engagement story

Photos by @lironash

Hi everyone, it has been a while, I know, I know and I’m sorry. For those of you who don’t know or simply just want to know a little bit more. The last year has been a whirlwind, I got engaged, I graduated college, I am taking the MCAT, and I am moving to Los Angeles! Needless to say, a lot has happened! While I’ve announced these things on my Instagram briefly, I’ve just felt such a strong need to be present 100% in this stage of my life and be intentional in how I am spending my time and just overall gathering myself so that I can be of service to guys. Now that all the events seem to be winding down –sort of– and I have a grasp of what is actually happening in my life, I feel it’s a good time to share with you guys this period of change, these exciting news, and how I’m dealing with everything. This is going to be a 2- or 3-part series (I haven’t decided yet) in which I am going to be totally open and honest with all things in my life right now. Let’s start with the biggest game changer and what I really think people what to know more about at this moment (insert dramatic thum thum thum sound effect, if y’all feel me).

The engagement. I’ll give you a mini background on Robert and I. Robert and I are high school sweethearts and has been gracing me with his presence since the ripe age of 14. I was 14 and he was 15 when we first started dating on March 30^th, 2012. We first officially met in Geometry. This isn’t all lovey-dovey believe it or not, we really didn’t like each other at first since he always had something to say about me (and it was normally awkward things like “your crop sweater is too short”) but, my Geometry teacher, Mrs. Colli, told me to reach out to him for help since oddly enough I was failing Geometry and he happened to be the best student in our class! He helped me and I got to know this sweet, caring, funny, passionate, and soulful individual. The list could go on and on but seriously guys to know Robert is just to love him, he is just such a blessing and a light in my life. And he helped me pass geometry, that’s a plus so the rest was history.

Fast forward to March 29^th,2019, we were off to celebrate our 7^thyear anniversary a day early since he had to work on the 30^th. My friends and roommates at the time, Karina and Caroline, had convinced me he was going to propose THAT NIGHT, AT DINNER. So, like any reasonable woman I tried not to get my hopes up and pretend like that’s not at ALL what I had been thinking about the last few months (note the sarcasm here). The moments leading up to the dinner, I had made up this crazy scenario in my head that he had arranged for all our family and friends to be waiting for us at the restaurant ready to surprise me. SO MUCH SO, that when I asked my friend Carla to borrow some shoes and she told me she wasn’t home, I convinced myself that she was lying to buy herself some time to get to the restaurant. Crazy… I know. So, we went to dinner, ordered our dinner, and finished our dinner and to my dismay, no proposal. This was the perfect setup for the next day (the setup was not intentional). March 30^th,2019 started off as any other day, Robert went to work, I put on workout clothes and did not work out. Robert’s sister, Raffaella, and I went to go pick him up from work and he suggested that we go get ice cream, but it was 10 pm at this point and I was like “Robert, there are no ice cream parlors open at this time.” but then I suggested we just go to the beach since he lives right by it. So we get home, Raffaella, stays at the house and Robert and I walk to the beach. So were walking and talking about the past 7 years and how wonderful they’ve been then Robert starts yelling like a mad-man –I now know it was just the nerves– but he’s just yelling about a man that was peeing on the boulevard earlier and going at it! Then, by a miracle Robert gathered himself and started talking to me again and was just completely absorbed by the moment. Without yelling, he got down on one knee and promised me his heart and last name.

I said I would be completely honest, so I feel like this is something I must mentioned. Since the engagement there have been people who have just tried to project their negativity onto Robert and I by saying we are too young to even be thinking about marriage. Not that it’s anyone’s business actually nor do I owe anyone an explanation. 1. I have faith and am trusting in God’s plan for my life 1000% that he will bless our marriage, he is and will continue to guide us, and that we have a purpose, maybe it’s to show those same people love and just be a light for them. 2. A big part of what has allowed Robert and I grow closer together instead of apart even after all these years, is the fact that we know who we are. Independently as well as each other, we know our passions and we know our dreams for ourselves and we envision how beautifully we would grow together. Throughout undergrad we only saw each other really once every two weeks! We really spent with just ourselves and our friends and had jobs, we gave each other that space to find ourselves and who we are. Then, when we come together it’s beautiful and we really appreciate each others company and the perfect balancing beam is created of two whole individuals, instead of 2 halves trying to make a whole. That just doesn’t work. We still have a lot more to learn and grow from and while we know we CAN do it alone. We CHOOSE to do it together. Either way, exciting things are happening guys and two things I know for sure are that Robert and I share a love that could last 10,000 life times! It’s truly changing me, my mentally, and my overall outlook.

