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K.D.: This is Kristen Diehl here with S.P. on March 17th , 2023, at the Eisenhower Library for the first-generation ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.D.: college student oral histories. We would like to start this interview by acknowledging ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.D.: the impact of COVID-19 on the Hopkins community. The questions in this interview were written before ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.D.: the coronavirus pandemic and therefore do not directly ask how the consequences of this public ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.D.: health crisis changed the experiences of our students. However, we thought it was necessary ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.D.: to begin our interview with a couple of questions related to the pandemic in order to recognize ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.D.: the particularly challenging experiences and changes these students faced. So, our first question is ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.D.: how do you feel the coronavirus pandemic has impacted your undergraduate experience? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.D.: What are some challenges or changes it caused for your personally? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: Okay, so the pandemic and the ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: lockdown for school for here at Hopkins happened in my freshman spring semester, so it ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: was still my freshman year, and I was still adjusting to being a Hopkins student. It was pretty much – ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: I was thinking about it, and it was a month after a friend of mine died here on campus. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: That was something that I was also dealing with at the same time, and then also some health ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: scares. It was like, “What’s happening?” and then the pandemic happened. Then I grew up in Jamaica ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: and came here to the U.S. pretty much after high school and so, I have family here, but it wasn’t ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: like the same bond that I had back home in Jamaica. I was scrambling to figure ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: out where am I going to go, what am I going to do. At first, it was – the school said we could ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: stay here on campus. It was like, “That’s great.” Three days later, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: they were like, “Oh, no, you’ve got to go.” That was a struggle to figure out where I’m going ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: to go. I did stay with an uncle for a couple months, and then I moved down to Florida to stay ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: with my aunt. Luckily, I had a safe place to be. Then the summer that followed after ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: was crazy – summer of 2020. But yeah, the pandemic, I think on a social sphere, it kind of like ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: halted my means to integrate with the community at Hopkins as much as I’d want ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: to. I’ve always been very shy, a bit introverted. So, it was kind of hard for me to make friends ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: my freshman year. I did have a couple of close friends. But yeah, I think even coming back ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: from the pandemic, it was kind of hard to readjust to being a Hopkins student. How do I ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: engage with the Hopkins community, especially being a shy person? So, I don’t ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: know. I feel like there was lots of growing and learning that happened in those months. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: I don’t know. How did it impact me? I’m trying to think of anything else. I don’t know. Yeah, I ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: think socially definitely was challenging. Familywise, trying to figure out where to go ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: was challenging as well, but I’m happy that I did have a safe place to stay and I was with ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: family in the end. I was safe overall. Then when I did get back to Hopkins and got ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: back to campus, I was able to see friends I hadn’t seen in months, so that was nice. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: And then get back into the groove of being a student here at Hopkins. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.D.: How did you find remote teaching and taking courses during the quarantine period? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: That was a ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: challenge. Because I’ve never – obviously, many of us had never done something like that before. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: It was pretty much me being – trying to stick to routines and trying to establish routine ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: for myself so that I wouldn’t get too lazy. In that semester, freshman – fall – no sorry, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: spring 2020, I think I started out pretty good. I was able to get a groove ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: and go to my classes and not skip them, do my homework and ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: everything. Then by the time fall came around, fall of 2020 – yes, fall of 2020 [laughter], ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: it was harder. I took orgo 11 online and that was just like the professor wasn’t working ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: with me, like, the way the class was being taught, the lectures. I was rolling out of ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: bed five minutes before class and skipping some classes. So that was an ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: adjustment. Not having the right tools and devices and having other ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: people in the house at the same time and trying to navigate through that. It’s ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: like, “Oh my gosh. This is so hard.” You think probably it might be a bit easier. You’re ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: just going to turn your computer screen on and get the work done. It really isn’t. I wasn’t ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: prepared for that. Luckily, Hopkins did have – because if you’re on financial aid, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: you had access to computer grants. So, I got an iPad and some noise-cancelling ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: headphones during that time which was really great. So, I’m happy at least ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: Hopkins stepped in at that point to assist with that especially for students who ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: were probably low income. That much I appreciated. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.D.: Yeah, I didn’t know that. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.D.: Those sound really necessary and helpful. If we move backwards in time, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.D.: you mentioned that you’re from Jamaica, could you tell us where you were born and a little ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.D.: bit about your family? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: Yeah, so I grew up in Jamaica, went to high school there all the way up to – ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: well, we have 13 grades – all the way up to the 13th grade. My family is from there. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: Both my parents are from Jamaica. I lived in a house with two more aunts, and two more younger cousins and ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: we were just all women in the same house, like six of us in a small three-bedroom house. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: To be honest, I never felt like I was in need of anything. I felt ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: very comfortable growing up. My dad didn’t live with me because my parents were never married, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: but I would still see him very often. We have a good relationship. So, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: I don’t know. My mom – my parents were really invested in my education. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: “Education is the key.” That was their whole thing. From very young, I was getting ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: Smart Alec books and the games that you play online that are more educational than ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: I don’t know, like Minecraft or something else. It was more educational-based ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: games, and so that was a very big investment from my childhood. I excelled really well in ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: school. I went to a preparatory school, a prep school, which is the equivalent to an ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: elementary school. Then I went to high school in Jamaica, one of the best in the country, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: if I do say so myself. I did very well there in high school. I won a couple ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: awards like nationally and regionally for the Caribbean. And I think I really had a good ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: foundation family-wise and education-wise. It set me up to really succeed at ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: Hopkins. At least in that first year, it was – that first semester was really good at Hopkins, to be ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: honest. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.D.: Nice. Could you tell me a little bit more about your parents’ educations and also just ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.D.: their occupations or their professions? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: Yeah, so none of my parents went to a four-year ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: college or got their bachelor’s degree, so they’re both like I think high school diploma. I ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: know my mom took a bunch of classes afterwards. I don’t know what they were ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: called – ABE classes that were in finance or something. I don’t know if they were like Associates ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: degrees or I don’t think it was a Master’s program. No, definitely not, but ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: she did that way later in life, back when I was still in high school. I remember her doing ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: those exams. She works as someone with data entry/accountant type of role at ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: a law firm. She did that up until 2019. She was doing that for over two decades, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: but then in 2019, the company – even before the pandemic actually, yeah, the company got ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:08:05.140 - 00:08:09.400

S.P.: dissolved and moved and everything. So, she lost her job. It’s been hard for her since ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: then. She hasn’t gotten a job of equal value since then. Seeing her go through that ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: has been hard, especially when you’re about to go to college, and it’s a couple ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: months before you go to college, and your mom loses her job. And when she’s the main person who ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: was supporting you, that was hard to see. My dad, similarly, he did high school and I think ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: he was also taking classes. I think right now – he’s here in the U.S. with me. I think he’s ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: doing some Master’s program right now. I’m honestly – I don’t ask him that much. I know he ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: didn’t go to a four-year college or get a Bachelor’s degree. He was also in ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: accounting and when he came to the U.S., it was really hard for him to get a job because he ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: didn’t have a Bachelor’s degree. I remember him working – it was hard for him to find ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: jobs that were similar to what he did back in Jamaica. I think that was very challenging ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: for him, and eventually he started a retail job, and then he had another job with [redacted], ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: which was some type of accountant thing. So, at one point, he had two jobs and now he’s working ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: somewhere else, and he’s given up the retail job. He’s getting his things on track. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: It’s kind of weird because usually, that’s what you expect of the person who is just coming ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: out of college, or even just out of high school if they don’t want to go to college. If ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: you’re in your 20s and you’re trying to figure things out and you’re doing multiple ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: things at once and seeing him do that when he’s almost 50 is – it’s a weird experience. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: I sympathize with him heavily for it because I know it’s probably very hard ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: for him to move from somewhere where he was pretty comfortable and was able to ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: get by to somewhere where he’s constantly challenging – challenged. But yeah. I think I ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: answered your questions. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.D.: Definitely. Thank you. Could you speak a little bit more about the town or the area you ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.D.: grew up in? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: I lived in a residential area. It’s in a – it’s hard to translate because it’s not ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:10:05.960 - 00:10:10.960

S.P.: in the U.S. Jamaica’s divided into parishes, and I lived in a parish called ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: St. Catherine and in a town called Spanish Town. So, I lived in a community, very residential ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:10:17.360 - 00:10:24.540

S.P.: area in Spanish Town. That’s where I grew up my entire life up until ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: 18 before I moved off to college. Very – I was going to say a quiet neighborhood, but ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: that’s not true. Boys on the street would be playing all the time. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: It was lively in its own way. I had lots of neighbors who were around the same age as I. So ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: also, friends growing up at that time. I didn’t go to school in the community though. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: I went to school in another parish and had to traverse one to two hours in the morning ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: to get to school. When I tell my friends here, they’re like, “What?” I’m like, “Yeah, that’s just normal.” ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: Yeah, it was a nice neighborhood. I felt very safe there. Yeah, we were in the family home, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:11:03.080 - 00:11:09.380

S.P.: so I also had my cousins who I was growing up with. Yeah, I liked growing up there. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.D.: In terms of high school, what was high school like? You mentioned winning some awards. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.D.: Could you talk about extracurriculars you were involved in or different ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.D.: areas of study that were interesting to you? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: I think from elementary school level, I was always a high achiever. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: In Jamaica, it works like you go to the sixth grade, and you do a national exam that everyone ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: does and then they place you into a school based on your results. So, I got very high results, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: and got to a school, my first-choice school. I got to that high school, and I was with other ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: people who were also the top of their schools, which is also an adjustment, because I was no longer ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:11:50.760 - 00:11:57.680

S.P.: at the top of my class. But they had a big emphasis on academic rigor and I think ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:11:58.240 - 00:12:06.500

S.P.: it challenged me in some good ways. I developed a really strong like for the biological ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:12:06.500 - 00:12:12.740

S.P.: sciences. So, biology specifically, I was really interested in. That was really my main ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: thing throughout, and at the time I was thinking, “Oh, I’m going to be a doctor.” That was a ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:12:17.740 - 00:12:22.780

S.P.: childhood dream. So that was the track I was on. Doing the sciences like ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:12:22.780 - 00:12:27.700

S.P.: bio-chem. I dropped physics after the 10th grade. I hated it so much [laughter]. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: But that was really my focus, and then I had a couple positions like leadership roles. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:12:36.980 - 00:12:40.580

S.P.: We had things called prefects and subprefects, which were really ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: hall monitors in a sense if you want to make an equivalent to the U.S. You go around ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:12:44.760 - 00:12:48.780

S.P.: and tell people, “Oh, don’t do that.” Write them up if they’re doing something they’re ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:12:48.780 - 00:12:53.500

