see. Maybe I could get involved with like camera work ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:58:40.360 - 01:58:47.360

R.T.: again. Oh, but then I definitely, definitely want to try and coach soccer going back home. And I ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:58:47.360 - 01:58:52.500

R.T.: already got in contact with one of my, one of my old coaches. And she was like, “Oh, I’m so for, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:58:52.520 - 01:59:01.820

R.T.: you know, former players helping, you know, younger girls get, you know, involved ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:59:01.820 - 01:59:06.660

R.T.: with not just the sport, but like seeing how the sport, you know, reaches other parts of life all ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:59:06.660 - 01:59:11.420

R.T.: the time.” She’s like, “You know what, hit me up when you’re back in the city, and I’ll see where ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:59:11.420 - 01:59:16.900

R.T.: we can put you.” So I’m really excited for that, because you know how I already shared with ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:59:16.900 - 01:59:21.980

R.T.: you that soccer was such a huge part of my life, and taught me things outside of the sport. I want ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:59:21.980 - 01:59:30.580

R.T.: to be able to do the same thing with others, you know, and try to find that like, I guess, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:59:30.580 - 01:59:36.160

R.T.: mini me, in a sense. Where if I see a player, that she’s showing the same type of mentality that ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:59:36.160 - 01:59:41.440

R.T.: I struggle with, you know, sit her down, say, “Hey, you know what? It’s not that serious. You’re ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:59:41.440 - 01:59:47.260

R.T.: okay.” That’ll be really exciting. I wish I could go back to playing again, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:59:47.260 - 01:59:54.320

R.T.: but I know my body is just like, “You’re done. You’re done for the lifetime. You did a good ten ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:59:54.320 - 01:59:58.700

R.T.: years. And now, you’re good.” So, hopefully, coaching will be fun. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:59:58.700 - 02:00:00.880

E.B.: Yeah, that’s a great…so ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:00:01.860 - 02:00:10.720

E.B.: when you do end up in, in med school, do you have any ideas about where you might apply, or? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:00:11.480 - 02:00:15.420

R.T.: I want to try and stay in California, you know, just be close. I think, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:00:15.940 - 02:00:22.400

R.T.: with where I am now, I would say that I’ve been away from home enough, you know, at least for ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:00:22.400 - 02:00:28.440

R.T.: now. So I want to try and stay home, you know, at least for med school. For residency, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:00:28.780 - 02:00:35.280

R.T.: we can move across the country again if we want, you know, but again, my mom, she’s such ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:00:35.460 - 02:00:41.720

R.T.: the type of person where she’s like, “No, if the best is somewhere else you have to go.” ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:00:42.440 - 02:00:47.040

R.T.: So I don’t know. We’ll see. I definitely won’t limit my options to California, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:00:47.880 - 02:00:53.680

R.T.: but if I can, I would love to stay. If not, I mean, you know, who ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:00:55.220 - 02:00:57.770

R.T.: knows? Maybe I’ll drag my mom with me, or at least my boyfriend, and say, “Hey, you’re coming with me.” ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:00:57.770 - 02:01:01.020

E.B.: [Laughter] ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:01:01.020 - 02:01:02.880

R.T.: But we’ll see. Yeah, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:01:03.220 - 02:01:03.480

R.T.: I think… ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:01:03.480 - 02:01:05.660

E.B.: That familial support. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:01:05.660 - 02:01:07.320

R.T.: Yeah, especially with med school, oh my goodness. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:01:07.320 - 02:01:08.220

E.B.: In med school, yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:01:08.220 - 02:01:09.180

R.T.: I’ll say, “Mom, cook me dinner, please.” ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:01:09.740 - 02:01:09.790

E.B.: [Laughter] ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:01:09.790 - 02:01:15.600

R.T.: Yeah, because my brother also recently moved to Colorado ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:01:15.600 - 02:01:21.540

R.T.: almost three years ago. So, you know, I went from being able to see him, like, every couple ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:01:21.540 - 02:01:28.560

R.T.: weekends, or, you know, every couple months, to now, like, when we can afford a flight, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:01:28.880 - 02:01:35.180

R.T.: then we’ll see him. And that’s already hard. And I just, I don’t think I want to already start that ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:01:35.180 - 02:01:41.020

R.T.: type of pattern with my parents, and, you know, my friends and family. So, hopefully I can convince my ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:01:41.020 - 02:01:43.480

R.T.: mom. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:01:43.480 - 02:01:43.530

E.B.: [Laughter] ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:01:43.530 - 02:01:46.360

R.T.: We’ll see. Yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:01:46.360 - 02:01:50.860

E.B.: After all the years you’ve spent here, how would you summarize your time? And ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:01:50.880 - 02:01:53.290

E.B.: that’s kind of a tricky question, I know. [Laughter] ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:01:53.290 - 02:01:55.160

R.T.: Putting four years into a sentence. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:01:55.160 - 02:01:58.120

E.B.: Yeah. Yeah, or a paragraph, or, you know, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:01:58.160 - 02:01:58.820

