Honors College senior Ammara Molvi’s commitment to community engagement has inspired her during her years at Oregon State University and will continues to motivate her as she looks to the future. A pre-med public health major, Ammara hopes to one day become a pediatric emergency room physician and work toward health equity locally and internationally.
Ammara was drawn to her major for its potential to make positive changes in society: “Public health is a social justice perspective that looks at improving the quality of life for individuals and communities by understanding and addressing the root causes of health inequities through means like community organizing and policy action.”
While at Oregon State, Ammara has participated in academic, social justice and community-based projects and programs. She was employed as the Associated Students of Oregon State University coordinator of wellness affairs, as a media assistant for the Honors College and as the communications representative in the Ettihad Cultural Center. In addition to these paid positions, Ammara had roles in the community as a clinic coordinator at Community Outreach, Inc. and as a honors biology learning assistant, and she was an active member of the Pakistani Student Association, Muslim Student Association and the Student Health Advisory Board.
This fall, Ammara will be defending her thesis, which analyzes how anti-immigration policies are drivers of health disparities for Muslim refugees. “Working on my thesis has been an opportunity for me to examine just how social justice and public health are related and has solidified my future goals to advocate for and promote the health of migrant populations,” she says. Ammara next plans to apply for medical school to pursue an M.D./M.P.H. (Master of Public Health) degree and further study and explore the issues she’s been researching as an undergraduate.
“The Honors College has allowed me to meet a lot of people that I feel like I’ll be connected to for the rest of my life,” Ammara says. She credits the Honors College for much of her involvement and finds value in knowing that the lessons she’s learned and the connections she’s made will serve her well after graduation.
“I’m most proud of all that I’ve learned and what I’ll carry with me through life,” she says.
While remote learning hasn’t been ideal for her last term as an Oregon State undergraduate, Ammara is grateful for the support her professors have given her and her classmates.
“I would like to thank all the professors and people who are working to make sure that not only am I continuing to learn, but are checking in to see how my peers and I are doing during this time. These are uncertain and by no means easy times; we must remember to take care of others as well as ourselves,” she says.
By: Cara Nixon
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