Samvel Gaboyan

There are many reasons why someone decides to study medicine. For the Eleanor Roosevelt Molecular and Cell Biology major, it was two-fold: having asthma as a young child, with many trips to the hospital, and six years of being helpless watching his grandmother endure intense pain from lung cancer. Growing up in an Armenian household and its family-oriented culture, Samvel never imagined he could thrive away from his family, especially after being quarantined at home for two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “I have dedicated myself to the study of medicine in the hopes to someday provide care for the sick and vulnerable.”

His very small public high school in the Los Angeles area did not offer sports or advance placement classes. The then-fourteen-year-old enrolled in community college to gain the classes he needed to exceed academically and graduate as valedictorian. He arrived at UC San Diego with enough credits to be classified as a junior. “As a first-generation college student stepping onto campus, living the dream my parents had when they left their homes in Armenia, I was overcome by emotions. I have since been determined to adhere to my interests of serving the underserved immigrant, border-commuter, undocumented immigrant, homeless, low-income, and first-generation student population in my community.”

Samvel is the very first First-Generation Student Representative on the Eleanor Roosevelt Student Council. He also volunteers at the UC San Diego Student-Run Free Clinic, the Food Prescription Project; and as a Triton Research and Experiential Learning Scholar (TRELS), collaborating with the Department of Education Studies, where he has been investigating the impact of COVID-19 on equitable education for cross-border students.

His experiences have led to another passion: mentorship. “Having undergone a myriad of challenges as a diligent first-generation student, I have developed a great interest in passing my understandings forward through mentorship and have founded a non-profit mentorship organization in collaboration with other high-achieving student volunteers.”