Alumni of the LCI OnTrack Oncology Education Pipeline: Where Are They Now?

[00:00:00] Intro: We are a resource for learners, including every member of the Livestrong Cancer Institute’s on track educational pipeline from middle school to residency. We are a growing collection of interviews, talks, and experiences that uncover the myths and the uncertainties of cancer and careers in cancer in order to empower and inspire generations of thinkers and leaders.

[00:00:25] This is Cancer Uncovered. An education and empowerment podcast by the Livestrong Cancer Institutes.

[00:00:36] Laura Pavitt: Good morning, everyone. Welcome back to Cancer Uncovered, where we continue to explore different careers in healthcare that are connected to cancer care. Today’s episode is unique because we’ll be talking to alumni of our on track education pipeline here at the Livestrong Cancer Institutes. These individuals have completed the program called SURF, the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship, in which students work with a faculty member to get experience doing cancer research.

[00:01:06] The name of this program has since changed. It is now called the American Cancer Society Undergraduate Research Internship. Several of our guests have also been volunteer mentors for both Livestrong at school and for SHE, the Summer Healthcare Experience, which is a program for high schoolers who identify as female.

[00:01:27] All of them are now off in the world, pursuing different careers in healthcare, and we were lucky enough to talk with them and capture their words of wisdom today. Kristen Wynn, Program Manager at the LCI, is conducting the interview.

[00:01:43] Kristen: I’m excited about our group of speakers today. So these are some of my favorite humans that have taken part in work with us at the Livestrong Cancer Institute over the years.

[00:01:57] I think all of the students that have gathered here today are actually alumni that have done Uh, our CERF program, which sort of preceded this program that you all are in now, but essentially the same premise, right, is coming into the summer for 10 weeks under the, under the wing of a faculty person to do some cancer research, and so I think there’s something really powerful about hearing from people that are just a few years down the road.

[00:02:22] I think there’s a lot we can learn from our peers, um, and so I’m really excited about the group that has gathered. So, yeah. I’m going to have all of our speakers introduce themselves this morning, um, and really what I want to hear from you speakers is, uh, how you’re kind of in the Livestrong Cancer Institute’s family, right?

[00:02:42] How are you an alumni? Maybe what you did during your internship and then Where you are now, what you’re up to now. Uh, so Lavender, I’m going to have you go first. Lavender, will you introduce yourself?

[00:02:54] Lavender: Sure. Thanks for having me here today, Kristen. This is super exciting. Hey, everybody. My name is Lavender.

[00:03:00] Like Kristen said, I am starting my sixth year now of my PhD. I work, uh, that’s the average time, Jacob. But I’ll be finishing up this year. I got you in 4K, Jacob. Yeah, sixth year, which is average in my department and in America. It’s usually between five and seven years to finish a PhD. So it’s a long time.

[00:03:20] Uh, I agree, but that’s where I’m at right now. Um, I did Livestrong in 2018. Was I in the first or second group, Kristen? I don’t remember.

[00:03:30] Kristen: You were in the first group!

[00:03:31] Lavender: I was in the first group! Yeah, that was really fun. And I am currently still in the same lab as my, um, Livestrong supervisor, Dr. Stefano Tiziani.

[00:03:42] And we’re over here, we’re at UT, but we’re at DPRI, Dell Pediatric Research Institute, next to the Children’s Hospital. So a little bit off site. What else was I supposed to say?

[00:03:51] Kristen: What is something that maybe you wish you had known as an undergrad?

[00:03:58] Lavender: What do I wish I had known as an undergrad? Well, when I was an undergrad, I started off pre med and I thought I was going to go to medical school and I was like, there’s no other options for me, this is my, this is my calling.

[00:04:08] So I didn’t really know a lot about research and I didn’t really think when I was an undergrad to figure out what my values are. Beforehand and see if like the the career I’m choosing is actually going to fit those values. So I think I learned the hard way realizing with every passing week, the building dread of having to actually be a doctor and what that means for my day to day life didn’t really fit my lifestyle needs and and my personality and kind of the way I like to learn the way I like to contribute to the world.