Stay tuned, I promise I won’t make you wait a year! I also encouraged you to ask questions or just share some thoughts. Enjoy the beautiful engagement photos taken by Liron Asher and check out my instagram and her instagram for more!

warmest wishes,

Winny ❤️

twenty-one

Today is my birthday and I couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate it than to spend some time reflecting on how blessed I am to live the life I do. I’ve actually been pondering on this throughout the whole month because I am in shock that I am twenty-one, and because I realized I didn’t get here on my own. In light of that, I want to take this time to share twenty-one things I am thankful for.

“give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” 1 Thes. 5:18

I am beyond thankful for my wonderful family who has held my hand through the best of times and the worst of times. (Yes, quoting Dickens.)
For my best friend/ soulmate that has shown me what love and compromise is.
For all my friends that have proven time and time again to be irreplaceable. (truly hard to find. Update: On 6/28 they threw me a surprise party! They are all so amazing, and pics are below!)
To have the opportunity to get a higher education.
To live in an era when its possible for me as a woman of color to pursue a career in medicine (or a career at all.)
To live in a country where I am freely able to praise God.
To dance.
To laugh.
For my health.
Work at a hospital, where I am able to make a very minor impact on peoples life and well-being.
Be able to do research in my Biology department as an undergrad.
For my mentors that have guided me trough school thus far.
For my mentors that have invested their time and energy in helping me grow in my walk with God.
I am going to go ahead and mention my sweet boyfriend again because honestly I didn’t know anyone so funny, loving, and talented existed; let alone be the person I get to call mine.
For every hardship I’ve faced, because those have molded me more than any of the good times I’ve faced.
I am thankful for those good times.
For those of you that don’t know me, I have a slight Peter Pan complex and the thought of getting old makes me kind of panic. But nonetheless I am so very thankful for each passing day.
For my little God daughter, the most precious little girl.
For all the small things I daily overlook but I realize are truly luxuries such as clean water.
My mastered ability to give myself pep talks.
For living.

Its about the little things and all the big things. Its about living my dream and not dreaming my life. More importantly a life that I’ll be proud to ruminate over and share when I’m old and senile. I am excited to see how my future years will unfold by the awesome grace of God.

warmest wishes,

Winny ❤️

Surprise Party

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medical school application F.A.Q.

As requested, this blog post will be dedicated to what I learned about the medical school application and admission process from the BSCP conference (if you don’t know what this conference is check out this blog post.)

My advisor at the conference was Dr. David A. Neumeyer, MD, Dean of Admissions at Tufts University School of Medicine. I found myself in a uniquely fortunate situation to ask a few questions about the application and admissions process that I had for a while.

Present at the conference were also other professionals related to the admission process which I also had the chance to speak with, one of them being Dr. Carmon Davis, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School.

So here we go!

How important is your GPA, compared to other things really?

Dr. Neumeyer answered this “your GPA, aside from the MCAT score, is really one of the key parts that will allow us to assess how likely you are to succeed in medical school. We want to see that you can produce A quality work –with a few B’s– to determine if you will be able to succeed in the much more difficult courses you will encounter in medical school.” In other words, if you can’t pass your undergraduate courses, you won’t be able to pass the medical school courses.

What if your GPA is good but not perfect, what other factors are taken into account?

Dr. Carmon Davis stated “Admission officers take a holistic approach when looking at applications. More often than not, a well rounded student is chosen over a student with a 4.0 GPA who has no outside involvement other than school. They will take into account the number of credits you are taking, if you have a job, if you have children, if you volunteer, if you are part of organizations, if you are involved in extracurricular activities, etc.

What do medical schools think about summer classes? I’ve heard its frowned upon.

This is FALSE. Taking summer classes is a great way to improve your GPA and learning! Taking core classes during the summer such as Organic Chemistry may be a little questionable, but they will consider the circumstances as to why you had to. However, taking an elective and enhancing your learning is great. You can take a class you are very interested in –that you normally wouldn’t be able to take during the fiscal year– and boost your GPA! I, myself, am taking French this summer because I have wanted to learn the language since as long as I can remember, and the perfect opportunity arose this summer!

When should you apply to medical school and when should you take the MCAT?

