As a premedical student throughout my undergraduate, I was prepared to embark on the long journey towards an MD degree.   I studied hard, shadowed doctors, and worked at the university hospital as an EKG technician, blood gas technician, and laboratory assistant in Hematology.  Although I went to four different universities to complete my degree, I graduated from the University of Michigan.  It was there, during my last year of college, that I decided to finally pursue my interest in agriculture. 

Although it was too late to switch my Biology major, I took a few classes in agricultural studies and studied for a summer up north at the University of Michigan Biological Station, where I did research on Eastern dwarf mistletoe on Black Spruce.  In addition, I picked up a minor in Afro-American and African studies to satisfy my interest in social justice movements, focusing primarily on the American civil rights movement.  Accordingly, I was also very active on campus.  I participated as Director of Finance and Program Coordinator to Nourish International, as chairman for the Inter-Humanitarian Council, and was a campus leader for the ONE Campaign, RESULTS and STAND for Darfur. 

One of the most defining moments of my coursework was participating in a trip to the Dominican Republic, where I created a program on the risks of abortion and prevention of pregnancy for women.  Although I carried out my project successfully, I found myself spending most of my time in the village with the engineers working on biological sand filtration systems and a community garden.  I became absolutely sure of my course of study after another school trip to Mexico, where I researched Milpa and coffee systems of the Zapatistas, a guerilla army in the south of Chiapas.  I was greatly affected by the strong link apparent between traditional agriculture and the preservation of the Zapatistan revolutionary movement.

I applied to the DPM program because it allows me to be flexible and accommodating to my specific course of study in international development.   In the future, I would like to work for the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization as a liaison between small farmers and legislative government.