Eleyna Escobedo, who grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, will be graduating this December 2023 with a bachelor’s degree in life sciences communication and biology. In this Q&A, Escobedo describes her interest in patient care and medicine, her extensive work in both hospitals and labs, the value of stepping outside your comfort zone, and more.

Why did you choose your major, and what did you learn along the way?
Coming into college, I knew I was interested in science and writing, so I took a lot of courses exploring these interests. Early on, I was lucky enough to enroll in a life sciences communication course and fell in love with learning about how to successfully explain complex scientific concepts to both experts and the general population. With biology, I knew I was interested in science, but didn’t quite know where I fit into that, so I decided to declare a major in biology because it allowed me to explore a wide variety of topics and have a lot of autonomy in my course selection.

What other activities were you involved in?
Throughout my undergraduate career, I worked as: a CNA at a local hospital, a CCAS SOAR advisor, a digital marketing specialist for an American Family Insurance agency, a biology major mentor, a science educational assistant, and in an evolutionary genetics research lab. I am also the vice president of event management for a club on campus called Advocates for Rare Diseases.

What are your future academic and/or career plans?
I hope to go to medical school and continue participating in research. I’m really passionate about patient care and the intersection between medicine and evolution and would love to be a part of the new research regarding this.

What were the most valuable/meaningful college experiences you had?
Working in a hospital and lab setting were really valuable experiences for me. It taught me different capacities in which my major was applicable to the real world and also proved to myself that I love both environments. My sophomore year at UW, I started working with patients in a hospital-setting. I found I really enjoy working on my feet and directly interacting with patients. In the lab, I learned a lot about the scientific process and learned a lot of hands-on skills. It also helped me expand my creativity.

When you think about your time here as student, what are you proud of?
I am most proud of my work ethic and resilience. I’ve worked directly with patients sick with COVID in the hospital. I’ve researched causes of male sterility in drosophila for over two years. I’ve mentored 10 UW undergraduate biology major students. I’m really proud of all my work in these fields and feel really grateful for all of these opportunities.

Do you have any advice you’d like to share with CALS students?
One piece of advice that really helped me was to take any and every opportunity you can to try something new. I worked so many jobs throughout college that were completely unrelated to what I was studying or what I thought I was interested in, but those jobs surprised me and got me outside of my comfort zone. I know it sounds cheesy, but being outside of your comfort zone is really where you learn and grow the most.