E.B.: it doesn’t have to be. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:01:58.820 - 02:02:06.340

R.T.: My four years here at Hopkins, I think, let me start off with, like, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:02:06.340 - 02:02:12.160

R.T.: big words that I would describe it. I think my four years here would definitely be – ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:02:12.160 - 02:02:23.720

R.T.: the words I would use to describe it would be growth, discipline. Probably – ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:02:26.920 - 02:02:31.480

R.T.: I lost the word. I think ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:02:35.460 - 02:02:45.200

R.T.: experimental. There are a lot of lessons learned. And I think, sometimes, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:02:46.060 - 02:02:51.480

R.T.: something that people don’t tell you before going to college, about going to college is that ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:02:52.180 - 02:02:57.320

R.T.: not only are you going to learn about academics, you’re going to learn a lot about life. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:02:57.320 - 02:03:05.920

R.T.: And I think, in the middle of everything you know, with personal struggles, family struggles, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:03:07.600 - 02:03:14.240

R.T.: health struggles, both with myself, and you know, with, you know, my grandmother back at home, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:03:16.200 - 02:03:26.520

R.T.: I felt like I was having to, at some point, make decisions as a 20-year- old that I should be making ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:03:26.520 - 02:03:35.140

R.T.: as a 40 or 50-year-old. And it was really hard. And, obviously, you know, it’s not like that for ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:03:35.140 - 02:03:39.880

R.T.: everybody. You know, not everybody’s college experience is going to be that way. But I think ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:03:39.880 - 02:03:41.820

R.T.: mine was definitely like that. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:03:41.820 - 02:03:42.740

E.B.: Yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:03:42.740 - 02:03:48.520

R.T.: And I think, so with some of the studies that I was able to do, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:03:48.540 - 02:03:54.680

R.T.: it also allowed me to learn a lot about my family and my family’s history, because, obviously, my ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:03:54.680 - 02:04:00.680

R.T.: parents don’t talk about their experience in El Salvador, and what it was like during the war. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:04:00.860 - 02:04:05.260

R.T.: You know, it was really hard and it was graphic. You know, they were in high school, and suddenly, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:04:05.820 - 02:04:09.810

R.T.: you know, they were seeing things that no one should have to see. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:04:09.810 - 02:04:10.010

E.B.: Yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:04:11.920 - 02:04:20.920

R.T.: But I think it made me appreciate where I am in life, not just physically, but also, you know, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:04:20.920 - 02:04:27.900

R.T.: with the opportunities I have. Like, I get to study, you know, here at this great institution, and, you know, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:04:28.060 - 02:04:33.380

R.T.: I’m following my dreams, and I don’t have to worry about a lot of the things that my parents had to. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:04:36.080 - 02:04:44.600

R.T.: But I think it was also challenging, but both in a good way, and sometimes in a bad way, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:04:46.760 - 02:04:55.980

R.T.: just because when there’s no warning, and there’s no one to check up on you, sometimes, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:04:56.740 - 02:05:02.000

R.T.: it can become a little scary, and it can become a little dangerous for some people. You know, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:05:02.020 - 02:05:06.160

R.T.: I was able to identify when I was borderline, when I was like, no, no, no, something’s not right. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:05:07.940 - 02:05:12.480

R.T.: But, you know, I encourage people like, hey, something’s not feeling right, you feel like ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:05:12.480 - 02:05:17.800

R.T.: you need to reach out to something or somebody, do it. It’s, you know, better safe than sorry. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:05:19.540 - 02:05:25.960

R.T.: When I went back home, over winter break, I went to go visit a former sixth grade teacher, and she ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:05:25.960 - 02:05:30.880

R.T.: was telling me that they had lost three students to suicide. And I was just, like, there’s no way ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:05:30.880 - 02:05:39.560

R.T.: that this is happening in elementary schools, you know. And I think it can be as bad, or even worse ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:05:39.560 - 02:05:44.540

R.T.: here at college, and some people forget that those things happen, or, you know, some students ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:05:44.540 - 02:05:46.950

R.T.: don’t realize that that’s what they’re experiencing. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:05:46.950 - 02:05:47.340

E.B.: Yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:05:47.340 - 02:05:51.780

R.T.: And I think Hopkins has taught ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:05:51.780 - 02:05:59.780

R.T.: me a lot about not just myself, but the real world, about, obviously, the different sides of ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:05:59.780 - 02:06:08.320

R.T.: medicine that exist, that I think need to be researched further. But then, I think it also ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:06:08.320 - 02:06:15.760

R.T.: just has made me look at life differently, in a way that I don’t think I would have ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:06:16.640 - 02:06:22.600

R.T.: been able to gain that perspective had I not come here. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:06:22.600 - 02:06:22.760

E.B.: Yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:06:22.760 - 02:06:23.160

R.T.: Yeah, so… ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:06:23.160 - 02:06:23.970

E.B.: Yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:06:23.970 - 02:06:25.800

