Chen Lin is a leader. He has been president of two of the four major Asian student organizations on campus and in these roles has helped bring together multiple minority student organizations. He even helped organize UGA’s first Asian Heritage Month in more than a decade, which included a fundraiser for children’s education. As a scholar in the Center for Undergraduate Research Opportunities, he had an internship with Zhi-Qing Zhao in Emory Crawford Long Hospital’s Cardiothoracic Research Laboratory. During the internship, he observed several open-heart surgeries, and he would like to become a surgeon after he graduates from UGA. Before medical school, he will travel to Venezuela for 6 months as a Rotary Cultural Ambassadorial Scholar to advance humanitarian and health care issues.
Hometown:
Alpharetta, Ga.
High School:
Chattahoochee High School
Degree objective:
B.S. in biology and B.S. in psychology with a minor in religion
Expected graduation:
Fall 2007
University highlights, achievements, awards and scholarships:
I helped start the Asian Children Mentoring Program in Athens, which shares Asian culture and heritage from students with adopted children from Asia. I am also very excited to have been selected to spend 6 months of my life in Venezuela as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar after graduation. Additionally, as a CURO apprentice, I am excited to have studied foreign policy with James Bason during my freshman year and worked with James Pierce in the Complex Carbohydrate Research Center during my sophomore year. I completed an internship with Zhi-Qing Zhao in Emory Crawford Long Hospital’s Cardiothoracic Research Laboratory, where I studied ischemia/reperfusion-induced injury in relation to cardiovascular disease. Now, I am working with Adam Goodie and Brett Clementz in psychology to study the decision-making processes of pathological gamblers. Overall one of my most exciting moments at UGA was to help restart and plan Asian Heritage Month with all the other officers in the Asian American Student Association. Since the school had not had a month dedicated to Asian awareness in almost a decade, we decided to hold one, and we raised thousands of dollars for children’s education.
I chose to attend UGA because…
For me, it was not a big surprise that UGA was ranked among the top public universities in the U.S. News and World Report’s “Great Schools, Great Prices” list, especially when students like me also get the HOPE scholarship. UGA is interesting because it has such a long history of academics, and still when I saw the campus, I saw continued possibilities of growth. The mix of tradition in a college-town atmosphere combined with a continuing opportunities for expansion and growth helped make UGA my pick.
My favorite things to do on campus are…
…walking around and taking in the diverse atmosphere. I also enjoy lectures by guests from other institutions that explore a variety of different topics and issues that I may not otherwise have an opportunity to attend.
When I have free time, I like…
…to go running along the trails by Lake Herrick or around campus. There is usually very good weather in Athens so relaxing outdoors is a great way to spend some free time.
The craziest thing I’ve done is…
I went to Tibet a few years back and visited Lake Namtso, the highest altitude saltwater lake in the world. I thought it would be a fun idea to soak my feet in the lake—naively underestimating the freezing waters—and I ended up with a mild case of pneumonia. On the way back to Lhasa, my face was a bright shade of purple. Even though it was raining the next day, I dragged myself out of bed and went for a hike to a neighboring cliff by the city because I had not yet climbed the nearby mountains. It was all worthwhile because at the edge, I witnessed a small family performing an ancient and exquisite Buddhist ritual that, to this day, remains the single most enlightening moment of my life.
My favorite place to study is…
…the cubicles in the Science Library. I can listen to whatever music I like on my headset, and I feel like I am in my own world.
My favorite professor is…
…George Majetich. He taught me both semesters of honors organic chemistry, and while it certainly was not the easiest course, he taught with a style and passion that made the subject very bearable. One of my favorite things about him was that he made students feel very comfortable around him. The best way I can put it is that if you felt like you could bond with him, you could bond with organic chemistry.
If I could share an afternoon with anyone, I would love to share it with…
…William Osler, who is widely considered the father of modern medicine. Having studied and/or practiced in Canada, the U.S., and the U.K., I would like to hear his views on universal healthcare and how to reconcile a privatized system with a public one. Also, as a mentor and father figure to so many doctors, I would like to hear what advice he would give to me in the pursuit of the study of medicine.
If I knew I could not fail, I would…
…insure access to and knowledge of basic health care for everyone. These are critical components in fighting more complicated issues such as poverty and disease. We also need research, just as much as we need patient care and education. These three things are related, yet they are often treated as isolated sectors. I would form an infrastructure that combines all three parts, in a checks-and-balances type of system. This infrastructure would become the next step in health care, making it more effective and efficient than ever before.
After graduation, I plan to…
As a Rotary Cultural Ambassadorial Scholar, I will be studying in Venezuela for 6 months “for intensive language training and cultural immersion” as well as working with fellow Rotarians to advance humanitarian and health care issues. After these six months, I will attend medical school.
The one UGA experience I will always remember will be…
… the College of Public Health’s Study Abroad in Vietnam program. We went to the National Veterinary Diagnostic Center in Hanoi, the main center for diagnosing Avian Influenza in the country, and while we were there, we learned that the center had just positively diagnosed the third outbreak of the virus in the country that very day. Of course afterwards, we were able to rock out with the center’s director, and later on with the director of the CDC in Hanoi.