This answer is a mixture from the AAMC and my professor. You should begin working on your application in the spring (typically your junior year) so your application is ready in the fall and you can get ready to enter medical school the following fall. The MCAT should be taken in the summer after you being on your application in the spring. So summed up,

begin application in the spring (junior) –> take MCAT in the summer –> finish up your application in the fall and submit (senior) –>enter medical school the following academic year!

Who should I ask for letters of recommendation?

You should have letter of recommendation letters from “people who know your science” as Dr. Davis stated in the conference. This means that getting to actually know your professors and working with them is imperative. The last thing you want in your application is a generic letter saying “Yes, this person was a good student in my class.” You want someone that can speak on your work ethic, your personality, someone that will really vouch for you and can attest that you will one day make a great doctor. You also want a letter of recommendation from someone who has seen you invest yourself in the community and can speak on behalf of your “people skills.” The main idea, is that you need to ask people who truly know you, those are the people that will give you an exceptional letter.

What if you feel your application isn’t strong enough by your junior year or if you don’t get accepted the first time around?

Let me start off by saying don’t get discouraged. Everyone’s timeline is different and there are many different roads leading to your ultimate goal. Just because you decided to take a gap year or were forced to take a gap year doesn’t mean that you will never get in. Dr. Davis and Dr. Neumeyer both spoke on this, taking a gap year/s is something that is becoming increasingly popular. Many things they’ve seen students do is get a master’s degree, work as a lab tech, and travel, amongst other things. What they like to see is how students took this extra time to enhance their learning and their person as a whole. They also look to see how this experience made you medical school ready.

If you have any questions that I didn’t already address don’t hesitate to contact me or comment below! If I don’t know the answer, I’ll do my best to research it or we can find out together! I plan to keep this post as a live document to add anything else I might learn along the way or remember later. So keep checking back to see if anything new was added.

á bientôt,

Winny ❤️

more than medicine

This weekend I had the amazing opportunity to attend this year’s Biomedical Science Careers Program Conference, BSCP. This conference is open to minorities ranging from high school to postdoctoral students. We had the chance to meet many successful people in the sciences working in many areas such as, in industry, academic labs, medical doctors, professors, deans of colleges, even people that had created their own company or were CEO’s and CMO’s of an established company.

I want to break down the conference and tell you a little bit about what it consisted of more in depth and what I learned.

BSCP is a two day conference established in 1991 by Dr. Joan Y. Reede, MD, MS, MPH, MBA, Dean for Diversity and Community Partnership at Harvard Medical School. (Yes, we actually got to meet her and ask her anything. And yes, I am still fan-girling over this amazing woman.)

On Friday, April 6th in the early afternoon a few students were invited to Harvard Medical School (this was first come first serve upon registration) where we had the chance to hear about their graduate programs, their medical school, and how to apply to these programs. Afterwards, we took a tour of a few of the labs at the medical school. Everyone had their choice of 2 labs they wanted to see. The ones I chose were Dr. Lahav’s and Dr. DePace’s Lab.

Dr. Lahav’s lab focuses on the signaling pathway of the tumor suppressor p53. Dr. DePace’s lab focuses on the mechanism and evolution of gene expression utilizing drosophila as a model organism.

(I just realized I could turn my experience from this conference into a novel so I’m going to try and condense it.)

The actual conference started later that evening where we had dinner and listened to a keynote speaker, Dr. Freda C. Lewis-Hall, MD, DFAPA, Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Pfizer Inc. She was absolutely phenomenal. The night ended with a workshop.

The next morning, Saturday, April 7th, each student got paired with an advisor. My advisor was Dr. David Neumeyer, MD, Dean of Admissions at Tufts Medical School. At first I was a little intimated by him but he was so friendly and related that I opened up in no time. I got to ask a ton of questions that I didn’t even know I had and would otherwise never have been able to ask such a qualified person (this could a whole separate blog post on its own, let me know if your interested in reading about this!) Throughout the day we had two more keynote speakers: Dr. Jeff Leiden, MD, PhD, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer at Vertex Inc. and Dr. Michelle A. Williams ScD, Dean of the Faculty at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and ended with two more workshops.

Now, if you’ve gotten this far I want to take some time to tell you about what I learned.

Be relentless in the pursuit of your goals. Many people will tell you that you can’t, and you may even doubt yourself sometimes but believe me you can!