R.T.: That’s my paragraph. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:06:27.320 - 02:06:27.370

R.T.: [Laughter] ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:06:27.370 - 02:06:36.060

E.B.: [Laughter] Overall, would you recommend Hopkins to other first- gen students, and what advice would you give ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:06:36.060 - 02:06:37.180

E.B.: them? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:06:37.180 - 02:06:42.420

R.T.: Definitely. I’m actually currently trying to mentor a family friend back home that was trying ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:06:42.420 - 02:06:50.180

R.T.: to apply. And she’s a first-gen. And I think talking, specifically, with someone like her, I always tell ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:06:50.180 - 02:06:58.060

R.T.: her, “Don’t stress.” I’m like – with someone like her age, who is still in high school, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:06:58.140 - 02:07:04.100

R.T.: like, “You’re not even 20 years old yet.” I’m 22 right now. And I still think about how, you know, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:07:04.100 - 02:07:08.860

R.T.: some people that are graduating with me this year, they’re going into med school being 22 ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:07:08.860 - 02:07:15.520

R.T.: years old. I’m, like, I can’t even imagine being a doctor at 22. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:07:15.860 - 02:07:19.940

R.T.: Because then, I think, I’m just like, if I was a patient, and I saw a 22-year-old coming to treat me, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:07:20.040 - 02:07:31.480

R.T.: I would be like, “Whoa. Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” So I think a huge thing that I would tell others is you’re so much younger ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:07:31.480 - 02:07:39.100

R.T.: than you think you are, and there’s still so much that you don’t know. With the family ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:07:39.100 - 02:07:44.800

R.T.: friend that I’m trying to guide a little bit, you know, she’s telling me that she wants to ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:07:44.800 - 02:07:51.360

R.T.: be some sort of medical technician that works, like, the echo machines. And she’s like, set, dead on. And ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:07:51.360 - 02:07:56.420

R.T.: I constantly tell her, like, “Hey, look, there’s other options. I’m not trying to say, like, what ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:07:56.420 - 02:08:02.380

R.T.: you’re going in for is bad. But, you know, come in with an open mind. I changed my degree. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:08:05.560 - 02:08:12.380

R.T.: I changed what I wanted to study, in general, the type of mentality I wanted to carry as a physician. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:08:14.180 - 02:08:22.260

R.T.: And you should do that, too. And you know, life isn’t that serious. It’s really not. It’s not life or death. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:08:22.260 - 02:08:28.240

R.T.: You know, a couple bad grades, not going to change the course of your life.” And I even ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:08:28.240 - 02:08:32.820

R.T.: tell some of my calc students here, I’m like, “You’re going to be fine. You’re going to ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:08:32.820 - 02:08:38.200

R.T.: be fine. If you get a C or a D in a class – I got two C’s and a D in my class. And, you know, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:08:38.580 - 02:08:41.300

R.T.: we’re going to make it work. There’s always a way to make it work.” ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:08:42.760 - 02:08:50.140

R.T.: And you know, college is where you learn about yourself at the same time that you learn about ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:08:50.140 - 02:08:55.560

R.T.: the field that you’re trying to go into. And it’s your chance to explore the world. Especially for those who ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:08:56.340 - 02:09:02.300

R.T.: never left home, this is your time to learn about the world, because then the world is going to ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:09:02.300 - 02:09:04.300

R.T.: teach you something about yourself. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:09:04.300 - 02:09:05.860

E.B.: Yeah. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:09:05.860 - 02:09:08.920

R.T.: So I would encourage people to come here. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:09:09.020 - 02:09:15.240

R.T.: Challenge yourself. Know your limits, but then always – don’t be scared to push past your limits. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:09:18.180 - 02:09:23.940

R.T.: And yeah, I think a model that I always go by, and that I always try to tell other people is ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:09:24.220 - 02:09:29.740

R.T.: fear is just a reason to try harder. So you could be a little scared, yeah, but don’t be afraid to, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:09:29.740 - 02:09:33.900

R.T.: you know, jump off that bridge, sometimes. [Laughter] ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:09:33.900 - 02:09:43.200

E.B.: [Laughter] Well, thank you so much for taking the time to do this interview ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:09:43.200 - 02:09:50.300

E.B.: today. Is there anything else you want to add before we close? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:09:50.300 - 02:09:51.980

R.T.: Well, I think just thank you to ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:09:51.980 - 02:09:56.480

R.T.: you, Elizabeth, for sitting down here with me, hearing my story and my family stories. And ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:09:57.600 - 02:10:03.660

R.T.: thanks to Hopkins for all the opportunities that they’ve given me, and all the, you know, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:10:03.660 - 02:10:10.300

R.T.: projects that my name will be a part of forever. It’s been a blast. [Laughter] ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:10:13.280 - 02:10:23.100

R.T.: And yeah, you know, I am excited to now become a Hopkins alumni soon. And yeah, thank you so much. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

02:10:23.220 - 02:10:23.580

E.B.: Thank you. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