S.P.: not supposed to do. I was deputy head girl at one point. So ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: going up the rank in that sense in leadership. Then extracurriculars, I did ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:12:58.980 - 00:13:04.700

S.P.: badminton. I think I did netball for a little bit. I don’t remember to be honest. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:13:05.220 - 00:13:09.960

S.P.: I liked netball but I never did netball. That’s a sport. I don’t know if Americans know what netball is. [laughter] ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:13:09.960 - 00:13:11.200

K.D.: No, I don’t. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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S.P.: It’s like basketball but for women. So, it was really ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:13:19.100 - 00:13:24.700

S.P.: that, and I was in the astronomy club at one point, just a bunch of after-school ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:13:24.700 - 00:13:31.320

S.P.: things. We had Interact which was like Rotary, like a volunteer type of thing. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:13:31.320 - 00:13:36.500

S.P.: I think it was pretty – I didn’t do too many extracurriculars after a certain ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:13:36.500 - 00:13:40.900

S.P.: time because having to make a two- hour journey home and two hours in the morning ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:13:40.900 - 00:13:46.080

S.P.: and also do homework, it was so hard. There were things I did because I needed to ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:13:46.080 - 00:13:51.660

S.P.: have it on my record to say – show the colleges that I am involved on campus. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:13:51.660 - 00:13:56.220

S.P.: So, I had my leadership roles. I had some extracurriculars, but it was mainly ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:13:56.220 - 00:14:01.580

S.P.: focusing on my academics and making sure those were up to par. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:14:01.580 - 00:14:02.420

K.D.: Sure. How did your parents ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.D.: feel, and how did you feel about the college application process, thinking about where ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

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K.D.: you were going to go? Did you always imagine going to school in the United States, and how did you ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:14:11.640 - 00:14:14.380

K.D.: choose Hopkins ultimately? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:14:14.380 - 00:14:17.100

S.P.: The college application process was the most confusing thing ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:14:17.100 - 00:14:23.100

S.P.: ever and I would never want to do it again. Trying to figure out the Common App, especially – ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:14:23.100 - 00:14:27.820

S.P.: it’s one thing when your parents have never been to college, but then also a college outside of ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:14:27.820 - 00:14:32.400

S.P.: Jamaica or in a different country altogether. We were all very ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:14:32.400 - 00:14:35.800

S.P.: confused about how the process worked. I remember getting very frustrated with my mom ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:14:35.800 - 00:14:39.000

S.P.: because she couldn’t help me. Of course, she can’t help me. She’s never ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:14:39.000 - 00:14:44.740

S.P.: done this before. But I was definitely frustrated. I didn’t really have many resources to help. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:14:44.740 - 00:14:50.540

S.P.: My school had a college counselor, and I would get help from her. Then lots of my peers were ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:14:50.540 - 00:14:55.460

S.P.: also applying to schools in the U.S. So, I would probably ask them questions every now and then. It ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:14:55.460 - 00:15:01.520

S.P.: was still a very confusing process. I remember the CSS profile was dreadful. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:15:01.520 - 00:15:06.400

S.P.: How do you – we don’t have the same tax forms or stuff like that to give ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:15:06.400 - 00:15:13.720

S.P.: financial information that your schools require. So that was really confusing. There were more ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:15:13.720 - 00:15:14.540

S.P.: parts to your question. Can you repeat it please? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:15:14.540 - 00:15:19.600

K.D.: Yeah, in terms of which schools you were looking at, were you always ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:15:19.600 - 00:15:23.920

K.D.: thinking of going to school in the U.S.? Were you looking at any schools in Jamaica? How you ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:15:23.920 - 00:15:25.700

K.D.: ultimately ended up choosing Hopkins. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:15:25.700 - 00:15:30.340

S.P.: Okay, thank you. Yeah, that was my big ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:15:30.340 - 00:15:36.700

S.P.: thing when I was in sixth form or 13th grade, trying to figure out where to go ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:15:36.700 - 00:15:44.080

S.P.: because as I said, I had always wanted to be a doctor growing up. But then, when I was 17 – ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:15:44.080 - 00:15:52.500

S.P.: 2017, that’s when I heard I was going to be moving to the U.S., because my uncle and my dad had been ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:15:52.500 - 00:15:57.780

S.P.: doing this process to try and get us migrated to the U.S. for years. I didn’t really know ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:15:57.780 - 00:16:01.940

S.P.: about it until I was 17. “Oh yeah, now you’re migrating to the U. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:16:01.940 - 00:16:06.380

S.P.: S.” I’m like, “Wait. That throws off all my plans. I was going to stay here in Jamaica and go straight ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:16:06.380 - 00:16:11.520

S.P.: into med school right after high school” because you can do that there. So, I was kind of conflicted ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:16:11.520 - 00:16:17.520

S.P.: like, “Okay, I’m going to be a resident. It probably makes sense to move to the U.S., and so I have to think of ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:16:17.520 - 00:16:22.780

S.P.: schools in the U.S.” It wasn’t so weird because many of my peers were also going ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:16:22.780 - 00:16:28.860

S.P.: to school in the U.S. Some of my close friends that all went to the U.S. and did school there. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:16:28.860 - 00:16:33.280

S.P.: So, I was looking for different schools. As I said, I wanted to be a doctor. So, for me, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:16:33.280 - 00:16:39.180

S.P.: Johns Hopkins just kind of made sense. I remember reading a book when I was in ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:16:39.180 - 00:16:44.300

S.P.: the 9th grade or something about Ben Carson, and he went to Johns Hopkins. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:16:44.980 - 00:16:48.780

S.P.: He was a neurosurgeon. So, I was like, “Oh my god. I want to ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:16:49.680 - 00:16:53.200

S.P.: possibly do neurosurgery. I want to go to Johns Hopkins too.” I think I was a bit confused ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:16:53.200 - 00:16:57.060

S.P.: about university versus med school. It doesn’t work the same obviously, but I think I was ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:16:57.060 - 00:17:00.860

S.P.: thinking “If I get into the university, of course, I’m going to get into the med school after.” ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:17:00.860 - 00:17:06.040

S.P.: That’s not how that works. [laughter] Johns Hopkins was my frontrunner from that point on. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:17:06.480 - 00:17:13.220

S.P.: So, I applied and luckily, my college counselor told me about the fee waiver option. So, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:17:13.220 - 00:17:19.780

S.P.: I got lots of – I got my application fees waived for the Common App. So, I applied to a whole ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:17:19.780 - 00:17:27.760

S.P.: bunch of schools. Hopkins was kind of my top choice. I probably applied to UPenn and ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:17:27.760 - 00:17:32.060

S.P.: Stanford. If they accept me, sure. Those are also prestigious schools. We’ll see. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:17:32.060 - 00:17:36.120

S.P.: They put me on the waiting list, and Hopkins actually did accept me. Among all the ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:17:36.120 - 00:17:40.620

S.P.: other schools I did apply to as well, Hopkins gave me the most aid. I was like, “Okay, I guess I’m going ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:17:40.620 - 00:17:44.960

S.P.: to Hopkins.” That was great for me because it was one of my frontrunners ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:17:44.960 - 00:17:50.040

S.P.: in the first place. It was difficult to make the decision of, “Do I want to stay in ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:17:50.040 - 00:17:53.700

S.P.: Jamaica and go straight to med school? Because if I want to do medicine, why go somewhere ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:17:53.700 - 00:17:58.520

S.P.: else and do four years first and then do another – then do four years after in med ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:17:58.520 - 00:18:05.120

S.P.: school?” I think I rationalized it as if I go to the U.S., I can broaden my horizons, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:18:05.820 - 00:18:10.220

S.P.: and decide if I actually do want to do medicine or if there’s something else I want to do. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:18:11.720 - 00:18:16.480

S.P.: That was my deciding factor, and the fact that legally I’m a resident of the U. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:18:16.480 - 00:18:21.860

S.P.: S. To navigate, “Oh you have to be in the country for six months at a time” and stuff like that, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:18:22.620 - 00:18:26.100

S.P.: it just made more sense to move to the U.S. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:18:26.100 - 00:18:28.880

K.D.: Can you describe the first few weeks in the U.S.? Did ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:18:28.880 - 00:18:33.660

K.D.: you come straight to Hopkins, or did you live in the U.S. for a period before your transition ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:18:33.660 - 00:18:34.400

K.D.: to Hopkins? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:18:34.400 - 00:18:40.360

S.P.: Yeah, so I officially migrated in 2017, but I finished high school up until 2019, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:18:40.360 - 00:18:46.400

S.P.: so I had been to the U.S. a couple times to visit relatives, visit friends, my aunt who I ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:18:46.400 - 00:18:52.360

S.P.: did live with during my sophomore year during COVID. She lives in Florida, so ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:18:52.360 - 00:18:58.200

S.P.: I visited Florida a lot, but I did have family here in Maryland as well. That was ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:18:58.200 - 00:19:05.960

S.P.: where I was moving to. So, I’d visit my uncle in Maryland a couple times just to also ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:19:05.960 - 00:19:11.040

S.P.: get the legal processes done and have that all sorted away. I’ve been ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:19:11.040 - 00:19:14.560

S.P.: here a couple times, but never an extended period of time to really live in the U. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:19:14.560 - 00:19:19.120

S.P.: S., just maybe like two weeks for a vacation. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:19:19.120 - 00:19:21.600

K.D.: And then can you describe your first few weeks ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:19:21.600 - 00:19:29.200

K.D.: at Hopkins, moving into campus, getting to know your roommates and acclimating? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:19:29.200 - 00:19:30.000

S.P.: So, I came ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:19:31.100 - 00:19:36.100

S.P.: a week before the real orientation because they had an international student orientation at the ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:19:36.100 - 00:19:41.960

S.P.: time. And it was weird because I’m not international, but I feel like I identify more with international ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:19:41.960 - 00:19:47.840

S.P.: students because I grew up in a different country. I’m technically a domestic resident, but I did ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:19:47.840 - 00:19:53.780

S.P.: international student orientation and came a week earlier. My roommate was actually also ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:19:53.780 - 00:20:01.820

S.P.: international which was cool. I remember just I don’t know. I did come late for that ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:20:01.820 - 00:20:05.880

S.P.: orientation actually because I was trying to push my time as much as possible to stay in Jamaica ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:20:05.880 - 00:20:11.720

S.P.: as long with my family. Those first couple weeks was a whole adjustment period to ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:20:11.720 - 00:20:15.660

S.P.: living on my own for the first time. I told you I lived in a house with ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:20:15.660 - 00:20:20.180

S.P.: five other people to now living in this dorm with just one other person and having ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:20:20.180 - 00:20:25.060

