Jasmine Cuevas-Lopez

Chemistry & Biomedical Engineering

I aspire to embark on a healthcare career to fulfill my passion for service and patient care, a devotion that resonates with the story of a young boy.
   
Each year, TeletonUSA hosts a 16-hour broadcast to raise funds for The Children’s Rehabilitation Institute (CRIT), which offers support to children with disabilities. During the 2022 event, a mother shared her harrowing experience of being caught in the crossfire of a drug cartel while en route to the U.S. border. To her and her son, the border walls spanning around 700 miles represented a symbol of hope, a future free from the insecurity that had plagued their homeland. Instead, she appeared on national television as an amputee, missing an arm, with a son paralyzed from the hips down. The strength displayed by this mother was nothing short of inspiring, and her son's smile as he shared his dreams for the future was equally uplifting. The young boy spoke with optimism about his aspiration to craft a prosthetic arm for his mother, a selflessness that flooded me with admiration.
   
This realization has steered my academic journey towards a pursuit of a career in biomedical engineering so that I, like this boy, can use my higher education to bring healthcare equity to the communities that are often overlooked. I envision myself working on cutting-edge solutions to improve the lives of individuals with disabilities, such as the young boy who dreams of creating a prosthetic arm for his mother. Biomedical engineering presents an opportunity to merge my passion for service with my curiosities for technological innovation.
   
I am eager to embark on the academic journey that will allow me to serve these underserved populations, undocumented immigrants from low-income backgrounds. Beyond the classroom, I am preparing myself by engaging in leadership opportunities including serving as Social Chair for Brown Hall and for the Programming Committee of Mi Gente at Duke. I intend to use these experiences to shape my voice as a leader and initiate the change I hope to see in the healthcare system.