[00:04:34] So I think I think I guess my advice or what I wish I had known was Not really just think about the work that you have coming up and how important it is and how you can impact other people But like every day are you gonna wake up and say I’m excited to to go to work that day And there are a lot of ways to contribute to health care and science and cancer outside of being a medical doctor Which I didn’t really know at all I didn’t really know what research was or how I could get into it or what the Requirements were anything like that.

[00:04:59] So I think I don’t know just kind of Turning more focus inwards. Who am I? What do I want? I guess is what I wish I would have done then.

[00:05:08] Kristen: That’s great. Yeah. Thanks, Lavender. Thanks for being here. Um, Harini, I’m going to have you go next.

[00:05:14] Harini: So, hello. My name is Harini Venkoba Rao, and I’m an alumni from SURF’s Summer of 2022 cohort.

[00:05:23] I think, um, I worked in Dr Stephen needs lab and my projects where I had two different projects. I did a computational project with Dr Osorio at that time, and we worked on looking at a screen of different cancer hits and working with CRISPR to kind of decide which, um, hits and which hits on that particular screen were most important.

[00:05:46] Valuable to kind of investigate a little bit more. And I also did a in house bench work research project as well. And that was also with CRISPR. So I had a lot of fun working with both my mentors and the lab and got to make some really good friends with the rest of my cohort mates. But I’m a recent graduate from UT Austin as well.

[00:06:07] I was a biology and plan two major at UT, so that was a lot of fun, and currently I’m in medical school, so I go to Sam Houston, and yeah, I’m actually at the school right now, it’s one of the study rooms, so we just have a little break before our next lecture, so I was like, yeah, this is the perfect time to do it, and in terms of one piece of advice that I would give to my undergraduate self, I Guess now that I’m in medical school and kind of like looking retrospect, um, definitely.

[00:06:41] Making a routine for myself. I think in undergrad, I kind of had like an outline of a routine and depending on how my schedule would go, I kind of, you know, arranged the way that I eat, live and like hanging out with friends around my school. But in medical school, I quickly realized that, um, having that life and work balance is definitely important and having a preset routine of like, this is when I wake up, this is when I eat, this is when I’m going to hang out with my friends, this is when I’m going to talk to, like, my parents and stuff was super important, um, because sometimes you get overwhelmed with a lot of different things.

[00:07:19] Having that preset routine kind of ingrained in me in undergrad would have definitely been a little bit more helpful, but. It’s going well. It’s going well. Otherwise, so

[00:07:29] Kristen: Awesome. Thanks Harini. Thanks for being here. All right. Last but certainly not least, we have Alexa. So you introduce yourself.

[00:07:36] Alexa: Hi. Yes, I’m Alexa.

[00:07:38] I was in. I think the last cohort, the 2023. I was a neuroscience major. I graduated last year and I went straight into medical school. I’m at McGovern Medical School right now, also in Houston. And I worked with Dr. Noel while I was in my internship. And I also did something similar, the colorectal cancer screening.

[00:07:59] Um, and I focused on Hispanic populations and Oh, something I think I’ve, I wish I would’ve done in undergrad was. Like, talk to the people in my classes, I guess. I just really, I started during COVID, so it was all online, and then I think I kind of got in the habit of like, just going to class and leaving straight after, or watching it online, um, and now in medical school, you’re kind of like, forced to interact with everyone around you, and it’s been so fun, and it actually, like, using their resources, and using the way they study, or the way they understand this, has been so helpful, especially because we all come from different backgrounds, It’s been really good to bounce ideas off each other and get to meet people and feel like you’re not going through it all alone, which I wish I would have done a little bit more.

[00:08:43] Kristen: Awesome. Thank you. Thank you all so much for being here. It’s good to hear a little bit about what you’re doing now. Lavender, what is your, what are your days looking like these days?

[00:08:55] Lavender: Well, my favorite thing about doing my PhD is that every day is slightly different, and I get to set my own schedule, so, you know, I get to kind of follow the natural rhythms of my creative juices, I guess.