S.P.: to share that space was weird and trying to get accustomed to American customs and the way ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:20:25.060 - 00:20:31.980

S.P.: people do things and talk and everything like that. As I said, I’m a very shy person. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:20:31.980 - 00:20:36.200

S.P.: So, it was hard for me to make friends in that first week. I don’t know. I had ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:20:36.200 - 00:20:42.280

S.P.: my FYM group that we had for orientation, but I felt like everyone else knew everyone because ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:20:42.280 - 00:20:47.260

S.P.: they did these pre-O programs, like pre-orientation programs but I did not get to go to because I was ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:20:47.260 - 00:20:51.360

S.P.: in a different country, and it just didn’t make sense for me. I kind of felt left out. I was ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:20:51.360 - 00:20:55.340

S.P.: like, “Oh my god. These people already have it figured out. I don’t. I know nothing about ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:20:55.340 - 00:21:00.580

S.P.: the process of being here and how to be a college student or how to be American ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:21:00.580 - 00:21:07.760

S.P.: or anything else.” So socially, it was weird to adjust and then adjusting ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:21:07.760 - 00:21:12.780

S.P.: also to food on campus, and saying, “Oh my god. This is really bad. I want to come back home. I ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:21:12.780 - 00:21:21.240

S.P.: want my mom’s cooking.” But classes were okay. Calc 1 was a struggle because I’m just not ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:21:21.240 - 00:21:26.400

S.P.: good at math. I try, but it’s just hard. That was a struggle and having these big lectures with ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:21:26.400 - 00:21:32.960

S.P.: 200 other people. It was like, “Whoa, that’s so many people.” Making friends in ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:21:33.160 - 00:21:38.400

S.P.: classes was a challenge. But otherwise, I took all the classes that were things that I was interested in. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:21:38.400 - 00:21:45.180

S.P.: I took a class called Intro to Hopkins: Arrive and Thrive. It was on the advice of a peer ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:21:45.180 - 00:21:50.760

S.P.: mentor. I think they had FLI mentors for your first semester. So, I did get a mentor who was ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:21:50.760 - 00:21:56.080

S.P.: talking to me before I got to the U.S. and told me “Yeah, you should take this class. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:21:56.080 - 00:22:00.480

S.P.: This is how you register for classes.” Things like that on the back end. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:22:00.480 - 00:22:05.660

S.P.: She was really helpful in getting me adjusted in that way. Taking that Arrive ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:22:05.660 - 00:22:11.440

S.P.: and Thrive class was helpful for knowing what the resources are on campus. My professor was very ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:22:11.440 - 00:22:15.840

S.P.: intentional about “Go to office hours and take a selfie with your professor to ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:22:15.840 - 00:22:20.220

S.P.: prove that you actually went to office hours.” “Go to these buildings on campus and see where those ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:22:20.220 - 00:22:26.520

S.P.: resources are.” I think that was a very good introduction to Hopkins in general and ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:22:26.520 - 00:22:31.380

S.P.: what’s available to me as a student. Then I took some other classes that were just ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:22:31.380 - 00:22:37.780

S.P.: fun, bio-focused because that was what I wanted to do. Those were smaller classes, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:22:37.780 - 00:22:45.060

S.P.: and they were engaging. My first week – my first couple weeks were good academically, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:22:45.740 - 00:22:50.340

S.P.: still adjusting socially, but overall, it was fine. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:22:50.340 - 00:22:52.520

K.D.: Can you talk about your ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:22:54.300 - 00:22:59.840

K.D.: academic journey throughout your time at Hopkins? What major or minor you ended up choosing? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:23:00.380 - 00:23:04.660

K.D.: How you’ve found it so far, and what you’ve found valuable about it? I know you’re ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:23:04.660 - 00:23:09.460

K.D.: interested in medicine, or you were, so if you could talk about that. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:23:09.460 - 00:23:11.460

S.P.: So, I actually came ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:23:11.460 - 00:23:17.240

S.P.: for SOHOP when I got accepted, and I was interested a lot in the public health major, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:23:17.240 - 00:23:22.820

S.P.: but then I applied as MolCell as a – because you apply, and you tell them ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:23:22.820 - 00:23:27.700

S.P.: what major you’d probably be interested in. So, I said MolCell. I came in and ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:23:27.700 - 00:23:32.580

S.P.: I was along that track, trying to take classes for the Molecular and Cellular Biology ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:23:32.580 - 00:23:39.720

S.P.: major, and that’s the major I stuck with. I’m still a MolCell major. Then in my sophomore ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:23:39.720 - 00:23:46.320

S.P.: year, I figured out the anthropology major, but I decided to minor in it instead. It was a pretty ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:23:46.860 - 00:23:53.260

S.P.: fun minor. I didn’t do much of social sciences or humanities in high school. I was very, very STEM ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:23:53.260 - 00:23:58.940

S.P.: heavy, but I’ve always been interested in history and the cultures of people. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:23:58.940 - 00:24:03.580

S.P.: Anthropology was a fun way to explore that in college and I’m happy I found ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:24:03.580 - 00:24:07.840

S.P.: that minor. It’s a really fun minor and with some great people. It’s a small major. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:24:07.840 - 00:24:15.820

S.P.: It’s a small major, so I see lots of the same people ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:24:15.820 - 00:24:22.340

S.P.: all the time and the same professors. It was nice to get into that community. So ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:24:22.340 - 00:24:27.880

S.P.: up until my junior year, I decided I wanted to be a doctor. I had my first panic attack ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:24:27.880 - 00:24:33.280

S.P.: during a biochemistry class online. It was just so hard, and I was not getting any of the ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:24:33.280 - 00:24:38.920

S.P.: content. I just felt so frustrated, and I eventually saw a counselor here on campus. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:24:38.920 - 00:24:44.580

S.P.: She gave me such great perspective that I don’t have to force myself to do that. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:24:44.580 - 00:24:48.660

S.P.: I can evaluate it like “Do I really want to be a doctor? Is this something I really want? Or was it ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:24:48.660 - 00:24:53.620

S.P.: something I decided when I was seven years old and just stuck to because it made sense?” ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:24:53.620 - 00:25:00.260

S.P.: I was doing well in biology courses and yeah, sure, naturally I’m going to be a doctor. So, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:25:00.260 - 00:25:05.360

S.P.: in my junior year, I really thought about it. “Do I want to do this?” I started applying to ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:25:05.360 - 00:25:13.060

S.P.: different internships in different career fields. I applied for something at Morgan ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:25:13.060 - 00:25:17.540

S.P.: Stanley and got through to one of the interview stages. Didn’t eventually get it, but it was ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:25:17.540 - 00:25:22.200

S.P.: still on my radar to “Okay, you don’t have to be a doctor. You could ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:25:22.200 - 00:25:25.960

S.P.: also do public health if that’s of interest to you, or just do something completely ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:25:25.960 - 00:25:34.580

S.P.: different.” So, since my junior year, I was applying to different things. I applied ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:25:34.580 - 00:25:39.480

S.P.: to [redacted] and got a job there. I decided I’m never – I’m not going to be – I’m not ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:25:39.480 - 00:25:44.360

S.P.: going to be pre-med anymore. So, I dropped the pre-med thing pretty much the beginning ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:25:44.360 - 00:25:50.820

S.P.: of my senior year. But I still love the MolCel major. It’s a love/hate relationship. I don’t want to ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:25:51.480 - 00:25:56.420

S.P.: say I completely love it. But I still enjoy the major and the classes I’m taking. I enjoy ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:25:56.420 - 00:26:01.220

S.P.: biology and my research I do in my research lab and stuff like that. I still ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:26:01.220 - 00:26:09.220

S.P.: enjoy that aspect, but career wise, I’ve shifted gears for practical reasons and just ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:26:09.220 - 00:26:11.180

S.P.: because I want to see what else is out there. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:26:11.180 - 00:26:13.500

K.D.: I think that’s really smart and probably ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:26:13.500 - 00:26:19.860

K.D.: really common, I’m sure. Do you have any memorable professors or classes that you’ve taken? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:26:22.060 - 00:26:31.000

S.P.: My freshman year, Ann Elizabeth Brodsky, she was my – what was that class called? It was an ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:26:31.000 - 00:26:36.420

S.P.: introductory writing class, expository writing class. It was a class with 15 ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:26:36.420 - 00:26:41.400

S.P.: students, and she was very intentional about learning our names and talking to us ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:26:41.400 - 00:26:45.640

S.P.: and getting to know us. I felt like she went above and beyond just caring for her ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:26:45.640 - 00:26:50.040

S.P.: students, especially because the pandemic hit during that semester when she taught that class. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:26:50.700 - 00:26:56.400

S.P.: I don’t know. She was just a very warm person who made me feel like, “Okay, I belong here and I can do ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:26:56.400 - 00:27:01.120

S.P.: well.” She always gave me great feedback on my work. I always like getting ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:27:01.120 - 00:27:04.940

S.P.: compliments for my work. That also helped that she was giving me all these good ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:27:04.940 - 00:27:09.140

S.P.: compliments on my work. So, I don’t know. Something about her just made me feel like ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:27:09.140 - 00:27:16.880

S.P.: safe and comfortable here at Hopkins and I really appreciated that. Then even before that, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:27:16.880 - 00:27:22.600

S.P.: in my freshman fall, I had a – I think she’s a staff member. I don’t think she’s faculty. But she ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:27:22.600 - 00:27:29.400

S.P.: taught the Arrive and Thrive class – Irene Ferguson. She helped me get my first on campus job. I was ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:27:30.440 - 00:27:35.940

S.P.: struggling to – the finances part of being a college student was just also hard my ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:27:35.940 - 00:27:40.460

S.P.: freshman year, trying to figure out how to do that. Tuition ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:27:40.460 - 00:27:45.240

S.P.: was covered by Hopkins, but I still had to figure out room and board and I knew my mom had ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:27:45.240 - 00:27:50.400

S.P.: just lost her job. So money-wise things were tight. I needed to get a job on campus, and I didn’t ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:27:50.400 - 00:27:55.260

S.P.: know how to get that done. I reached out to her, and I asked her and she set me up with ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:27:55.260 - 00:28:00.740

S.P.: someone in the Dean of Student Life offices, and I got my first job there. So, I am really grateful ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:28:00.740 - 00:28:11.000

S.P.: to her for that. Then throughout the years, I feel like I’ve had a bunch. My current advisor ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:28:11.000 - 00:28:18.320

S.P.: right now, Katie Tifft, for the MolCel major – honestly, at first, I was like, “Oh my god. I don’t ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:28:18.320 - 00:28:22.940

