Sydney McDaniel
2027
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Public Policy & Spanish
I am a freshman at Duke with a focus in Public Policy and Spanish. During my time at Duke, I will prepare for medical school with the hopes of practicing medicine, and delving into healthcare management to examine the importance of financial management, as well as cultural navigation in healthcare both at home and abroad. I am a member of the Duke Black Student Alliance, the Freshman Representative of the Duke Cardea Fellows, and a tutor at Lyon Park Community Center. In my everyday life, you can find me at the gym, practicing new languages, being in fellowship with my faith life, or at dinner with close friends. One of my most memorable health experiences came during my internship with Minneapolis’s Hennepin County Medical Center. There I saw patients from Spanish-speaking, first-generation backgrounds, to black men battling severe mental health traumas, and indigenous families fighting to perform sacred smudging rituals. I saw a Muslim man’s dignity violated, and an elderly Black and Indigenous man being blatantly denied assistance. However, I also saw beautiful moments of what healthcare should embody. I saw an entire clinical team of midwives uplifting a Latina mother during her birth, a mother finding peace in knowing her son could get smudged in the hospital, and a gunshot victim smiling at the sight of finally having other Black-identifying people ensure his wellbeing in their care. I saw families surrounding people and those with only staff at their side. These moments made me see how healthcare and the countless roles that come with it require so much more than a simple degree. They require heightened humanity. For me, everything I do both at Duke and within her broader communities is in tribute to my faith, family, and fight for those whose ailments go unseen around me. I am not afraid to challenge the space and offer a new perspective to change the narratives around me. I am a firm believer that everyone is someone’s, and healthcare should embody complete care for every aspect of life and the communities around it.
“Being a Cardea fellow is an awesome opportunity at Duke because it allows those of us whose communities are at a disadvantage not only academically, but medically, to really get a specialized step in our pre-professional lives towards being able to walk into spaces and board rooms where we can have impact for our community members who are still fighting for basic human rights. Just by being at Duke, and in Cardea Fellows, we have the chance to create this network that can take more people who look like us out of a place of suppression and into a position of appreciation…