Major: Biophysics and Public Health

Award: Louis E. Goodman Award

The project first came as a brainchild to create something akin to the Anatomy and Physiology coloring books I had gotten in middle school. I had a few crises along the way regarding my future this past senior year compounded by personal health issues and running into the typical Hopkins student dilemma of wanting to do everything but not having enough time. I did not have the scientific expertise to teach Anatomy and Physiology through a coloring book, so what can I do? What kind of art do I want to make? Are the questions I began asking myself and this is the stage where I find myself now. 

I have recently been realizing more of how much my hopes to be a stronger and better person has been shaped by my experience and many loved ones of mine having depression, anxiety, OCD, anorexia, and more. What has become increasingly apparent to me is the dangerous separation between one’s physical body and mind/soul, especially among adolescent girls, a crowd I particularly resonate with from my experiences as an older sister of a prodigal ballerina and menstrual health advocate. The keywords that came into my mind thinking about this issue included gender violence, the genesis of gender (inspired by the reading of The Genesis of Gender: A Christian Theory by Abigail Favale), and sexuality.  

My hope for the coloring book is to be a means for any individual to embrace the complexity of our holistic physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, and social well-being that challenges the notion of us being individuals meant to piece together our identities by labels that can be empowering or shattering.  

The poems are to be written by me and my friends – all anonymous – accompanied by panels that feature a particular anatomical, physiological, or biophysical aspect of the human body that can be colored. I hope the words breathe life into what is perhaps too often seen as static, objective, and scientific realities. And may it be a means for one to realize that our bodies are meant to be cared for.  

Challenges and Gains

The freedom and fear of being able to create something was the most challenging. From doing research I have gained greater value in advice I still hold to heart: study broadly and with love. It’s okay to not know. I also learned the power art has to heal! There are so many means to heal that extend behind the labs and hospital buildings. That is something I learn more and more each year. 

After Graduation

The current journey is to earn an MSH in Global Health Economics at the Bloomberg School of Public Health and apply for medical school, perhaps.