Class: 2015
College: Davenport
Major: English
Hometown: Carrollton, TX
Check out our latest Campus Celebrity: Marina Horiates! After reading her feature in Business Insider’s “26 Most Impressive Students At Yale Right Now,” Her Campus wanted to sit down with her and learn more. Somehow, she’s even more impressive than her feature lets on…
How did you end up in Business Insider’s “26 Most Impressive Students At Yale Right Now”?
*Laughs* Well the guy contacted me about it and sent me the links to the Harvard and MIT lists that they had made, and told me they were making a list for Yale. He said a fellow student had nominated me and that he’d love to hear about my story and extracurriculars and what not. I sort of thought it was a joke, because I definitely didn’t feel like I should be on something like that.
From the article it’s clear that your childhood survival of leukemia has made you extremely driven. What do you think is the biggest effect your battle with cancer has had on you?
Definitely my faith in God. As soon as I was old enough to understand what had actually happened to me, I’ve had the understanding that I survived only through the amazing power and will of God, as a result of the prayers of my family and our friends during my treatment, so essentially I owe my life to Him. I guess I feel like the best way to give back in the life I was given is to work to one day hopefully save the lives of kids in the same boat I was in. Also, when my mom was diagnosed right before I came to Yale, it just felt like cancer had a hand in too much of my life, so I feel like I should do something about it.
Relay for Life is this Friday at PWG. How are you involved with Relay?
Relay is amazing!! I am the Team Development and Recruitment Co-Chair, so I’ve been working with my committee all semester to get people to sign up and fundraise for the American Cancer Society. It’s been an awesome experience and I can’t wait till Friday! Also, anyone reading this should sign up now!
Tell us about your mission in Mexico!
Oh man, Mexico was amazing. So the program is called Project Mexico, and basically I went with a team of four other Orthodox Christian college students and a priest (Ironically, he was actually the same priest who was with my family as I was going through treatment! He’s since been reassigned to Portland, but I got to see him again!). We stayed at St. Innocent’s Orphanage just outside Tijuana, where we got to hang out with the boys and help out around the orphanage with various projects throughout the week. We also got to help with Project Mexico’s homebuilding project, so we went out into the community and helped stucco a few houses that they had built for families in need last summer. The whole experience was absolutely life-changing. I had never seen poverty like that, and it made me feel incredibly silly for ever complaining about dining hall food *laughs*. The trip really put things in perspective for me. It brought me closer to my faith and definitely informed me on what I’d like to do with my life.
What exactly will you be doing Dallas hospital you will be working at this summer?
I’ll be working with a medical oncologist specializing in breast cancer, whom I met last summer during my research in partial breast irradiation. She’s recently been looking at a personalized medicine approach to treating breast cancer, starting with whole-genome sequencing. The idea behind whole-genome sequencing is that you can more accurately pinpoint exactly what mutations each woman’s tumor is expressing, and you can direct the patients toward more personalized clinical trials that can help cure their specific cancers. I’ll be helping out with the different trials and helping with the development of new techniques and hypotheses that this research can shed light on.
What made you decide to do a study abroad program at Cambridge this summer?
The program looked amazing and I really love England. I’m also an English major, so taking classes in my major’s country of origin just sounded really exciting. Also, I love Shakespeare, so taking a class on Shakespearean Drama right next door to London and the Cambridge Shakespeare Festival sounded like too cool of an opportunity to pass up. Plus it just looks like so much fun!
The Business Insider article also mentions your passion for performing. When and why did you start performing?
Well… I started off sort of wanting to play hockey like my older brothers, which then led to figure skating, which then led to ballet, which then led to a love for being on stage, which landed me in theatre. I’ve been acting in shows since middle school and I absolutely love it. I think it’s such a cool art form, and the people are just awesome.
What performance groups are you involved with at Yale?
I do plays and musicals through the Yale Dramatic Association (Dramat) and the Yale Drama Coalition (YDC).
What has been your favorite performance at Yale?
Definitely a tie between the two shows I did this semester: The Vagina Monologues and In the Next Room or the vibrator play. *laughs* I guess it’s been a pretty empowering semester…
Any other hobbies?
I love to write!
Do you know what you want to do after you graduate?
Right now the plan is to take a year off between graduation and medical school, and hopefully do some more mission work in either Alaska or returning to Project Mexico as a summer intern or something. I’d also like to go back as counselor at this camp I went to in Greece called Ionian Village, and probably work during what would be the academic year, maybe in a lab back home or in Houston.
What made you choose Yale?
The residential colleges and all the theater!
What surprised you most about Yale when you first came here?
The people were all so nice! Also, it’s very cold here… very very cold.
What’s your favorite thing about Yale?
The people here are incredible. I’m just so impressed and intimidated by everyone here but I love it! It’s such a cool environment where everyone is doing such amazing things while also being supportive of everyone else’s amazing things.
What’s something most people don’t know about you?
I have this huge, crazy, awesome Greek family in New Jersey from my dad’s side. I think I have like 25 first cousins alone, and most of them have kids, so family reunions are insane – very much My Big Fat Greek Wedding!
For anyone interested in checking out Marina and her fellow 25 most impressive students at Yale: http://www.businessinsider.com