S.P.: really like her classes. These classes are so hard, and the way it’s structured, I’m not a big ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:28:23.140 - 00:28:28.160

S.P.: fan of it.” But getting to know her as a person, she’s just been a really phenomenal person ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:28:28.160 - 00:28:31.440

S.P.: and I’ve been able to go to her and talk to her about anything. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:28:32.240 - 00:28:37.780

S.P.: I do really appreciate her and probably some other professors, but I can’t remember them ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:28:37.780 - 00:28:41.960

S.P.: all right now. Needless to say, I’ve had some really good experiences with some of my ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:28:41.960 - 00:28:48.900

S.P.: professors and really feel supported by the faculty here at Hopkins. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:28:48.900 - 00:28:49.380

K.D.: Could you talk a bit ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:28:49.380 - 00:28:55.560

K.D.: more about your overall dorm or apartment housing situations while you’ve been here? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:28:55.560 - 00:28:55.860

S.P.: Yeah so, my ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:28:55.860 - 00:29:04.980

S.P.: freshman year, I lived in AMR. So, I had one of those regular 2-person dorms and that ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:29:04.980 - 00:29:10.100

S.P.: was just a weird adjustment to living with someone else who I don’t – I’m not related to ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:29:10.100 - 00:29:14.860

S.P.: and trying to navigate that. I remember she’d always slam the doors. I’m like, “That ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:29:14.860 - 00:29:18.260

S.P.: would never happen in Jamaica. People don’t slam doors in Jamaica. Why are people slamming ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:29:18.260 - 00:29:25.980

S.P.: the doors so hard? I’m trying to sleep.” Navigating that was a bit weird. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:29:25.980 - 00:29:30.320

S.P.: We were friendly but we were never really close. We weren’t besties in the way that ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:29:30.320 - 00:29:36.180

S.P.: lots of people become besties if they’re roommates. So, we were cordial of course, but it was never ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:29:36.180 - 00:29:41.900

S.P.: like, oh we were really friends. My bedroom was just somewhere I came to sleep and ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:29:41.900 - 00:29:47.760

S.P.: get work done, but it was never like a social place for me in my freshman year. Then sophomore ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:29:47.760 - 00:29:54.140

S.P.: year, I did my first semester in Florida at my – with my aunt, and then ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:29:54.140 - 00:30:00.120

S.P.: the second semester I came back to Hopkins and lived in a single apartment style in Homewood ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:30:00.120 - 00:30:06.360

S.P.: Apartments. That was nice. I like living by myself and not having roommates. Then from ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:30:06.360 - 00:30:14.160

S.P.: junior year to senior year right now, I live in one of the row homes back on Guilford ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:30:14.160 - 00:30:22.640

S.P.: Avenue. Yeah, that’s been fine. I have like two other housemates. The house is nice and ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:30:22.640 - 00:30:27.380

S.P.: spacious enough. I don’t bump into them too much. It’s fine. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:30:27.380 - 00:30:30.780

S.P.: They aren’t Hopkins students. They’re other people from the community, but I found the house ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:30:30.780 - 00:30:37.100

S.P.: through the Hopkins housing platform, so it’s kind of weird because all my other ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:30:37.100 - 00:30:41.040

S.P.: friends live with friends they met freshman year. I don’t have that type of ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:30:41.040 - 00:30:45.860

S.P.: relationship with people here or that type of housing situation, but I think I’m pretty ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:30:45.860 - 00:30:50.340

S.P.: comfortable. It’s a bit of a far walk but other than that, it’s fine. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:30:50.340 - 00:30:50.980

K.D.: I wonder if it’s ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:30:50.980 - 00:30:57.580

K.D.: maybe, I don’t know, nice or interesting to live with folks who aren’t super ingrained in ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:30:57.580 - 00:31:02.780

K.D.: Hopkins or being a student. Maybe a little bit refreshing perhaps? I don’t know. Possibly. [laughter] ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:31:02.780 - 00:31:03.600

S.P.: Yeah, maybe. [laughter] Sometimes. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:31:05.740 - 00:31:10.740

K.D.: You’ve touched on this a little bit, but could you expand further on internships or jobs you’ve ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:31:10.740 - 00:31:11.600

K.D.: had at Hopkins? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:31:11.600 - 00:31:17.220

S.P.: Yeah, so as I said I had that first job at the Dean of Student Life. That was great. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:31:17.220 - 00:31:22.160

S.P.: Met some great people there. I worked there until we had to shut down for COVID. Then ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:31:22.160 - 00:31:32.120

S.P.: after that, I didn’t go back there. Sorry. Then where else did I work? I got a study consulting job, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:31:32.120 - 00:31:38.300

S.P.: so I’ve been doing that since my junior year. Still a study consultant. I love that job. I love ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:31:38.300 - 00:31:42.900

S.P.: working with students on a one- on-one basis and getting to learn their stories and try ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:31:42.900 - 00:31:50.140

S.P.: to help them along this whole college journey. I had a virtual job ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:31:51.400 - 00:31:55.760

S.P.: through the School of Public Health with the clinical trials department. So, I help out ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:31:55.760 - 00:32:00.520

S.P.: with that. That’s very interesting to see the behind the scenes of ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:32:00.520 - 00:32:09.740

S.P.: how a clinical trial is run. So that’s a really cool job. I also – I tell my postdoc that I ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:32:09.740 - 00:32:15.140

S.P.: have like three jobs. He’s like, “How do you even do that?” Yeah, I have the job with study ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:32:15.140 - 00:32:23.500

S.P.: consulting, the clinical trials job, and I also… I’m a part of International Students at Hopkins. And ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:32:23.500 - 00:32:29.640

S.P.: in the position I have, it is paid. So, I also have a job there through them. Then I also ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:32:29.640 - 00:32:34.100

S.P.: do research and my research is paid, so I guess that’s technically also a job. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:32:34.100 - 00:32:38.880

S.P.: Yeah, over my years, I’ve been doing a bunch of things. Mostly Hopkins related, nothing that’s ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:32:38.880 - 00:32:43.140

S.P.: outside or internships. As I said, I did apply with an internship with Morgan Stanley but ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:32:43.140 - 00:32:47.300

S.P.: that never worked out. Then I applied for the job with [redacted] and it did work out, but I haven’t actually ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:32:47.300 - 00:32:48.260

S.P.: worked there before. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:32:48.260 - 00:32:52.460

K.D.: What sort of research do you do as part of your work? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:32:52.460 - 00:32:54.200

S.P.: Yeah, so I do research... ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:32:55.000 - 00:32:58.780

S.P.: for my MolCel major, you have to do six credits of research to get the major. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:32:58.780 - 00:33:05.200

S.P.: So, it’s basic science research. We work with the zebrafish as our model system, which I like, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:33:05.200 - 00:33:11.360

S.P.: because I don’t want to be killing mice. [laughter] I like the zebrafish. We study lipid metabolism and ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:33:11.360 - 00:33:18.520

S.P.: things like cholesterol and diabetes and most metabolic diseases that lead to ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:33:18.520 - 00:33:24.840

S.P.: cardiovascular disease. I really like my research and people I work with. I think ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:33:24.840 - 00:33:29.800

S.P.: it’s really impactful research and even though it’s at a very basic science, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:33:29.800 - 00:33:36.000

S.P.: not too translational right now, it’s given me a different perspective ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:33:36.000 - 00:33:40.440

S.P.: on to what else I could do. If I don’t want to stick with a corporate finance job, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:33:40.440 - 00:33:46.840

S.P.: maybe I can go back and do some research afterwards. Because I do enjoy the work I do there. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:33:46.840 - 00:33:51.760

K.D.: I’m just curious because I work in the library and kind of stay in the library, but is that ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:33:51.760 - 00:33:54.600

K.D.: research, is that in Mudd Hall that it takes place? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:33:54.600 - 00:33:57.760

S.P.: No, Carnegie Institution which is on San ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:33:57.760 - 00:33:58.960

S.P.: Martin Drive. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:33:58.960 - 00:34:00.160

K.D.: Okay, yes. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:34:00.160 - 00:34:03.860

S.P.: So, they’re very close by. It’s pretty much on Hopkins campus, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:34:03.860 - 00:34:08.700

S.P.: but they aren’t a part of Hopkins. It’s a weird relationship. I never know how to explain it. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:34:08.700 - 00:34:12.900

S.P.: But there is also research that happens in Mudd Hall. I know lots of my friends do ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:34:12.900 - 00:34:18.600

S.P.: research at Mudd Hall, or at the med campus. This is just one of the locations you ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:34:18.600 - 00:34:19.080

S.P.: can do it. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:34:19.080 - 00:34:24.000

K.D.: Yeah, it’s such a large ecosystem. I’m always curious where different ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:34:24.000 - 00:34:31.200

K.D.: research takes place and who’s involved. So, thank you. Are there any other maybe non-jobs ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:34:31.200 - 00:34:35.200

K.D.: but clubs or activities that you’ve been a part of at Hopkins? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:34:35.200 - 00:34:36.640

S.P.: I’ve been a big part of the ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:34:36.640 - 00:34:42.860

S.P.: Hopkins Sports Taekwondo Club since my freshman year. I did karate as a kid, and so I’ve always ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:34:42.860 - 00:34:47.140

S.P.: liked martial arts. There was no karate club here on campus, so I just did taekwondo because it seemed ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:34:47.140 - 00:34:53.760

S.P.: pretty similar, similar enough. So, I did that, and I’ve stuck with them for the entire ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:34:53.760 - 00:35:01.440

S.P.: four years I’ve been here. I really love that club. I’ve also been part of the BSU, the Black Student Union, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:35:01.440 - 00:35:07.920

S.P.: ISAH, which I mentioned earlier, International Students at Hopkins. Those are the main ones. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:35:07.920 - 00:35:13.000

S.P.: I’ve been to other events on campus like Female Leaders of Color. I’ve been to some ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:35:13.000 - 00:35:21.540

S.P.: ASA events, African Students Association. But my main clubs are like Hopkins Sports Taekwondo ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:35:21.540 - 00:35:28.300

S.P.: and ISAH. Oh, and I’m also an EMT for HERO, Hopkins Emergency Response Organization or Unit depending ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:35:28.300 - 00:35:30.560

S.P.: on how you want to say it. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:35:30.560 - 00:35:34.400

K.D.: So, two follow-up questions. Taekwondo on campus, do ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:35:34.400 - 00:35:41.860

K.D.: you compete against each other or other schools? What’s the culture of that club? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:35:41.860 - 00:35:46.380

S.P.: We compete against – we do both. We compete against each other in practices to ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:35:46.380 - 00:35:51.220

S.P.: train and get better. There are actually two taekwondo clubs on campus, so people always ask “Whoa, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:35:51.220 - 00:35:51.960

