When I started at Pomona, I came in knowing that I wanted to be a doctor and believing
that I had to be a science major.
It was through the breadth requirements in your first and second years that I got exposure
to a Black History course and I was like "wow, Black Studies - which is now Africana Studies
- sounds really awesome and it would help me understand more of who I am" so I ended
up switching my major in the middle of my time at Pomona to Black Studies and that really
helped me develop an idea of what kind of physician I wanted to be, what speciality
I wanted to go into.
A big part of my time at Pomona was getting the chance to, first, just aside from baseball,
discover what else I was passionate about and to what extent I was passionate about
different things and get the chance to pursue those.
Between my sophomore and junior years at Pomona, I wrote a paper using minor league statistics
to predict major league success.
I worked really closely with Professor Gabe Chandler in the math department.
You know, I started with no real experience doing statistical analysis from scratch.
He got me going down the right track.
We ended up getting published and that was a big step for me and kind of opened my eyes
to seeing, you know, doing baseball analysis not only as something that I really enjoyed
and wanted to keep doing, but there were going to be opportunities for me keep doing it past
college.
So I realized I wanted to become an art conservator about my junior year at Pomona.
I feel like an education in liberal arts, a strong background in a diverse set of arts
and sciences really prepares you for a career in art conservation.
On a day to day basis, I draw from classes I took in chemistry and studio arts and art
history and archeology.
It's just great preparation for a job where you have to think critically and work with
your hands.
You know, journalism is one of those careers that you have to, that the more sources that
you have in different industries, in different areas, the better you are.
You know, the better access to information that you will have and I'm very proud of my
classmates and seeing them succeed in their respective careers and I know that I have
sources in them.
We really try to create a diverse culture here at IrisTV and I think part of that really
stems from Pomona.
The most important thing that came from Pomona was the people, really just fantastic people
who are colleagues of mine now, I work with, and people that I'm just friends with.
If I'm in a city, you know those are the people that I see and make time with and they're
all doing incredible things.
It's just such a great group of people there, that then are with you the rest of your life.
The physics department over there at Pomona, they're just really special people and the
connections over there, being a tight knit department that really focus on the success
of the students and the well-being of the students, both academically and forming relationships
that are genuine.
It's a wonderful place with the resources, with the many resources to explore curiosity
and one thing that I think was very, very influential for me was studying abroad and
going abroad and taking advantage of that opportunity that Pomona provided.
Medicine can be used as a vehicle for social justice and so, my time at Pomona helped me
develop an idea of what kind of doctor I wanted to be.
I didn't stop and think about until I sat down and made a list of all the people that
inspired me from Pomona.
And then I look at the list and I'm like "Oh yeah!
Those are all badass women, doing awesome work, making a difference, and I want to be
that too.