[00:09:07] Um, so, we have a lot of online students, those are my early days, and otherwise, it’s like, I might show up at 8, I might show up at 11. 30 here to do what I have to do. Some days I’m working with cells, some days I’m just on the computer, I’m coding, or I’m writing. Some days I’m working with mice, some days I’m having meetings, you know, I’m having conferences, I’m doing presentations, um, so it’s, it’s really very varied.

[00:09:30] I really like that. So yeah, like today I have a meeting at 10 and I’m learning how to use a really cool new instrument where we can put our cancer cells into it and then we’ll just take pictures. over time and show us the way our cells change in response to treatment, or I’m working on creating a virus so that they can glow depending on what cell cycle stages they’re in.

[00:09:48] So now I’m gonna like work with the engineer today to figure out how I can track cell cycle stages in the new machine. So, uh, yeah, I don’t know. Nothing new and exciting every day. I love it.

[00:09:59] Kristen: Yeah. Yeah, that’s awesome. Um, I appreciate more and more. I’m seeing you present more like I get random flyers. I’m like, Oh my gosh, I know this woman on this flyer, but it’s exciting.

[00:10:10] So it’s really been incredible, like selfishly. I’m so glad that you’ve been here for the last six years because I feel like I’ve had a front row seat to kind of watch you grow. And so, um, Really cool.

[00:10:22] Lavender: That’s really sweet.

[00:10:23] Kristen: It’s been fun. It’s been fun to watch. Thank you. So yeah, yeah, yeah. As far as the rest of like, if you all could explain maybe a day, our medical school friends, maybe what your days are looking like these days, Harini you had mentioned like really having a schedule is important these days.

[00:10:41] Harini: Yeah, absolutely. So in terms of my days for my school, I know other medical schools kind of do it a little bit differently, but we have the opportunity to have in person lectures. So I do go to class for my lectures, while I do know that other schools may have asynchronous lectures as well. So I do wake up in the morning at around seven, usually classes start around eight, and I come to school.

[00:11:07] For my first block of classes, I had anatomy lab from one to five on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. So I had a lab three times a week where we would just do dissections. Now that I’m in my scientific foundations block, we have another course called clinical medicine. So on Tuesdays. I have to being on campus from 8 to 5, because we have classes from 8 to 12, and then we have lab from 1 to 5, and so my lab time on Tuesdays now are split between clinical medicine, which is the doctoring course where we get to just practice talking to each other and interviewing standardized patients, and we have like actors kind of are in place of patients who we get to practice with, and they’re very, they’re very good at acting, um, and we also have another course.

[00:11:53] Um, I go to a osteopathic medical school, so we do something called OMM. So we have an OMM lab where we basically do different techniques, myofascial release, different, um, musculoskeletal techniques on our partners and our colleagues to practice. It’s how we would treat patients with somatic dysfunctions.

[00:12:12] So that’s another lot we have. So in terms of a daily schedule, I usually am at school and I try to be at school even if I don’t have classes from around eight to five. And then afterwards go home, study a little bit more, talk to my friends, you know, over the phone or if I’m not able to meet them in person.

[00:12:31] Um, just talk to them in some way. I do like to study with other people sometimes as well, especially with OMM, where we have to practice skills and do we have practicals as well. So having another person to actually do the skills on is really helpful and you still get to talk to them too. So you get that interaction in the day.

[00:12:48] And yeah, and then I try to sleep on time, um, and get enough sleep. So I go to sleep by around 11 and then wake up again and do it all over again. So

[00:13:01] Kristen: Yeah. Awesome. Very cool. Thanks. Alexa, same to you. What are your days looking like?

[00:13:07] Alexa: I decided a week ago that I was going to train for the Houston Marathon.

[00:13:11] So my days are a little bit wack these last two weeks. I love about like my school, we do, we do have lectures in person, but they’re also videotaped. So you can watch them at any point. So I love the flexibility of getting to like customize my day. So. This morning, I woke up, I went on a run, I’m doing that, and then I have two lectures that I have to watch from this morning.

[00:13:38] Um, and then we go in for like 30 minutes to anatomy and teach, so you alternate what you do every other day and then just teach them what you did the last time. And then we also, I also have my standardized patient meeting today, so we’re doing their neuro exam. Um, it’s very intimidating, they’re very good at it, at acting, it’s crazy.