In one of the workshops, Constructing your Career Agenda, Dr. Yvonne Gomez-Carrion, MD, FACOG told us confidence is key and that throughout her career she had heard her fair shares of “you can’t do it” but you can only go as far as you allow yourself. So I asked “Dr. Gomez-Carrion was there ever a time that you doubted yourself?” and she answered “Of course, everyone has those days but that is why its important to surround yourself with a support group that will lift you up when you can’t.” Another panelist present, Dr. Edward A. Kravitz, PhD, also mentioned “If you get accepted into a program believe you can do it, because the people that accepted you already believe that you can.”

2. Representation matters!

As I sat in the gigantic conference room I was overwhelmed by the talent, passion, and drive these wildly successful people exhibited (particularly, the women of color present) One of my mentors “Winny, you have some challenges ahead, not because you’re not intelligent or you can’t do it because I fully believe that you can, but because of what you represent, you are a triple minority: you are black, you are Latina, and you are a woman.” and in that room these women confirmed that this was true and that we would have to work a little harder and a little smarter but it is not impossible. I will never let my sister or any other young woman of color believe that because of the color of their skin and because they are women that they can’t do something. Too many people have shed blood, sweat, and tears for us to be where were at today and I have no intention of letting their sacrifice go to waste and keep the fight alive.

There is so so sooo much more that I learned but for the sake of keeping this blog post a reasonable length I will end here, but please by all means if you want to know more ask me!

warmest wishes,

Winny ❤️

maine & new york

During spring break 2018, I travelled to Maine with two of my friends (Carla & Surenna) and New York with my boyfriend (Roberto). These two states are the complete opposite Maine was more relaxed but in New York everything was hyper-speed.

My friends and I had planned the trip to Cape Elizabeth, Maine for the 13th and 14th but we decided to go to a day early because there was going to be a huge snow storm and we wanted to avoid driving in the middle of that. So on our first day there we went to go see the Portland Headlight.

Order from left to right: Surenna, me, & Carla

Order from left to right: Surenna, me, & Carla.

Lighthouses are Carla’s favorite and that why we decided to go Maine. It was freezing in Maine but in our defense New England had been having some weird weather were it was like 70 degrees one week, so we just kind of assumed the weather would stay like that, least-to-say, we were wrong.

On our second day, we were snowed in but thankfully our airbnb was amazing and had a sauna inside (I didn’t use it, but it was still nice to have) and we were able to relax, watch movies, cook, and goof around (as you can see by that third picture.)

Order from left to right: Carla, me, & Surenna.

Order from left to right: Carla, me, & Surenna.

On the third day, we checked out of the airbnb and went thrifting. We didn’t think we would find anything but we all actually ending up finding a ton of cool things.

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Now onto New York, let me begin by saying there was nothing “relaxing” about New York. We were on the move the whole three days we spent there. According to my phone we walked an estimate of 33,215 steps, but I am pretty sure we walked more.

On our first day in NY, we checked into our airbnb in Brooklyn then took the train ti Manhattan where walked around Times Square and ate some pizza, but most importantly we watched the Phantom of the Opera on broadway at the Majestic Theater. The play was phenomenal! The tickets were a little pricey at about $100 each but I would highly recommend that you take the time to watch this play if you are ever in NY! The props were amazing, the details were meticulously designed and thought out, the actors performed with such grace and passion. This will definitely be an experience I will never forget.

On the second day, we went to go see the Statue of Liberty, but I stupidly forgot to adjust my camera settings and the pictures came out way way way too bright, and of course I didn’t check till we got home that night. So the best picture I got of Lady Liberty is that picture in which Roberto is standing in front go her.

After that we headed over to Canal st. and Little Italy, we went to this really cool market on Canal St. called Canal St. Market. The market had little shops which were very artsy and trendy. There were also a few artists displaying their work which was really unique (but also common in NY). Then, we kept walking in Chinatown till we entered Little Italy in which we had dinner at a restaurant, that I can’t remember the name of, I am horrible, I know. After that we kept on walking a few and went home for the night.

On the third day, we checked out of the airbnb and walked around the city some more. My cousin had told me about this old railroad track that had been turned into a sort of garden called High Line and the Chelsea Market so we went to go check that out. High Line was very much hipster and we were able to get a ton of cool pictures, it had amazing views of the city. The Chelsea Market was kind of like the Canal St. Market, artsy and trendy, we got some souvenirs from there. Afterwards, we ate some more pizza and started on our way back home.

