This week’s student spotlight is Abigail Raynor. You can support students like Abigail through our Ignite page! If you would like to be featured fill out a form here.
Abigail Raynor
Major: Global Health
Minor: Spanish and Molecular and Cellular Biology
Hometown: Branford, CT
Why did you join an Honors organization?
I joined HIPS (Honors Initiative for Prospective Students) to further engage in a program that has greatly enhanced my experience at UConn so far. Because Honors has had such a positive impact on my growth and development as an undergrad, I love having the opportunity to work with prospective students through HIPS and share my experiences with them. Nothing is more satisfying than working with a prospective individual in the Spring, then seeing him or her on campus the following fall semester. Through HIPS, I have had the opportunity to indulge my obsession with talking about Honors/life at UConn, while positively shaping and impacting the educational paths of others.
What else are you involved in on campus?
Outside of Honors, I am a trip director for an Alternative Spring Break through Community Outreach. For this trip, I will be traveling with a group of 54 individuals to Immokalee, Florida to complete service pertaining to the Migrant Worker population residing there. I am also thrilled to announce that next I will be serving as the Student Coordinator of Alternative Breaks for Community Outreach, meaning that I will be able to assist the planning and development of all 15 service trips offered through CO. This past winter through Global Brigades I directed an additional kind of service trip, which was a medical/public health brigade to Panama. In the past I have also traveled with GB to different parts of Panama and Honduras, so it was really exciting to be able to take on this leadership role. On this trip, a group of students and myself got to work towards implementing a healthc are system, and various public health building projects, in rural communities throughout Panama.
For fun, I like to be pretty involved in sports activities on campus to get a different kind of involvement. I am a member of the UConn Club Swim Team, and I am very proud to be one of the many individuals representing the group at the Club Swimming Nationals in Atlanta this April! I also love UConn Men’s Basketball and have been a season ticket holder since my freshman year; go Huskies!
What do you enjoy most about UConn?
The thing I enjoy most about UConn is the large student body. Coming in as a freshman, I was initially terrified of the enormous group of individuals I was about to incorporate myself in to. Looking back on my time here at UConn thus far, I would not have wanted to have it any other way. There are dozens of advantages to having a large student body, the foremost being the diversity in perspectives it yields. I feel so privileged to be pursuing higher level education at a university that has encouraged me to formulate my own opinions and ideals. This lack of homogeneity in perspective is conducive to the creation of an environment that values academic discussions and engagement beyond the classroom. I think that my peers have had an amazing impact on some of the most formative years of my life, and I know that lessons I have learned from them all with carry with me far beyond my ti me at UConn.
What are your career aspirations?
After my time as and undergrad at UConn, I hope to pursue a graduate degree in
Medicine and/or Public Health. I would love to be able to work in Latin American nations and aid in the development of healthcare systems in rural areas. I hope to utilize my skills towards addressing issues like disparities in access to health resources, and social inequalities that manifest their effects at the individual and community level.
Previous Internship Experience
During the Summer of 2015 I had the privilege of working at the Institute for Community Research at the CT Non-Profit Center. I assisted on a research project titled Good Oral Health that sought to understand and identify oral health issues within disadvantaged populations residing in Hartford, CT. My involvement in the research included interviewing participants about their perceptions of their health and factors that affect their teeth and gums. I was also able to assist dentists and hygienists in their physical examinations of the participants. The ultimate goal of this program is to improve the level of oral health care for these individuals, through various educational methods. I am very excited to be continuing my involvement there this summer, and I look forward to seeing what progress the project has been able to make thus far.
Fun Fact About Yourself
One of my goals is to travel to every continent (maybe besides Antarctica…) before I turn 30!