[00:13:59] Ahem. And I usually try to stay at school until 5, even if I’m not in class, just to study. I’m gonna hang out with people and get help if I need it. And my favorite part about it is that it’s like all coming together, little bits that you learned in undergrad. That you’re like, why did we learn this?

[00:14:20] You’re like, oh, it connects with this other thing and it actually affects people in this way. That’s really cool. It finally like coming together. We’re watching a show that’s about like forensic anthropology And like going through the human body and like actually being able to understand what they’re saying Or even like Grey’s Anatomy if I watch it, I’m like, oh my god I know what that means or I don’t, um, I saw that or you know this I think that’s all really cool Um,

[00:14:46] Kristen: Yeah, so that’s awesome.

[00:14:49] Thanks, Alessa. I have a question.

[00:14:50] Audience Q&A: I have a question for um, basically all of you on zoom. When you were applying to your graduate schools, what was like the important thing that you were looking at for those graduate schools? And if you can provide any advice for things to look at when applying to graduate school, that’d be really cool.

[00:15:07] Like to look for like curriculum or class size or just engagement and that type of stuff.

[00:15:12] Lavender: Great question. No, that’s a really good question. I’ll go first since mine’s really short. And that I was with the same advisor that I had, um, before when I did my internship and stuff. And so for me, what was most important was just like compatibility.

[00:15:24] I think when you’re with somebody, like with me, I have like a direct advisor and we’re together every single day. So for me, it was important that our, our personalities were compatible, that like our styles of work were compatible because, you know, Somebody like me, I thrive kind of a little bit on chaos and I don’t really love having a lot of like overbearing structure You know what I mean?

[00:15:44] So for me, I needed a boss who was like that as well who didn’t want to force me But like kind of let me grow and learn on my own. So I think that that was the most important thing. I think Looking back what I would do if I was You know, interviewing a lot of places. I, as I would meet with the advisors individually, um, you know, read about their work first, like the works really important, but you, you don’t necessarily get to decide exactly the work you’re going to do.

[00:16:06] So just like the general areas, like I like doing cancer research, I’m going to do cancer research and then you just have conversations, kind of feel them out. And I think it’s like, you know, you want, you want to go there and you want to put yourself forward as, as a candidate who’s, You know, capable and stuff, but you also are interviewing them.

[00:16:22] Do I, do you know, you need me just as much as I need you. So I think really sell yourself. I realize you’re, you are really the one with a lot of value who’s going to be, you know, doing the things, doing all the work, so, um, don’t sell yourself short, don’t just go for whoever will take you, you know, really pay attention to does it fit you, because that’s a long time to spend somewhere if it’s not the right fit.

[00:16:41] Audience Q&A: Years.

[00:16:42] Harini: Yeah.

[00:16:43] Lavender: Yeah. Or more.

[00:16:45] Audience Q&A: Yeah. Or more. Yeah.

[00:16:47] Kristen: Yes, Harini.

[00:16:49] Harini: So, With this particular school, um, definitely, and I think just in medical, when I was interviewing and deciding where I wanted to go, mission and culture were super important to me. So the mission of the school, um, definitely when I was prepping for my interviews, looking to see where their mission is, like where it lies.

[00:17:07] So definitely I want to work with underserved populations in the future. And actually that was kind of a result from what I learned because we did spend a big part of it talking about health equity and after that program, I realized that that’s kind of where I wanted to guide my focus and my future practice towards and definitely my school had incorporated that and shared its mission and I was like, That’s great.

[00:17:33] That’s exactly what I want to do. Um, also culture of the school. So when I interviewed and also when I was just researching about the school, getting opinions from current students, how they felt about the school, um, how they actually structured their time as well. Like, were they super overwhelmed with all the material?

[00:17:52] And I think talking to the current students was incredibly helpful in getting their information, getting their insights, because that was kind of what made my final decisions on where I wanted to go. And particularly, I went to an osteopathic medical school, so I was really interested in OMM to begin with.

[00:18:10] Um, just, it’s a new skill. And I think a lot of students here call it in like another tool in your tool belt. So for me, just something else that I could incorporate, which means more studying more commitment towards for it in school, but it’s another way to look at things and just reinforces Knowledge that we’ve already learned about anatomy, physiology, even pharmacology and other stuff.

