“For all my life I’ve wanted to work in the medical field, but after volunteering at the Minneapolis Children’s Hospital for a year, I felt that being a PA or a doctor wasn’t fulfilling enough for me. Later, I sat in on a talk about the importance of public health in the future as the climate continues to change and infectious disease becomes a greater burden. I knew then that I wanted a career in preventative health work.

Infectious disease is the most exciting thing about public health for me. I’ve always loved learning about microbiology, and how something as small as a bacterium or virus can cause such huge problems for humans.

I currently work for the Minnesota Department of Health as a member of Team Diarrhea, and I want to work in either environmental health or epidemiology with the hope that one day preventable diseases will be a rare occurrence.

I care most about equity for every person, and for me, it starts most simply and basically with health. As I grow as a public health professional, I want to tackle issues surrounding health inequality — especially for the LGBQTA+ community.”