S.P.: what do you do?” ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:35:51.960 - 00:35:53.340

K.D.: Do you compete against each other? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:35:53.340 - 00:35:58.280

S.P.: We don’t compete against each other actually. We don’t interact much. We should ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:35:58.280 - 00:36:03.920

S.P.: do that more. We also leave campus and do competitions with other schools on the east coast. The Naval ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:36:03.920 - 00:36:09.460

S.P.: Academy is our sister school in a sense. We have the same coaches, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:36:09.460 - 00:36:16.680

S.P.: so we do joint practices with students from the Naval Academy and also from UMBC, and ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:36:16.680 - 00:36:21.600

S.P.: just last – earlier this month, we went to Princeton and had a competition there. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:36:21.600 - 00:36:27.020

S.P.: Usually in the fall, we go to Cornell. I had an opportunity to ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:36:27.020 - 00:36:32.200

S.P.: compete with people from other schools and that’s really been fun. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:36:32.200 - 00:36:33.980

K.D.: Yeah, that does sound really ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:36:33.980 - 00:36:39.060

K.D.: exciting to go and compete at different schools. My other question is about the Hopkins ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:36:39.060 - 00:36:45.620

K.D.: Emergency Response Unit, and how you’ve found that and if you could just talk more about it. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:36:45.620 - 00:36:47.080

S.P.: Yeah, in my ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:36:47.080 - 00:36:53.580

S.P.: freshman year, well in orientation they had a whole speech about what the unit is. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:36:53.580 - 00:36:59.240

S.P.: Obviously as a resource for students if you are in an emergency on campus, you can call Hopkins ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:36:59.240 - 00:37:04.320

S.P.: Security, and someone from HERO will come to your assistance and provide some basic ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:37:04.320 - 00:37:09.980

S.P.: life support. So, hearing about that and at the time being very, “I want to go to med school”- ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:37:09.980 - 00:37:14.660

S.P.: focused, that made sense to me. So, I wanted to get that experience, and so I applied in ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:37:14.660 - 00:37:21.660

S.P.: my freshman year. Didn’t get through. Then I reapplied in my sophomore year and did get ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:37:21.660 - 00:37:25.280

S.P.: through at that time. It’s been really fun meeting people but also getting the experience of working ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:37:25.280 - 00:37:29.780

S.P.: as an EMT. I’m nationally certified. I’m certified in Maryland. I’m actually an ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:37:29.780 - 00:37:36.400

S.P.: EMT and being able to assist people on campus when an emergency arises. That’s been ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:37:37.020 - 00:37:42.400

S.P.: interesting. So, it started with my initial passion of wanting to go into medicine. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:37:42.400 - 00:37:48.860

S.P.: Even though I’m no longer going to pursue that as of now, I still stuck with the club because I ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:37:48.860 - 00:37:54.460

S.P.: think they’re great people there. They have such a good – they’re very important to ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:37:54.460 - 00:37:55.340

S.P.: the Hopkins community. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:37:55.340 - 00:37:59.180

K.D.: Yeah, that’s a great service you’re providing, but then also just a ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:37:59.180 - 00:38:04.320

K.D.: great set of skills to learn and to have that could serve you through the rest of your ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:38:04.320 - 00:38:10.880

K.D.: life, whether you go into medicine or not. Could you talk about how you spent your summers or ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:38:10.880 - 00:38:16.240

K.D.: breaks from Hopkins? I know COVID, the quarantine was kind of its own interesting break. But otherwise, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:38:16.240 - 00:38:21.260

K.D.: whether you stayed on campus, or went home, or went to your aunt’s house or relatives. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:38:21.900 - 00:38:28.020

S.P.: Yeah, so that freshman summer, I couldn’t go back home. Borders were locked and everything. I ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:38:28.020 - 00:38:35.820

S.P.: went back – I went to Florida, stayed with my aunt there. Then my sophomore summer, I think I stayed ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:38:35.820 - 00:38:42.420

S.P.: in Baltimore. Yeah, I stayed in Baltimore. I think that’s – I was doing a couple jobs ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:38:42.420 - 00:38:48.600

S.P.: there. It’s honestly a blur. It all blurs together at some point. No, I think I went home ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:38:48.600 - 00:38:55.160

S.P.: my sophomore summer, went home to Jamaica. That was my first time back in Jamaica in a long time. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:38:55.160 - 00:39:00.200

S.P.: I just had to go back home. So, I went back home. Then my junior year, I stayed in Baltimore. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:39:01.180 - 00:39:06.440

S.P.: That’s when I got my research position and my job at the School of Public Health where I did ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:39:06.440 - 00:39:14.280

S.P.: clinical research stuff. Then yeah, so I spent – it was a mix. Sometimes I’d go home ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:39:14.280 - 00:39:19.020

S.P.: and sometimes I’d stay. I’d try at least to have a couple weeks back home in Jamaica. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:39:19.020 - 00:39:24.920

S.P.: So, I’d probably go at the beginning of summer break just to see family. Then I’d come back, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:39:24.920 - 00:39:28.940

S.P.: and I’d stay for the bulk of the time in Baltimore, especially that junior year. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:39:28.940 - 00:39:31.240

K.D.: How has your ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:39:31.380 - 00:39:37.820

K.D.: relationship been with your family during your time at Hopkins? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:39:37.820 - 00:39:39.260

S.P.: It’s changed. I’m still ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:39:39.260 - 00:39:45.960

S.P.: very close with my mother. We’ve always been very close, so that still persists. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:39:46.580 - 00:39:50.680

S.P.: Freshman year, she called me all the time, like every day and I’m like, “Mom, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:39:50.680 - 00:39:55.500

S.P.: I’m in college. Please do not call me every night.” I wasn’t doing anything. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:39:55.500 - 00:39:59.380

S.P.: I was still at home, being a homebody, but still, I would like to be a ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:39:59.380 - 00:40:03.680

S.P.: homebody in peace. I had to have that conversation with her during freshman year. She was not ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:40:03.680 - 00:40:07.200

S.P.: pleased. She was like, “Just answer the phone. I want to know you’re doing okay.” I’m like, “ ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:40:07.200 - 00:40:15.940

S.P.: I get it.” I am her only child, so I also get it. With my dad, oh my god, it’s been – I think I’ve ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:40:17.220 - 00:40:22.220

S.P.: learned so much more about him since coming to college. He’s also in the U. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:40:23.480 - 00:40:28.520

S.P.: S. Seeing him struggle so much trying to adjust in a similar way that I’ve been also trying to struggle ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:40:28.520 - 00:40:33.300

S.P.: and adjust. Seeing it from that perspective has been interesting and I think ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:40:33.300 - 00:40:37.940

S.P.: we’ve probably grown a bit closer since then. I understand him more as a person now ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:40:37.940 - 00:40:44.580

S.P.: since I’ve been in college and been to the U.S. I don’t know. I don’t think I ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:40:44.580 - 00:40:48.520

S.P.: thought too much about what my relationship was like with him as a kid, because you know ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:40:48.520 - 00:40:52.640

S.P.: he’s my father. I was a kid. He’d visit me on the weekends ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:40:52.640 - 00:40:56.220

S.P.: because we didn’t live together. I’d see him every weekend and we’d watch cartoons together ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:40:56.220 - 00:41:00.740

S.P.: and talk, and that’d be fine. That would just be the extent of it for the most ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:41:00.740 - 00:41:04.220

S.P.: part. I’d see him during summer breaks. I’d go visit him and stay with him for the summer. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:41:05.240 - 00:41:11.700

S.P.: Then so it was – we had a relationship, but it wasn’t too close. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:41:11.700 - 00:41:17.400

S.P.: Definitely not as close as me and my mom, but there was a relationship there. No ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:41:17.400 - 00:41:26.560

S.P.: resentment or anything like that. Then when we got to the U.S. I think by the time I ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:41:26.560 - 00:41:33.380

S.P.: was a teenager, my parents always argued a lot. And so having my perspective of ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:41:33.380 - 00:41:38.940

S.P.: my father was through my mother’s lens. But when I came to the U.S., I was closer ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:41:38.940 - 00:41:44.860

S.P.: to him than I was to my mom physically distance-wise. I got to learn more about him ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:41:44.860 - 00:41:49.900

S.P.: through my own perspective, and not getting clouded by my mother’s judgment of him. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:41:49.900 - 00:41:52.080

S.P.: I think we’ve grown closer. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:41:52.080 - 00:41:54.080

K.D.: Does he live close to Baltimore? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:41:54.080 - 00:41:57.720

S.P.: Yeah, he lives – he’s close. I don’t know. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:41:57.720 - 00:42:02.060

S.P.: It depends what you define as close. I can take the MARC train and a Metro ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:42:02.060 - 00:42:06.280

S.P.: train and get to his house within an hour and a half. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:42:06.280 - 00:42:07.460

K.D.: Not too bad. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:42:09.120 - 00:42:14.740

K.D.: This question is kind of related to that question, but what has your support system been like while ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:42:14.740 - 00:42:19.900

K.D.: you’ve been in college? Whether that’s your friends, or your family members, maybe campus ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:42:19.900 - 00:42:22.920

K.D.: programs, or anything like that. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:42:22.920 - 00:42:26.620

S.P.: I feel like I’ve always had some sort of distance between ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:42:26.620 - 00:42:34.620

S.P.: myself and the people here at Hopkins and just my life here in America has a certain ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:42:34.620 - 00:42:40.640

S.P.: distance and I just cannot explain. I don’t know. I’ve had really close friends ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:42:40.640 - 00:42:45.980

S.P.: in high school, and we remain really close friends, so it’s been over a decade long friendship ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:42:45.980 - 00:42:50.560

S.P.: with my friends back home, and we have this group chat, and we’re always talking in the group chat. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:42:50.560 - 00:42:55.860

S.P.: So, I talk to them more often than I talk to anyone else. I definitely talk to my mom very ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:42:55.860 - 00:42:59.940

S.P.: often, like every couple days. We have video calls. If I have a recipe to cook and it’s a ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:42:59.940 - 00:43:04.900

S.P.: Jamaican recipe, I’m calling her and we’re going to get through it together. I’m still ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:43:04.900 - 00:43:09.280

S.P.: very close with her, very close with my friends back home. My boyfriend also lives in Jamaica, and so ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:43:09.280 - 00:43:13.420

S.P.: we’ve been doing the long-distance thing for almost five years – almost four years, but we’ve ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:43:13.420 - 00:43:20.060

S.P.: been together for almost five years. So, lots of my support system, my genuine real ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:43:20.060 - 00:43:27.360