[00:18:33] So I think for me, that was just another way to think about medicine. And I really enjoyed that aspect. So there were a couple of different factors that kind of let me decide that this was the place that I wanted to go and I wanted to be.

[00:18:50] Kristen: Yeah, that’s awesome. Cool. Thanks for sharing that.

[00:18:54] Alexa: So I think one of the like biggest things for me was interviewing.

[00:18:59] You got to see what the students are like in that school, what their day to day is like. For me, it was really important to ask what type of resources the school gives to you. So like at McGovern, they give you different resources for when you’re studying for Step 1 and then applying to residency and we get like a one on one advisor.

[00:19:19] And I thought that was really cool. Lots of research opportunities too, since, I mean, I’m sure y’all are too, but very interested in research. That was something that was really big for me, and McGovern has a research program. And it’s not like undergrad where you had to email a lot of professors and like try to find whichever lab would take you.

[00:19:37] Here it’s like you get to pick, basically, and they’ll be happy to help you. So that was super important, the accessibility to be able to do research for me. Um, and kind of what the students said about what their worst days at school were like. I thought that was very interesting. Like, what is one thing you could change about the school?

[00:19:58] What is one thing you dislike that I think said a lot about what the school itself was like, what the professors were like, how they taught the curriculum. Um, and you, you do get different vibes from different schools. So I think that’s very important. And I really, I didn’t, I don’t know what I want to do yet, so I think being in Houston and being in the medical center was huge for me.

[00:20:21] Um, just kind of a place where you can do anything you want and have crazy specialists and like anything you can imagine. So that was kind of what I used to pick the medical school. Um, and I do think you would be happy most places. A lot of them are very similar. You learn the same material, as long as you, you know, pass the same exams, you end up Doing the same kind of thing.

[00:20:45] So I think it’s more of like, you have to look at like financial aid, what kind of resources offer you, um, stuff like that, which I thought was very, very important in what I based my decision off of

[00:20:56] Kristen: Good points, all good points. Oh, and Alex is here too. Really quick.

[00:21:02] Alex: I made it finally. Sorry. Just got out of my class.

[00:21:05] Kristen: No, that’s great. That’s great. Um, welcome. Welcome to this, uh, the middle of this conversation. I’m really excited you’re here. So we have. Students with us that have been part of the Livestrong Cancer Institute in some way or another. Um, you all are some of my favorite mentors to bring together and talk with

[00:21:24] Alex: Oh we’re in the VIP section.

[00:21:26] Kristen: You’re in the VIP section all day. But I wanted to get your perspective as well, kind of on your path. So if you want to maybe jump in and talk a little bit about your background, um, and then sort of Maybe your trajectory, like how you made the decision to go the route you’re going.

[00:21:43] Alex: Sure.

[00:21:43] Um, so I went to Texas A& M. I was kind of the same position as everybody else here, like, you don’t really know what you’re doing, and everyone tells you you’re supposed to go to the school and figure everything out, and I had no idea. So I got a major in genetics because there was this one parent in my freshman year who was like, you can’t go into undergraduate and pick up a major, and she gave me this long list of majors to pick from, and that’s when I just resigned.

[00:22:03] Um, it was really lucky that I spent my first two years just kind of like figuring my way up. I was pre med originally, but what I really got attracted by was this idea of like, I kind of feel like the MD field is prescriptive in a way where they are using technologies and medicines that have been established and then figuring out how to give it to the patients that they’re working with.

[00:22:23] And what really inspired me is I was like, well, especially in my family back then, um, like cancer is a really big thing. And so I was like, I know there’s a better way of treating cancer than just giving them a chemical that kills the cancer first. And so I really went into this field of getting excited about.

[00:22:37] Targeted therapies and how we can research and develop those to do a much better job of targeting the specific. And so I kind of realized about myself along the way that I didn’t like some things and I did like some things. And when I put those two together, it made me realize, well, I don’t want to be an MD.

