Name: Atreyi Saha
Class: 2016
Hometown: Fremont, CA
Major: Neuroscience
What is your best memory at MHC?: Personally, during student orientation, there was a student karaoke night and sing-a-long night. I love to sing and dance and that is where I meet some of my best friends. That was the first time I felt like I was part of the community because it was really hard to adjust to the new environment. I was far from home, so the karaoke night was a nice way to ease into the new semester. It is nice to be on a campus where people are not inhibited and free to express themselves. My favorite academic memory would be LEAP Symposium. I came to college not really know what I wanted to do. I thought I was going to be a history major and be a lawyer, but I ended up being involved in research my first year and going on to do an internship. I really loved what I did in that internship. Getting a chance to present my research to my professor, who helped me get that opportunity. It really reinstalled the confidence in me that I can be in the sciences. In high school, I was terrible in the sciences, so now I have the ability to be good at something that I always wanted to be good at and get recognized for it. My friends also came out and supported me and overall it was a fun moment.
Throughout your 4 years at Moho, there have been some good times and bad, what kept you going through the hard times?: The people. I am writing my senior thesis now and everyone in my lab, especially the seniors, are incredibly supportive whether it’s sitting down and talking about something or sitting down and suffering from it all. The different people I have classes with or the people I have gotten involved with at work, the community helped me get through it all. A lot of people on campus are willing to stop and help you get through or even listen; that makes all the difference. If you don’t have a support system, it’s really hard to get through any personal, academic, or any sort of issue. It’s hard to talk to your parents because they are not going to understand because they are in a different stage in their lives, but there are over 2,000 people who do understand.
What is your thesis on?: My thesis is discussing how our cells respond to stress in the context of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s diseases. Specifically, I am looking at a protein called Tau, which is implicated in a class of disorders called telepathy. So how Tau interacts with cellular chaperones and its affect on how cells respond to different stresses. I think it’s important to step back and look at smaller processes so that we can focus on what is happening in the disease state. People often don’t focus on basic science, which I think is important.
What is your favorite genre of music and what song is on repeat right now? Why?: I like Broadway music. I am a huge fan of this new show called Hamilton. It’s about Alexander Hamilton. I love the soundtrack because it is the first broadway musical that incorporates rap and other genres of music instead of being excessively “show-tuney”. “Satisfied” is the song that is on repeat and it’s from Hamilton.
What advice do you have for underclass students?: Make connections with your professors. People come into college knowing what they want to do and others have no idea. Regardless of where you are in that spectrum, I think professors are your biggest support system in understanding where you are and where you are supposed to go. We are very lucky that we are in a school that most people will take time to listen to you or take time to refer you to people who will help you. In applying for jobs, I really found out how networks are so strong. Our alumni do a great job of supporting you. I interviewed for a job with an employer who was my professor’s colleague? in graduate school. After my interview, they talked and he made a good case as to why his friend would be a great mentor and that was important. The fact that my advisor listened to me and understood what I wanted from the job search was really important. My mentor knew I was stressed and gave me space to sort everything out and in the end I got a job.
What are your postgraduate plans?: I will be working at the NIH ( National Institutes of Health). I am doing the post baccalaureate intramural research training award program where recent graduates can work in a lab at the NIH and gain experience with research, clinical research, and health disparities. As someone who wants to do an MDPhD, I believe being at this institution would be the best fit for me.
What will you miss most about MHC?: Aside from friends and faculty, I will miss our library! It is really pretty. I practically lived there for the past four years; I have even celebrated birthdays there! I will also miss my lab a lot. It was by far the best community I have worked in.
Where is your favorite place to study?: The library! The Stimson Room is my favorite spot. I used to be a Kendade junkie and then I gave up on the building. The janitor knew me because I slept there so many times my sophomore year. So I don’t recommend living in academic buildings when you have a nice bed at home!
Where is your favorite place to eat on campus and why?: Prospect! I love the culinary showcases; the appetizer and the tostada showcase are great. Fried food galore.
Who is your favorite professor and why?: Jared Schwartzer from the Neuroscience department. He is so animated and full of life. He is really invested in his students and can teach for all levels. He is invested in your performance in class and your interest outside the class as well.
If you had to do the college process again, knowing what you know now about MHC, would you have still chosen to come to MHC? Why?: I would have still applied. But it’s difficult to say if I would come here or not. MHC was a great fit for me to do well, but I did not go to the other colleges, so I can not say. The downside of going here is that we are in a rural area, so for someone who is interested in going into health care, there are not hospitals around and therefore not a lot of opportunities to apply to programs within the hospitals. I think that could be difficult getting that experience as an pre-health MHC student. But at the same time being here has not hurt me. If anything, I am able to take two years off, which is a huge sign of maturity for medical school admission.
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