S.P.: people I can tell anything to and get advice from… I kind of ask my friends from ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:43:27.360 - 00:43:32.500

S.P.: home and ask my family back home in Jamaica. Then here in the U.S., I do have friends here ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:43:32.500 - 00:43:39.100

S.P.: that I’ve some level of closeness, but it’s just not the same. It’s just not the ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:43:39.100 - 00:43:43.960

S.P.: same. I don’t think it’ll ever be the same, at least at this point. I’m a senior right now. It’s ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:43:43.960 - 00:43:48.960

S.P.: like it can’t get much closer if it’s not that close right now. But I do have friends here. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:43:48.960 - 00:43:53.140

S.P.: My taekwondo club, I have friends from that club because I’ve been in there for a long ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:43:53.140 - 00:43:58.620

S.P.: time, so we’ll do fun things together and hang out together from time to time. With ISAH, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:43:58.620 - 00:44:04.960

S.P.: I’m very close with the co-lead. She’s always been a great person. She’s very ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:44:04.960 - 00:44:08.700

S.P.: extroverted. She’s the type of person to just adopt you into the friend group. So, I’ve ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:44:08.700 - 00:44:15.060

S.P.: met all her friends. I’ve become friends with them. So, if I want to go out and have fun and be ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:44:15.060 - 00:44:18.920

S.P.: social, I can lean on my friends here on campus. But when it’s something serious, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:44:18.920 - 00:44:22.860

S.P.: I’m going to lean on my friends and family back home. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:44:22.860 - 00:44:27.320

K.D.: Have you felt supported by Hopkins as a first-generation student, and I ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:44:27.320 - 00:44:30.460

K.D.: guess also as an international student? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:44:30.460 - 00:44:37.360

S.P.: Yeah, I think in very tangible ways definitely. I think because they ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:44:37.360 - 00:44:42.780

S.P.: did have a big endowment from Bloomberg, that’s the reason I can come to this school ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:44:42.780 - 00:44:49.920

S.P.: and get my tuition covered because – and I mean, you say international, and I also try ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:44:49.920 - 00:44:54.060

S.P.: to – I say I’m international, but really, I’m not, because I can still apply for Pell grants ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:44:54.060 - 00:44:58.200

S.P.: and stuff because I’m low-income and I’m a domestic resident of the U.S. So from that ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:44:58.200 - 00:45:03.240

S.P.: perspective, I can get federal funding and my tuition is covered and all that, those ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:45:03.240 - 00:45:08.880

S.P.: nice things. From that perspective, yeah, and as I said, the computer grant that they had in ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:45:08.880 - 00:45:13.660

S.P.: that year of COVID was very helpful for getting me settled in and having the technology ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:45:13.660 - 00:45:18.240

S.P.: I need for my classes. So, in that way, I’ve been feeling supported. I know we have lots ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:45:18.240 - 00:45:24.660

S.P.: of programs on campus. Honestly, I don’t go to the programs that often enough to be – ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:45:24.660 - 00:45:32.040

S.P.: really lean in to the support systems they have in that perspective. But my support on ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:45:32.040 - 00:45:37.900

S.P.: campus and being able to adjust has really come from me reaching out to people in my circle and ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:45:37.900 - 00:45:41.880

S.P.: asking for the support I need. Like in that freshman year when I needed a job, I asked someone ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:45:41.880 - 00:45:47.300

S.P.: who I knew already and she wasn’t really related to the FLI program or anything else like ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:45:47.300 - 00:45:52.660

S.P.: that, but she was able to help me out in that way. Then just different offices on campus have ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:45:52.660 - 00:45:57.240

S.P.: been helpful with finding housing and other things I need like a counseling center or ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:45:57.240 - 00:46:02.260

S.P.: anything else. I feel like the resources are there, and it’s just a matter of you ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:46:02.260 - 00:46:06.440

S.P.: using them. So, I’m happy that Hopkins provides those resources at least, so I know ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:46:06.440 - 00:46:12.660

S.P.: I can reach out to them to get that support. Yeah, so in that aspect, yeah. I don’t know if there’s – ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:46:13.220 - 00:46:17.220

S.P.: I don’t know if that FLI program itself or Hop-In or anything else that they do for FLI ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:46:17.220 - 00:46:22.340

S.P.: students specifically I would say have been really impactful in the way that just the ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:46:22.340 - 00:46:28.260

S.P.: organic relationships I’ve made with people have been. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:46:28.260 - 00:46:29.720

K.D.: How do you think the ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:46:29.720 - 00:46:37.160

K.D.: university can increase its support for first- gen students and students in general? Any programs that ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:46:37.160 - 00:46:44.620

K.D.: you think are lacking or non-existent, or ways that you think awareness of different programs can ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:46:44.620 - 00:46:47.440

K.D.: be improved? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:46:47.440 - 00:46:52.160

S.P.: Honestly, I think Hopkins provides a lot. I think resources are out there ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:46:52.160 - 00:46:56.820

S.P.: if you need them, and if you know how to find them. That’s probably the problem. People don’t know ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:46:56.820 - 00:47:01.460

S.P.: how to access them. I’ll mention something to someone, and they’ll be like, “I did not know that existed.” ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:47:01.460 - 00:47:05.880

S.P.: I feel like I know it existed because I took that freshman year class that forced me to ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:47:05.880 - 00:47:09.880

S.P.: go around campus and find the different buildings on campus that have these resources. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:47:09.880 - 00:47:14.640

S.P.: So, I knew about resources like Student Outreach and Support. I knew about ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:47:14.640 - 00:47:18.820

S.P.: the counseling center. I knew about different programs on campus to get support when I ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:47:18.820 - 00:47:26.320

S.P.: needed it. So, I think it’s more the availability is there and when I was a part ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:47:26.320 - 00:47:32.600

S.P.: of the pre-med program and they had JUMP which is for Johns Hopkins Undergraduates in ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:47:32.600 - 00:47:35.070

S.P.: Medical – underrepresented in medical professions. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:47:35.070 - 00:47:36.920

K.D.: Professions, yes. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:47:36.920 - 00:47:40.020

S.P.: Yes, that it is. JUMP was ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:47:40.560 - 00:47:45.380

S.P.: really helpful for if you’re going to be pre-med and you want to go into a field but you’re ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:47:45.380 - 00:47:51.280

S.P.: a minority. So, I was happy they had that as a resource. I had MAPP in my freshman ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:47:51.280 - 00:47:56.560

S.P.: year, Mentoring Assistance Peer Program. So, I think Hopkins does a lot with providing ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:47:56.560 - 00:48:03.000

S.P.: different things on campus for people to do. It’s just a matter of students don’t really know ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:48:03.000 - 00:48:05.180

S.P.: much about it, and that’s kind of sad. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:48:05.180 - 00:48:09.260

K.D.: Thanks. What would you say in general about your life in ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:48:09.260 - 00:48:14.740

K.D.: Baltimore and Maryland, going to different neighborhoods, trying out different ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:48:14.740 - 00:48:18.280

K.D.: restaurants or anything outside of school in Baltimore? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:48:18.280 - 00:48:21.880

S.P.: Yeah, I’m a victim of being in the ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:48:21.880 - 00:48:25.080

S.P.: Hopkins bubble and staying in the Hopkins bubble. I’ve been trying to ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:48:25.080 - 00:48:30.600

S.P.: get better at that since my senior year. I think because we did have COVID, it was ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:48:30.600 - 00:48:37.440

S.P.: hard to jump out of the Hopkins bubble. In my freshman year, COVID hit, and so ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:48:37.440 - 00:48:41.500

S.P.: that first semester I was adjusting to life at Hopkins. I wasn’t too concerned about what else ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:48:41.500 - 00:48:47.540

S.P.: is happening in Baltimore. Then part of sophomore year was also just like, COVID. I wasn’t ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:48:47.540 - 00:48:52.640

S.P.: really focused on going out of campus. But then junior and senior year, I tried to make a bit ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:48:52.640 - 00:48:58.700

S.P.: more attempts to do that. I like where I live because it’s far enough from ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:48:58.700 - 00:49:04.340

S.P.: the central Charles Village area where students are like the Nine East or places ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:49:04.340 - 00:49:08.460

S.P.: that are closer to campus, and so I can go to the Waverly Farmer’s Market on a Saturday morning. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:49:08.460 - 00:49:13.540

S.P.: That’s really fun. I go to the Giant at Waverly because it’s closer to me. I feel ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:49:13.540 - 00:49:18.100

S.P.: like that way it’s a way for me to engage with community members. When I’m going to ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:49:18.100 - 00:49:22.900

S.P.: Waverly, lots of the people I see are Black people who look just like me. I feel ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:49:22.900 - 00:49:26.960

S.P.: like, “Yeah” and I see a hair shop where I can get – where I can buy hair extensions ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:49:26.960 - 00:49:32.560

S.P.: and wigs and things for my natural hair and that’s really nice to just have that access ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:49:32.560 - 00:49:38.060

S.P.: so close to me. Coming from a country where it was predominantly Black and to see people who are ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:49:38.060 - 00:49:44.300

S.P.: Black, that’s a nice taste of home for me. Different neighborhoods, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:49:44.300 - 00:49:48.800

S.P.: I haven’t explored too much. Just the other day, I went to Hampden. I was like “Oh my god. Hampden ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:49:48.800 - 00:49:54.100

S.P.: is such a cute place. Why haven’t I been here more often? Maybe I should go.” But I feel ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:49:54.100 - 00:49:59.920

S.P.: like I preoccupied my time with so many academics, and I told you I have three jobs and ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:49:59.920 - 00:50:04.740

S.P.: doing all of these things to get through school that I haven’t really given myself the ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:50:04.740 - 00:50:14.280

S.P.: time to explore, but I’ve been to D.C. a couple times, which has been fun. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:50:14.280 - 00:50:17.880

S.P.: I’ve been to a couple of the neighborhoods out to go clubbing with my friends. Things like that ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:50:17.880 - 00:50:22.520

S.P.: but not often enough where I can tell you I have a favorite restaurant here in Baltimore or things like ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:50:22.520 - 00:50:23.500

S.P.: that. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:50:23.500 - 00:50:30.380

K.D.: I’m curious generally what you find that you do or students do for fun around campus or ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:50:30.380 - 00:50:32.600

K.D.: with each other in general. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:50:32.600 - 00:50:35.820

S.P.: I feel like people hang out with each other a lot at ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:50:35.820 - 00:50:40.860

S.P.: their apartments, lots of house parties. The frats and sororities obviously have ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:50:40.860 - 00:50:45.300

S.P.: their things and so people will go. Well, not the sororities. I don’t think they host, but ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:50:45.300 - 00:50:51.280