Let me know if you guys have any questions about any of the places I went to this week and/or if you have any suggestions on where/what I should go see next!

warmest wishes,

Winny ❤️

coping with failure

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I’ve heard the saying “success fuels success” many times and while I believe that the great feeling of success keeps pushing us, it doesn’t leave much room for growth. I believe that failure guides success even more.

I find that after a failure I feel paralyzed with fear –I don’t know how many people can agree with me on that, but I do. Walking into a class after failing an exam is probably the worst feeling; you’re sitting there with your throat in a knot with this immense amount of pressure on your chest wondering if you should even be there. I’ve realized that this feeling arises from the stigma around failure that if you’re anything less than perfect, “you’re not good enough.”

But there is so much more to learn from a failure than a success. You know exactly what it is you did wrong and what areas you need to look into for improvement.

Let’s think about this for a moment: how many of you have asked another student, that always seems to nonchalantly pass an exam, how they do it? and their answer goes something like “well, I don’t know, I just studied I guess.” or “I don’t know, I guess I just managed to study the right thing.” and you’re there like “okay…”

Well, the best pupils are those that have felt the bitter sting of failure who are looking to improve themselves. Every good success story begins with a failure or several at that.

Without failure there is no success, failure gives us the opportunity to succeed.

It’s okay to feel sad about failing but the key is to not let it paralyze you. Keep working through it with the confidence in knowing that you will be better because of it.

warmest wishes,

Winny ❤️

staying motivated in college

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*image from google

As you all know from my about me (if you don’t check it out!) I am an out-of-state student completing my junior year at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell.

Leaving home I was so excited to experience new adventures and step out of my comfort zone. Something that I never anticipated was how much life would change when I travelled back home. Its sort of like I expected the world to pause as while I was gone and resume once I returned.

I feel like this has hit me this year more than ever not only because things back at home are constantly changing but because I am realizing that soon I will ACTUALLY be on my own and that includes finding a decent paying job, with more than just minimal hours, and still be a full time student. This also means that I can’t run back to the comfort of my home when things get tough. This can become a little discouraging.

At the end of the day this is what I asked for and prayed for. I believe this is shaping my character into the strong and independent woman I hope will one day get into medical school.

While not everyone can relate to the added pressures of being out-of-state, we can all agree on the lack of motivation and just the overall pressures from family. So why do it? why do any of it? I can’t answer this for you since its different for everyone, but I will tell you what motivates me.

I am passionate about helping people and I hope I can one day give even one person a better quality of life. Right now I’m just taking the little steps that will get me there. No matter how irrelevant some of the things I am doing right now may seem. These are the stepping blocks I need to take. Not everyones journey will resemble mine but the destination is the same, so who cares how you get there? Keep working hard.

This is what I like to tell myself when life deals me a crappy hand, haha.

I actually saw a quote the other day that really resonated with me, I don’t remember where I saw it or from who but it said:

“Don’t dream your life, live your dream.” -unknown

Just thought I’d share.

I wish you all the best,

Winny ❤️

time management

If there is one thing I have learned in college so far, is that managing your time well is critical to your success. As I am wrapping up my fall semester of my junior year, that has become more apparent to me than ever. Balancing a 17 credit schedule with upper level biology classes , working in a lab, tutoring organic chemistry, volunteering at a local hospital, and actively being the Vice President for the Pre- Med club has been anything but a easy task; all in a days work for Pre- Med students.

How did I do it? simple.

by being very VERY meticulously organized.

keeping an updated agenda.

but most importantly, knowing when to say ‘no.’

Keeping an agenda is the first and most simple step you can take to get organized and plan for success. You know what they say “failing to plan is planning to fail.” With so many different styles and templates out there. I, personally, had to try a few different templates before I figured out which one worked best for me, I found that to be a small portable planner that includes daily To-Do lists. I also like to keep an electronic one on my iPhone incase I can’t bring my planner somewhere but a hard paper copy one for me is a must.

What about a social life?

Yes, I know, when all your friends are hanging out on a Friday night or your boyfriend wants to take you out on a date it can be pretty hard to say no but just know its not forever. You will be able to go out eventually, you just need to recognize when the right time for that is. That is the only way keeping a schedule or an agenda is going to work.

A final thought is just to be goal oriented. Knowing why you are saying no, will make that FOMO a little less. And think about it, everyone loves a person that is passionate about what they do (or mostly everyone… I think.)

warmest wishes ,

Winny ❤️