My name is Duenna Warren, and I am currently a senior Biomedical Sciences student at the University of Central Florida. In May 2018, I will be graduating with my Bachelors of Science in Biomedical Sciences in pursuit of becoming a Doctor.

 

 While other kids were wishing to be a singer or a princess, I was pretending to heal everyone’s wounds or give them medicine. From that young age, I knew what I wanted to be.

 

My goal for the future is to become a Pediatrician and to eventually open up my own practice. As a pre-med student during my first semester at UCF I took SLS. During the class we learned about different Medical careers, and what the journey would look like to get into those different Medical professions. I was shocked. I knew I would have to get good grades, good MCAT score, and volunteer to get into medical school. I did not know that I would have to shadow, have research experience, leadership positions, 5 recommendation letters, or even the difference between non-clinical and clinical volunteer hours.

 

At first, I thought of these tasks as just that, things I have to check off a checklist just to be seen as competitive when applying for medical school. However, I soon became grateful and quickly came to understand why all these “tasks” were necessary.Now on my 4th year, I have been a Peer Mentor, helped out with Transfer Orientation as a peer advisor, a volunteer Teacher Assistant for Physiology and QBM,  have done research through PILOT , LEAD , and a Teacher Assistant at the Creative School for Children on campus for almost 3 years.I also volunteer at Shepherd's Hope (a non-for profit health clinic), ORMC, Union Park Middle School , Second Harvest Food Bank, and Sunday Knight food share. Even though I knew had to do these activities to get into medical school, I appreciate and know why medical schools want students to be well rounded.  

 

About 21 years ago I was born in Montego Bay ,Jamaica.  Three months later my mom got her citizenship, packed up her stuff by herself and came to Florida. My mom worked hard and sacrificed a lot for my brother and I to succeed.I know the path to becoming a doctor will not be easy. However growing up and seeing my mom's work ethic, she has inspired me to never give up.  I may have had less but I certainly had a lot more than others.These experiences have pushed me to think beyond my own world and to delve into others. They have taught me how to be compassionate, selfless, patient, and how to communicate which I hope one day I will be able to incorporate into my own practice.