[00:22:51] I want to be someone who’s like researching and figuring out the next steps so that I can give it to an MD so they can figure out how to best use it. Um, and that’s just like my strengths. And it was kind of this whole process of like trying things, figuring out I didn’t like them, and then kind of pivoting to things that I did.

[00:23:07] Um, so I didn’t take the traditional trajectory after that. Um, after my undergrad, I got out and I went to Newtown for my PhD, and I was really close to some of the MD PhD programs, which was really awesome to see. So I worked in an endocrine immunotherapy lab, which is, I think y’all have heard of it, the idea of taking a patient’s white blood cell out of them, teaching them how to fight off a specific cancer or the virus that they have, and then reintroducing it back into them.

[00:23:30] And I thought that technology was super targeted. It doesn’t have this like consequence on the rest of the body. Um, so I went into that kind of research when I got my master’s. And at that point, there’s a lot of changes in my life where I was like, you know what, I’m not even sure. Yeah, this is what I wanted, and so I actually took a step back and I worked at Starbucks for a year.

[00:23:47] I was trying to figure out my trajectory, and I was like, no, you know what, I returned and I have this master’s at Starbucks, which was ridiculous, I was honestly like looking back at it. But I was like, you know, I love science and I got attracted back into it. And so I joined a research lab in their lab manager, and the person who hired me was like, you’re really, really good at research.

[00:24:04] You should like go and actually finish your degrees and go into this field. Um, and so I kind of had this back and forth process of like going inside and coming out of it, not really sure what I wanted to do and going back in. And finally, like I was in that lab manager position for about two years, applied to grad school as a PhD, and I’m finishing up now.

[00:24:22] And I’m already starting, uh, a visiting professorship here at Southwestern University, which is a small liberal arts university, uh, north of Boston. And it’s really awesome. It’s like, the faculty here is super excited about experiencing the types of things that I’ve been doing and I’m bringing into the faculty.

[00:24:37] And so I get to kind of bring in my research experience and teach it to my grad students and have them involved in undergraduate research like they already love it. So, I don’t know if that makes sense. I’m trying to say, even by making a lot of mistakes and being unsure of yourself, you can find a path that’s going to lead you in the right direction.

[00:24:53] And right now, I feel like I’m a very big, and I feel like I’m really happy with what I’ve chosen.

[00:24:59] Kristen: That’s awesome. Thanks, Alex. Yeah, and I appreciate, too, the, you know, the honesty about, and the authenticity about going back and forth about, What do I like? What don’t I like? And even taking that step back and saying, I’m just gonna go make coffee for a little bit and figure it out, right?

[00:25:16] Alex: My PI, the boss that I had at the time, was like, what are you doing? I was like, I just gotta figure some stuff out. So those are high pressure environments. They do not give you a lot of time to think about what you want. Sometimes it’s hard to find that. So I just needed that clarity and it really helped put all of that perspectively.

[00:25:32] Kristen: Absolutely. Yeah, I think, you know, none of that, none of that time is wasted. You were sort of like, this is embarrassing, but I don’t, I don’t think it is. I think it’s really important for us to say, like, sometimes take a step back. Like, sometimes you have to get some clarity. And I think, you know, you all are taking gap years and other, other things, right?

[00:25:48] Yeah, I didn’t take one, and

[00:25:49] Alex: I think that was my biggest mistake, was like, I had an opportunity to after my senior year in undergrad. And it’s giving me that perspective, right? I can talk to my undergrads that I’m teaching now and be like, look, I can see you kind of need some space. Like, don’t rush so much.

[00:26:02] You have so much time at this point in your life to kind of figure things out. And like, in your 20s, all the professional careers are very forgiving usually with like your choices during this period of time. Uh, so you need to stay on track, but you do have the space to like go study abroad and do something random.

[00:26:16] Or like take a summer off. That’s okay. Um, you just need to make sure you’re staying on track with the other professional voice. And as long as you’re communicating with people, there’s a lot of forgiveness when we’re young and free.

[00:26:27] Kristen: Yeah, absolutely. That’s great. That’s great. So many good, so many good nuggets today.

