Cancer Research with Zainab Zahid
Zainab is a junior at OHS, and had the opportunity of an internship at a cancer research foundation in Bangalore, India this past summer. We caught up with her about the details!
Pixel Journal: To start off, tell us a bit about yourself.
Zainab: I'm sixteen years old and this is my fourth year at OHS. I'm a complete and utter weeb aka otaku. During my free time I love playing the piano or just sitting and drawing stuff at my table. My academic interests have always been mathematics - though the only type of math I have ever done is algebra.
PJ: Where did you do your internship and what was it about?
Z: It was last summer in Bangalore, India. I wanted to find an internship to do because we all know that having something like an internship looks great on a college application. But there was one problem: India is one of the places that if you didn't know anyone, it was going to be ten times harder for you to find something to do. Fortunately I had a few tricks up my sleeve, and in the end I started working at a cancer research facility/foundation. It's called HCG, which stands for Healthcare Global Enterprises. There are two buildings to it, one is the hospital and the other is the foundation, which is across the street. The hospital was busy giving medical treatment to the patients while the foundation was busy trying to raise money for the ones who couldn't afford treatment while also researching bits and pieces on how they can prevent certain cancers from spreading throughout India.
PJ: Is there any reason you wanted to work at this specific foundation?
Z: Actually, the funny thing is I didn't really expect to be working in the foundation. The honest reason of why I ended up at HCG was because I wanted to shadow a doctor and see how things would run in a hospital since I had no experience whatsoever. The first day on my internship I was sent to the foundation in order to get an idea of what they do. I was supposed to go back to the head doctor in about two to three days in order to start shadowing another doctor around the hospital. As I started working in the foundation I realized that this place was how everything got done and I wanted to continue working there even if it meant I didn't get to shadow a doctor at all.
PJ: Are you interested in becoming a doctor?
Z: I am! I've always found doctors fascinating; seeing how calm and collected they are in situations that others would be frightened in.
PJ: What are your hopes for the future? How do you plan on using what you've learned through your internship?
Z: My hope for the future is that I help people in need, whether it's just a small cut or a bullet wound to the stomach. I think what I plan on using what I have learned, and continue learning the value of empathy and life. One thing that definitely stuck out to me was how desperate the people of Bangalore were to get treatment for themselves, or a loved one. It was depressing and unnerving to know that you can't provide that due to financial issues. I think it also taught me that not all medicine and treatment should have a price, because we're trying to heal a person, not leave them broke.
PJ: Do you plan on doing anything similar to your internship in the near future?
Z: It would be nice if I do get an opportunity like that again. I'd love to do it. So many people in my family died of cancer, so if I can help people with cancer then I would love to.