Celebrating the Class of 2020: Georgina Brown
Georgina Brown knew that she wanted to become a doctor since she was 10 years old, when she visited a Doctors Without Borders clinic in her home country of Jamaica. She continued working toward that goal while studying at UM-Flint and has an interview with the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine on May 7!
Before she knew of the opportunities that would become available to her on campus, Georgina picked UM-Flint for a simple reason: she earned an associate degree before immigrating to the US and wanted to find an institution that gave her credit for the work she already completed. The personal connections she would form with her professors began as she was considering the best major for her pre-medical studies.
“I had a meeting with Dr. Joe Sucic to get to know him and tell him what I’m interested in. He was the one that introduced me to Molecular Biology and Biotechnology. I changed my major then and I haven’t regretted it since,” Georgina says.
Georgina didn’t just study Molecular Biology and Biotechnology with Dr. Sucic—she also worked with her professor on research projects. In a collaborative study with the Department of Physical Therapy, Georgina studied the DNA of older individuals to determine if the presence of a particular sequence has an impact on their ability to recover from exercise.
The personal connections with faculty didn’t stop there. Georgina had a common-sense policy when it came to her being confused in class—since she was making a big investment in her education, she wasn’t going to be shy about asking questions.
“I think a lot of college students can be afraid to talk to their professors…they don’t want to feel dumb for asking a question. But if you are paying thousands of dollars to get an education, you might as well get the answer,” Georgina says. “I really liked that my professors encouraged me whenever I asked questions; I think that really contributed to my success as a student.”
By any measure, Georgina’s time as a UM-Flint student has been a success. She earned the Maize & Blue Award, UM-Flint’s highest academic honor, as well as a scholarship from the Center for the Education of Women (CEW+). Georgina also qualified for an early assurance program between UM-Flint and the MSU College of Human Medicine. Though she plans to take a gap year between graduation and beginning her medical studies, she already has an interview with the MSU Medical School!
“A lot of people don’t really know that there are so many opportunities out there for UM-Flint students. If you just ask, you’ll find out this campus has much to offer!”
