“我最骄傲的成就”

Everyone has a unique journey on their way to medical school, but you’d be hard-pressed to find many who manifest it on national TV — like OUWB student Frosilda Pushani.

But that’s exactly what happened with the first-year student.

In 2020, Pushani was in a national ad for Michael Bloomberg, a then-presidential c和idate. 具体地说, she talked about the benefits of a Bloomberg-backed program that helps top students apply to colleges, 找到奖学金, 和更多的.

She highlighted how the program made it possible for her to attend University of Michigan as an undergrad — 和 of her vision of one day getting into medical school.

“看到父母在我的白大褂仪式上微笑, 这就是我想看到的,普什尼在2020年的广告中说道, 看起来有点伤心.

8月. 2022年1月1日，发生在365英国上市官网校园里.

“Once I put the two clips together of me saying that 和 then actually getting my white coat…it just felt surreal,她说。. “I was trying to hold back tears the entire day…it felt so good.”

“我的最终目标是医学。”

普什尼是阿尔巴尼亚人，在希腊出生和长大. 在她7岁的时候，她的家人搬到了底特律.

这迫使她快速成长.

“那时我7岁。, 8 years old 和 doing all this translating on the phone…going with my parents to see doctors 和 translating for them when I had no idea what the terms were 和 I was still learning myself,她说。. “It did force me to grow up a little sooner than I would have liked, but I am who I am today because of it 和 I’m very proud of that.”

她就读于斯特林高地高中, 和 was in an accelerated study program at Macomb Mathematics Science Technology Center, 在那里她被提名为班级的告别演说代表.

高速学校, 普什尼获得了生物学学士学位, 健康, 和社会(BHS)的研究. 在进入牛津大学商学院之前，她有过一年的空档期.

“I’m one of those fortunate students to have known since I was super young that my end goal would be in medicine,她说。.

Pushani says a big reason for her interest in medicine was seeing the difference between 健康 care in the U.S. 还有其他国家.

具体地说, 她说, Pushani witnessed her mother struggle with the birth of her second daughter (Pushani’s sister).

“She almost died from complications because the doctors weren’t treating her well 和 weren’t giving her the necessary care,普什尼说。.

普什尼的二姐出生在美国. It was a completely different experience, according to Pushani.

“Just the way the OB-GYN treated our family 和 provided all these resources,她说。. “She was just so compassionate 和 kind 和 that showed me what medicine could really be.”

“I mean, we have a picture of her 和 our whole family in our living room.”

“对政治不太感兴趣”

While a junior in high school, Pushani says she received an email from a representative of CollegePoint.

CollegePoint是由彭博慈善基金会支持的, 非营利组织, virtual advising program that helps top students apply to colleges, 找到奖学金, 掌握经济援助流程, 和更多的.

普什尼说，她冒险回应了.

“I’ve always been prone to reaching new opportunities 和 resources, 所以我注册了，并真正融入了我的导师,普什尼说。. “她推荐我作为一笔大额奖学金的候选人.”

通过CollegePoint, Pushani 获得全额奖学金 密歇根大学.

每项奖学金要求, Pushani had to essentially pay it forward in form of serving as a mentor for others. As someone who considers community service important, Pushani says she fully embraced the role.

“I worked with students who were from the Albanian community, 很多移民, 还有很多其他处于不利地位的人,她说。.

Her commitment to service caught the attention of Bloomberg’s campaign team, which asked her to be in the presidential campaign commercial during her junior year at U of M.

她说:“我说我很乐意做这件事。. “我是高等教育的坚定支持者, especially for people who don’t have the means to get there.”

“感觉真的很好。”

The commercial is two minutes long 和 briefly highlights Pushani’s story, the fact that there are many people like her who need help covering college costs, 和, 当然, 宣传彭博社帮助这些学生的努力.

她还提到了自己的目标.

“I really want to become a doctor that actually makes a difference,她说。.

Pushani says it was somewhat “embarrassing” to have cameras following her around Ann Arbor, 尤其是因为她认为自己“非常害羞”.”

当广告开始播放时, 普什尼说:“这太疯狂了,，包括它在阿尔巴尼亚成为头条新闻的事实.

她说这一切都是值得的.

“我不太喜欢政治, but when it comes to promoting platforms I’m passionate about like quality of 健康 care, 卫生公平, 和教育, 那我完全赞成,她说。. “做这件事并成为其中的一部分感觉真的很好.”

Pushani would go on to graduate from U of M 和 take a gap year before deciding to attend OUWB.

“我有自己的选择, 对此我非常感激, 但最后, I just felt so comfortable at OUWB…it really felt like my second home,她说。. “The aspect of community was really emphasized 和 I could see that it wasn’t just all talk.”

Pushani says she revisited the Bloomberg commercial she was in again right before her white coat ceremony at OUWB this year.

The vision she talked about in the ad — of seeing the joy in the faces of her parents — had come to fruition.

“My parents were crying the entire day…they were just so proud,普什尼说。. “It felt so good because their sacrifices were worth it…they wanted me to get the higher education that they didn’t receive 和 it just felt so rewarding.”

“我认为这将是我最自豪的成就.”