Undergraduate
University of Puerto Rico
Rio Piedras Campus, San Juan P.R.
manueldramaalejandro@gmail.com
I’m currently a sophomore undergraduate student making my bachelor’s degree in the Interdisciplinary Program in Natural Science at the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus. I chose this program because it doesn’t focus in a particular major within Science; in this concentration I can expand my knowledge because it studies many areas of Sciences, and hence prepares me better for graduate school. My immediate goal is to study Medicine and pursue a specialization in Oncology. Since eleventh grade, I knew I wanted to study Medicine. My whole life I have enjoyed helping other people and for these reason and experiences I know I have grown as a person and can bring a unique sense of compassion to my work. Life is a circle of experiences that never stops teaching and the ultimate goal of the journey is being alive and healthy. For this reason I decided to study science and continue onto medicine; to become an oncologist and help those in need.
Research is very important to me because it leads the way to many discoveries not only to the world but also personally. Everything I study and everything I learn and know was discovered and addressed by others (researchers) before me and past research leads to future discoveries and new knowledge. My research project with Dr. Braulio Jimenez consists in answering how Global Warming can affect people’s health in Puerto Rico. Global warming refers to the drastic and continues rise of temperature of the Earth climate. Climate change is one of the factors affecting people’s health but many of them don’t realize this nor are aware of the different possible ways that it can contribute to the exacerbation and develop of disease. When I came across the opportunity to be a part of this research I knew I had to do everything I could to be a part of it, because I knew that being a part of this experience would expand my knowledge in science and that I will learn about Toxicology through my laboratory experience. I will obtain hands on experience dealing with molecular biology techniques and learning how to use specific equipment’s. Contribute to the generation of data and organization and analyses of the same.
In my high school years I was part of different associations such National Honor Society and Mathematics Team and participated in many community service activities. Aside from my student life, I enjoy doing sports, I’ve been part of different teams like baseball, volleyball and basketball buy my favorite one is basketball. I think that doing sports is not just for fun or hobby; I think sports have an important role with health and acquiring leadership rolls as well as discipline. Someday I would like to work as a tutor for undergraduate students at the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus to guide them and teach them the things that helped me better my performance as a student and as a person in my college life.