S.P.: fraternities host events. People go to frat parties on the weekend. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:50:51.280 - 00:50:55.460

S.P.: As a HERO member, you will get called like someone drank too much and now they need help. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:50:55.460 - 00:51:01.760

S.P.: So those are things that people do. I think Plant on a Thursday night, I didn’t know that was a thing ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:51:01.760 - 00:51:07.380

S.P.: until my senior year. That’s the popular thing you get into Plant for free on a Thursday night ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:51:07.380 - 00:51:14.780

S.P.: with your college ID. So, I’ve been doing that a couple times. Then just ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:51:14.780 - 00:51:21.840

S.P.: other bars in the area, people will go to. Then I guess people are very invested in their clubs ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:51:21.840 - 00:51:26.520

S.P.: here on campus. They have lots of different cultural affiliation ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:51:26.520 - 00:51:32.760

S.P.: groups and just interest groups on campus that people are a part of. I don’t know. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:51:32.760 - 00:51:36.320

S.P.: I don’t know how to compare it to other schools or anything because people do say ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:51:36.320 - 00:51:40.660

S.P.: Hopkins isn’t much of a party school. But if I don’t have a base level to compare that ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:51:40.660 - 00:51:42.140

S.P.: to, I don’t really know. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:51:42.140 - 00:51:48.360

K.D.: Were there any events or historic moments that happened nationally, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:51:48.360 - 00:51:54.700

K.D.: locally, or internationally while you were at Hopkins? COVID is of course one of them but any ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:51:54.700 - 00:52:00.500

K.D.: other historic happenings that stick out, and what your experience was like living through ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:52:00.500 - 00:52:08.120

K.D.: that, and being a student here? Any university response to different goings-on in ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:52:08.120 - 00:52:08.640

K.D.: the world? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:52:08.640 - 00:52:16.780

S.P.: Yeah, two things jump out at me. Summer 2020, the Black Lives Matter protests and ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:52:18.280 - 00:52:23.460

S.P.: I remember the Black students on campus being disheartened by how long it took for ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:52:23.570 - 00:52:29.210

S.P.: Hopkins to make a statement about the killing of George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:52:29.210 - 00:52:36.390

S.P.: Taylor during that time. So, it was a weird time to be a Black student on campus ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:52:36.390 - 00:52:41.270

S.P.: highlighting the fact that yeah, you are in the minority. I was working on the board of the ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:52:41.270 - 00:52:48.070

S.P.: BSU (Black Student Union) at that time, and so also seeing the conversations behind the scenes of us trying to scramble ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:52:48.070 - 00:52:53.330

S.P.: to make our statement and also ask the university to do more, because they weren’t ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:52:53.330 - 00:52:59.990

S.P.: really saying anything. I remember oh my god. It was such a weird week. Someone made a comment on ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:52:59.990 - 00:53:05.390

S.P.: Reddit about calling the Black students on campus affirmative action students or ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:53:05.390 - 00:53:13.370

S.P.: basketball- Americans or straight up racist things to say about students who ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:53:13.370 - 00:53:17.350

S.P.: you interact with on a daily basis. Because Reddit is Reddit, you don’t know who was saying ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:53:17.350 - 00:53:23.970

S.P.: anything. It’s all anonymous and I think up to that point, I was under the guise that I ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:53:23.970 - 00:53:28.430

S.P.: was at a pretty good school. People were pretty much liberal from what I could guess. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:53:28.430 - 00:53:32.590

S.P.: I don’t really know who people are voting for, but everyone seemed like Democrat- ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:53:32.590 - 00:53:38.990

S.P.: leaning type of thing. So, experiencing that through that time where everything is heightened ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:53:38.990 - 00:53:45.210

S.P.: on a national level. It was jarring. It was like, “Whoa. So yeah, this is what the students have been ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:53:45.210 - 00:53:48.530

S.P.: talking about.” I feel like Black students talk about things like this and it never really – ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:53:49.630 - 00:53:53.330

S.P.: if you don’t experience it, it’s hard to say, “Oh yeah, that’s true.” It’s easy ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:53:53.330 - 00:53:56.390

S.P.: to say, “Oh that never happens. I don’t know what you’re talking about.” ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:53:57.110 - 00:54:03.850

S.P.: But then during that moment to see in action was just weird. Also, I mentioned I came ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:54:03.850 - 00:54:08.970

S.P.: for SoHop in 2019. I think it was around the time of the Garland sit-ins. I wasn’t ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:54:09.050 - 00:54:16.490

S.P.: a student then, but students were fighting against the private police and “isn’t that here at ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:54:16.490 - 00:54:21.070

S.P.: Hopkins?” Google is always listening to you, so I think Google picked up that I was going ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:54:21.070 - 00:54:24.690

S.P.: to go to Hopkins and going to be in Baltimore. So, I was getting lots of news from the Baltimore ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:54:24.690 - 00:54:31.650

S.P.: Sun and news about Johns Hopkins. I remember coming to Mason Hall in the Blue Jay ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:54:31.650 - 00:54:37.890

S.P.: Shuttle and on the floor in front of Mason Hall admissions office was “Hopkins is Racist.” ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:54:37.890 - 00:54:41.650

S.P.: I was like, “What am I getting myself into?” [laughter] ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:54:41.650 - 00:54:44.290

K.D.: That’s a red flag to see [laughter]. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:54:44.290 - 00:54:45.010

S.P.: “This is my first day on ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:54:45.010 - 00:54:49.390

S.P.: campus. What is this? What am I getting myself into?” I hadn’t accepted by that point. I was like, “ ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:54:49.390 - 00:54:54.970

S.P.: Do I want to go to Hopkins?” But I think a part of me was – and it might sound really weird to say this, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:54:54.970 - 00:55:02.270

S.P.: but I had already resolved myself to possibly experiencing things like this moving from a country ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:55:02.270 - 00:55:07.530

S.P.: where it is majority Black to the United States where the news you hear on the TV is ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:55:07.530 - 00:55:12.530

S.P.: someone else gets killed because of police brutality. You have this idea that ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:55:12.530 - 00:55:17.370

S.P.: America is a racist place, so seeing that on the floor was jarring to see it in the moment, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:55:17.370 - 00:55:22.470

S.P.: but at the same time at the back of my head, I was like, “Okay, I guess I have to expect this. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:55:23.010 - 00:55:28.710

S.P.: It’s a university that’s been around since the 1800s. What am I to expect?” Also ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:55:28.710 - 00:55:35.190

S.P.: hearing later on that Johns Hopkins wasn’t as abolitionist as we ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:55:35.190 - 00:55:39.890

S.P.: thought. He also owned slaves. People were like, “Oh my god. That’s so shocking.” All the ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:55:39.890 - 00:55:43.990

S.P.: Black students on campus were like, “No, that’s not shocking. He was a white man in the 1800s. [laughter] ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:55:43.990 - 00:55:52.270

S.P.: We’re on a plantation.” It’s not that surprising. So, it was a weird moment of reckoning trying to – ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:55:52.270 - 00:55:59.010

S.P.: getting a new sense of who the people are on this campus and the people I ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:55:59.010 - 00:56:03.750

S.P.: interact on a daily basis, we don’t really know what they’re thinking. These are people you ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:56:03.750 - 00:56:09.030

S.P.: have classes with. I don’t know. It was a weird time. Then also feeling because ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:56:09.790 - 00:56:15.830

S.P.: I’m not a citizen, that I couldn’t really go out in the streets and protest. In the back of my ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:56:15.830 - 00:56:19.410

S.P.: mind, I was like, “I want to go out and protest as much as everyone else, but if I get arrested, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:56:19.410 - 00:56:23.910

S.P.: I might get deported, so I don’t know what I can do.” Being in a weird situation where you’re like, “ ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:56:23.910 - 00:56:27.910

S.P.: I want to do so much. I’m crying every day because the news is very disheartening, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:56:27.910 - 00:56:31.930

S.P.: but I feel like there’s nothing I can do.” It was a weird time. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:56:31.930 - 00:56:35.070

K.D.: Yeah, wow. I’m going to go ahead and ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:56:35.070 - 00:56:43.710

K.D.: pause our recording. Okay, would you mind speaking on your plans for the future or ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:56:43.710 - 00:56:48.770

K.D.: life after Hopkins? What you’re thinking about in the next few months and maybe longer-term ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:56:48.770 - 00:56:52.170

K.D.: in terms of academic, professional, or otherwise. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:56:52.170 - 00:56:55.190

S.P.: Okay. So, for the short term, I know I have a job. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:56:55.190 - 00:56:59.790

S.P.: It’s going to be in corporate finance, well – yeah, corporate strategy consulting, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:56:59.790 - 00:57:04.670

S.P.: whatever that means, so it’s going to be in the corporate world. I know that for a fact. I ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:57:04.670 - 00:57:10.290

S.P.: have – I think it’s a two-year program that they have the new hires do and for the next two ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:57:10.290 - 00:57:15.070

S.P.: years at least I’ll be doing that. Afterwards, I don’t know. I’ve been thinking about it. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:57:15.070 - 00:57:22.710

S.P.: I might go back to grad school and do something in biology or public health because I’ve ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:57:22.710 - 00:57:29.310

S.P.: always had an interest in that, but at the same time, you grew up poor. You’re in this ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:57:29.310 - 00:57:32.130

S.P.: country where you have an opportunity to get to [alarm]. Oops, God. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:57:32.130 - 00:57:36.190

K.D.: I’m sorry. I didn’t – when I restarted ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:57:36.190 - 00:57:37.690

K.D.: turn off my alarm. I apologize for that. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:57:37.690 - 00:57:45.870

S.P.: Yeah, so I’m in a position now where I can build some generational wealth, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:57:45.870 - 00:57:52.770

S.P.: something that it was hard for my parents to do, the people before me to do. Do I want ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:57:52.770 - 00:57:58.410

S.P.: to go back into a field where I might struggle? I talked to my postdoc and the people I work ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:57:58.410 - 00:58:06.170

S.P.: with in my lab. The joke is they’re all struggling financially. They don’t get paid enough for the work ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:58:06.170 - 00:58:10.130

S.P.: they’re doing. If I have a job that’s going to pay me six figures right out of college, do I want to go into a field that’s going ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:58:10.130 - 00:58:16.930

S.P.: to pay me less? So, thinking about if I want to follow my “passion” or ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:58:16.930 - 00:58:23.830

S.P.: just live a comfortable life because I think I deserve to. So, but for now, yeah, I have a ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:58:23.830 - 00:58:26.790

S.P.: finance job in the corporate world and that will be that. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:58:26.790 - 00:58:28.970

K.D.: Is that local or? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:58:28.970 - 00:58:32.490