[00:26:32] Alex: Oh, I do have one more just free comment. Uh, one thing about my career, um, is like networking is really, really powerful. So like these connections that you’re making, even just like seeing me on a screen, like if you wanted to reach out, contact me. Sure, feel free to, I’m happy to like, provide my contact information, but a lot of the big moments in my life have come from people that I haven’t known in the past, who just like, have an opportunity, or have this connection, or have this means.

[00:26:54] Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there and make connections with people, even if you feel like you’re not prepared now, you might be prepared later, and they’d love to talk to you.

[00:27:01] Kristen: I’m so glad you mentioned that as well. I think the reason, you know, you all even coming back and having these discussions kind of over and over again with students over the years and always being willing to share your perspective and where you are and what you’re working on.

[00:27:15] Um, I think there’s, you know, networking value in that too. Yeah, I feel like this community, what I’ve learned over the years. of being an LCI, um, being kind of in an academic cancer center environment is that, you know, sort of once you have these connections, you always have these connections, right? They don’t really go away.

[00:27:32] It doesn’t matter if you go to another university. It doesn’t matter if, you know, you go get a job somewhere else. So, so I, I say that to close and say, thank you all so much for coming and doing this. I think it’s, again, of great value to come and have these conversations and check in with one another and keep, keep reaching out and asking how we can help, how we can support you all.

[00:27:52] Our interns, our former interns, people that come, come and talk to our students, um, any like parting words for our interns or anyone else on this call, for me, any parting words of wisdom before we let you go.

[00:28:07] Lavender: You know, I would say kind of like what I was talking about before is, I guess for me, when I was an undergrad, I’m just like you guys too, um, a lot of you guys, like first generation, I didn’t really have help getting into college, let alone grad school, like I don’t have a history of what’s going on, and so, you know, as a person from West Texas, it’s easy to kind of feel like I don’t belong, or maybe I’m not the, I’m not the right type to be here, and then that would, that would make me kind of, Sell myself short or not really see my value And I think it’s really important that you guys know that you bring tons of value Just inherently being who you are your different experiences the different places you’re from and it may seem Like, you know, these institutions maybe aren’t made for you Like you don’t belong but you do belong and you are important And you know, it’s really important that you guys are there and contribute, so never feel like you have to sell yourself short or you don’t have value or more people, or different people with different backgrounds are better than you or more important than you.

[00:29:00] That’s absolutely not true. And to go into things like knowing your value, like I’m here because I work really hard, I’m very smart, and I deserve to be here. I think that’s really important. I love that. You guys will be great. You guys will be incredible. And I look forward to seeing what you guys do and add me on LinkedIn.

[00:29:15] Uh, everyone, I’m a LinkedIn girl now. If you want to chat about anything, if you have any questions, I’m here, I’m here to help.

[00:29:24] Kristen: I love it. Thank you so much, Lavender. Always good to see you and good to hear from you. Well, thank you all so much for taking the time. I know Alex will get you right at the very tail end, but I’m really glad to have had your perspective. Um, so that’s really, it’s really fantastic. So, um, With that, unless there’s anything else, I will let you all go, but thank you.

[00:29:48] Thank you so much.

[00:29:52] Good to see you.

[00:29:53] Alex: Thank y’all again.

[00:29:54] Kat: Yeah. If anyone has, like, any questions, y’all can reach out to me as well. MCAT, Secondarys applying. Yeah, you can let me know.

[00:30:02] Harini: Same with me.

[00:30:02] Kristen: Love it. Awesome. Thank you, Harini. Bye. all. Good

[00:30:06] to see you.

[00:30:08] Laura Pavitt: Thank you to Lavender, Alexa, Harini, Alex, and all of our other LCI alumni and volunteers.

[00:30:15] who continuously show up to share their time and experience with students. You are all true mentors in our education pipeline and are extremely valuable parts of our LCI community. If anyone has questions for us, or other topics that we can uncover, please email us at livestrongcancerinstitutes@dellmed.utexas.edu and make sure institutes is plural. You can find out more about the Livestrong Cancer Institutes at dellmed.utexas.edu and about the Livestrong Cancer Institutes Clinic at uthealthaustin.org. As always, if you enjoyed this episode, please make sure to subscribe. Thank you for listening.