S.P.: It’s in Virginia, close to D. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:58:32.490 - 00:58:37.630

S.P.: C., pretty close to the Baltimore area or the DMV. It’s in the DMV. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:58:37.630 - 00:58:39.730

K.D.: Sure. Would you recommend ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:58:39.730 - 00:58:43.970

K.D.: Hopkins to other first-generation students and is there any advice that you would give them? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:58:47.030 - 00:58:52.010

S.P.: I think I’ve had a good experience as a first-generation student here at Hopkins. I think ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:58:52.010 - 00:58:59.470

S.P.: there’s been a big push to incorporate FLI students in – integrate them into Hopkins life and have ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:58:59.470 - 00:59:04.470

S.P.: them get well adjusted with all the programs that they do have, like Hop-In and just like ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:59:04.470 - 00:59:10.270

S.P.: everything that falls under the FLI umbrella. The big endowment that we get definitely makes a big ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:59:10.270 - 00:59:14.050

S.P.: difference. It’s one thing to say we have all these programs for you, but if you’re actually ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:59:14.050 - 00:59:18.370

S.P.: giving people the money and the means to go to a university that is as prestigious as Hopkins, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:59:18.990 - 00:59:26.590

S.P.: I would encourage people, other FLI students to come here for that reason. Yeah, I don’t ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:59:26.750 - 00:59:30.170

S.P.: think I would have gone anywhere else, or it would have made sense for me to go anywhere else. So ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:59:30.170 - 00:59:35.470

S.P.: from a practical standpoint, yeah, I would definitely say Hopkins is a place to go if you’re FLI, and if ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:59:35.470 - 00:59:39.390

S.P.: they continue to be able to provide for international – not international students, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:59:39.390 - 00:59:44.710

S.P.: sorry – for first- generation students in the way they have from a financial standpoint, because ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:59:44.710 - 00:59:50.890

S.P.: yeah, if you’re FLI, the money is the most important thing deciding where you want to go. Then as ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:59:50.890 - 00:59:55.090

S.P.: for support after you already get in, and you have the money – the tuition already covered, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

00:59:55.090 - 01:00:01.210

S.P.: there are programs that are available for you. You just have to find them and pay attention to it and ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:00:01.210 - 01:00:06.370

S.P.: ask for help. That was something I had to learn – asking for help and not trying to do everything ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:00:06.370 - 01:00:11.610

S.P.: on my own. That really did help me out. From that standpoint, yeah, I would say Hopkins is a ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:00:11.610 - 01:00:18.470

S.P.: good place to go for that. Advice, yeah, my main advice is to ask for help. If you need something, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:00:18.830 - 01:00:25.190

S.P.: there is someone out there willing to assist you. I think I used to see asking ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:00:25.190 - 01:00:31.670

S.P.: for help as a sign of weakness, and it was very hard for me to do so. I realized that when ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:00:31.670 - 01:00:38.230

S.P.: I did ask for help, it was just – it would have saved me so much trouble if I’d asked for it ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:00:38.230 - 01:00:42.070

S.P.: earlier. “Why didn’t I just do this? It was so easy, and it was so quick.” People are here to ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:00:42.070 - 01:00:45.990

S.P.: help you, especially if they are staff members who were working for the university. That’s their ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:00:45.990 - 01:00:51.370

S.P.: job. Ask them for help. So that would be my advice, and just also talk to your peers, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:00:51.370 - 01:00:56.730

S.P.: and talk to higher – upperclassmen about the things they’re doing and finding out how they ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:00:56.730 - 01:01:02.630

S.P.: navigated different things they had to navigate as a student. If you’re pre-med ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:01:02.630 - 01:01:05.930

S.P.: like so many other pre-med students are here who can help you with that. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:01:05.930 - 01:01:08.570

K.D.: How would you summarize ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:01:08.570 - 01:01:10.190

K.D.: your time at Hopkins overall? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:01:10.190 - 01:01:12.390

S.P.: Oh [laughter]. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:01:12.390 - 01:01:16.850

K.D.: It’s a big question. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:01:19.310 - 01:01:26.750

S.P.: I don’t know. It’s not just about Hopkins. It’s also about moving to a new country and I ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:01:26.750 - 01:01:31.770

S.P.: think it’s hard to separate the two for myself. So, my experience with oh, how is it ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:01:31.770 - 01:01:37.470

S.P.: my time at Hopkins also encapsulates a question of how was my time as ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:01:38.030 - 01:01:44.950

S.P.: living in the U.S. for the first time, and getting used to that. The weather, the climate was ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:01:44.950 - 01:01:49.190

S.P.: a hard adjustment to make moving from the tropics to a more temperate zone where the four ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:01:49.190 - 01:01:56.270

S.P.: seasons are actually a thing. Moving to a place where you are a minority, if you are a minority, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:01:56.270 - 01:02:04.590

S.P.: that will be difficult. That will be definitely challenging. Then but I think Hopkins ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:02:04.590 - 01:02:09.470

S.P.: provided me with so many opportunities that I wouldn’t have had otherwise if I’d gone to ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:02:09.470 - 01:02:14.870

S.P.: certain other places or stayed in Jamaica, and so for that, I’m very grateful. There really are ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:02:14.870 - 01:02:20.110

S.P.: a plethora of resources out there for you based on your interests. I do appreciate that. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:02:20.110 - 01:02:28.350

S.P.: I think it’s set me up. From a real practical standpoint, at the end of the day ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:02:28.350 - 01:02:32.070

S.P.: I’m going to have a degree with Johns Hopkins University on that. That brings some prestige ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:02:32.070 - 01:02:37.530

S.P.: that will open doors for me definitely and so I’ve enjoyed it for that reason. But also, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:02:37.530 - 01:02:42.090

S.P.: I think I’ve grown a lot as a person since coming to Hopkins. Naturally, you’re going to grow a ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:02:42.090 - 01:02:51.070

S.P.: lot during your early 20s and moving away from home. So, I’ve been challenged a lot ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:02:51.070 - 01:02:57.970

S.P.: just like academically, personally, socially, I’ve been challenged a lot. But I think ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:02:57.970 - 01:03:03.230

S.P.: it’s been all for the good, and I’ve come out a stronger, more intuitive person. I know ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:03:03.230 - 01:03:09.010

S.P.: myself a bit more and I know what I want, and I think Hopkins has played a role in ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:03:09.010 - 01:03:15.490

S.P.: that. I’ve also found community here, people who I can call friends, people who – ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:03:16.250 - 01:03:22.110

S.P.: faculty and staff who support and care about my success. That’s been great to find here and ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:03:22.110 - 01:03:27.570

S.P.: have that – my growth fostered in a place like Hopkins has been great. So, I did like Hopkins, ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:03:27.570 - 01:03:30.790

S.P.: the good, and the bad, and the ugly. The things you’re going to have to deal with ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:03:30.790 - 01:03:35.510

S.P.: as a student here that you’re all going to complain about the food at the FFC or Hopkins ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:03:35.510 - 01:03:39.510

S.P.: Café as it’s called, and it’s fine. If you’re a Black student, you’re going to complain about ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:03:39.510 - 01:03:44.370

S.P.: administration, and that’s to be expected, but you’re going to find your niche. You’re going to ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:03:44.370 - 01:03:49.290

S.P.: find your community and I feel like there genuinely are so many spaces out there for ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:03:49.290 - 01:03:51.830

S.P.: you, and I feel like I found my place at Hopkins. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:03:51.830 - 01:03:55.490

K.D.: I’m curious when you look back over the past couple ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:03:55.670 - 01:04:04.850

K.D.: of years what maybe your best memory is or something that sticks out as memorable? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:04:09.210 - 01:04:10.930

S.P.: Let me think. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:04:14.790 - 01:04:19.530

S.P.: It’s really about the friends I’ve made and the experiences I’ve had with my friends ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:04:20.170 - 01:04:26.090

S.P.: just like the different house parties or just like hanging out with the people in my ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:04:26.090 - 01:04:31.190

S.P.: different clubs or different organizations and getting to know them on ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:04:31.850 - 01:04:36.430

S.P.: a deeper level beyond just like, “Oh yeah, what classes are you taking? Oh, you also hate ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:04:36.430 - 01:04:42.870

S.P.: orgo? Yeah, me too.” Beyond that, finding out about people and the lives they live ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:04:42.870 - 01:04:49.110

S.P.: and what their experiences have been like back home versus here. For me, it’s been ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:04:49.110 - 01:04:57.070

S.P.: all about the personal connection, my taekwondo club, and going to the parties that we had ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:04:57.070 - 01:05:00.790

S.P.: there, the socials we had there, and having dinner with them and eating with them. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:05:00.790 - 01:05:06.250

S.P.: Learning about new cultures through the people I interact with on a daily basis has been really ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:05:06.250 - 01:05:10.810

S.P.: the most impactful thing. Nothing stands out to me like oh here on campus doing anything ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:05:11.410 - 01:05:17.390

S.P.: for academic-wise. Nothing like that stands out to me. I love seeing the Black ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:05:17.390 - 01:05:21.650

S.P.: community come together on campus, so when the BSU has events and we have a big turnout like we ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:05:21.650 - 01:05:28.010

S.P.: have our – I don’t know. It’s called a Homecoming or Black weekend, like the first ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:05:28.010 - 01:05:33.610

S.P.: weekend of school, stuff like that, making the Blackumentary. I remember I was a part of that. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:05:33.610 - 01:05:39.050

S.P.: Oh my gosh. I was a producer for the Blackumentary or I helped to produce that. Hearing people’s ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:05:39.050 - 01:05:43.570

S.P.: perspectives about their time here at Hopkins has been a really impactful thing. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:05:43.570 - 01:05:49.050

S.P.: Recording those memories and those – that history in itself, especially during a time ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:05:49.050 - 01:05:58.270

S.P.: like COVID and the BLM movement. So, yeah. It’s really just been about the people here and ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:05:58.270 - 01:05:59.630

S.P.: those experiences. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:05:59.630 - 01:06:04.790

K.D.: Thank you. That’s the end of my questions. Thank you so much ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:06:04.790 - 01:06:10.210

K.D.: for everything that you’ve shared today and for taking the time to speak to us. Is there anything ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:06:10.210 - 01:06:15.310

K.D.: else that you’d like to add before we end? Anything that didn’t come up in the questions ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:06:15.310 - 01:06:18.470

K.D.: or part of your Hopkins experience that you want to touch on? ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:06:18.470 - 01:06:21.190

S.P.: No, I can’t think of anything, no. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:06:21.930 - 01:06:22.430

K.D.: Well, thank you. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

01:06:22.430 - 01:06:22.930

S.P.: Uh huh. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