pmhs.berkeley.eduPre-Medical Honor Society – at UC Berkeley

Skip to navigation Skip to content Pre-Medical Honor Society at UC Berkeley Navigation Home About Us Calendar Officers Members Apply Contact Us Home Home – Our Spring 2020 application is CLOSED – The Pre-Medical Honor Society (PMHS) is a student organization in which pre-medical students who have achieved academic excellence can further their understanding of the study and practice of medicine through various opportunities made available to our members. We are the only pre-medical organization directly sponsored by the College of Letters and Science on campus. Meet Our Members: Allen Khudaverdyan and Meeseo Lee Allen is sophomore majoring in Molecular and Cell Biology: Neurobiology and minoring in Data Science. Meeseo is a freshman intending to major in Molecular and Cell Biology. Here’s a brief Q&A with them: Q: What aspect of medicine are you most interested in? AK: The ability to have a direct, tangible impact on arguably the most important part of a person’s life: their health. ML: I’m most interested in neuroscience and how different disorders and diseases affect people and those around them. My junior year in high school, I had an opportunity to intern for Professor Chalasani at UCSD and did a research for autism medication. From his lab, I not only learned new wet lab skills, but also was able to build valuable relationships with other researchers and learn more about the autism itself. The very first thing he taught me was how to address those with autism respectfully. With his mentorship, I became more aware of how people with different conditions are perceived in our society. By studying medicine, I want to better understand those who suffer and dedicate my time and effort to make positive changes for them. Q: Where are you from? What do you miss most about home? AK: I’m from Glendale, California and what I like about my hometown is the large number of people that I share my Armenian culture with. Glendale is a sort of “Little Armenia” and it allows me to stay connected to my culture while in the US. ML: I went to high school in San Diego but I grew up mostly in South Korea. I really really like Socal because the weather is always so nice and the sunsets are so pretty. Also San Diego has really good Mexican food :0 Q: What’s your favorite college memory (so far)? AK: One of the most memorable nights I had was walking through San Francisco at 3 in the morning my first week at Berkeley with friends I made 4 hours before. ML: I volunteer at a local Alzheimer’s center and every time I go in, the participants always tell me I have cute dimples and it makes me really happy. I can’t stop smiling when I go volunteer there! Q: What are some of your hobbies? AK: I like to weightlift, run, and have spontaneous, fun nights with my friends. ML: I love to draw and paint. For the longest time, I thought I was going to major in art because drawing has been such a big part of my life since I was really young. Especially when I moved here from Korea in high school, I had a hard time adapting to different language and culture and my artworks guided me through it. I consider myself as not of a good writer or a speaker but I’m glad that I’m able to express my ideas through art. Also, I love giving people hand-made cards because it really shows how much I appreciate that person and how much they mean to me. Q: If you weren’t pre-med, what career path would you have chosen? AK: Neuroscience and engineering, specifically creating neuroprosthetics that closely connect nerves to circuitry. ML: I would want to make children’s books since I like drawing and I also like kids. I also think there’s a lot to learn from children’s books and movies even for the adults. I want to be able to share my own thoughts and stories through short, simple stories and encourage young children to love themselves and others. Q: How do you define success? AK: I would define success as accomplishing the goals in my life that give me purpose, whether academic, career-wise, or personal. ML: Since I was young, my role model has always been my mom. She used to be a speech therapist before we moved here from Korea and I always admired her as both a mother and a therapist. She once told me that as a student, her passion was to help those with disabilities and she really wanted to pursue her passion regardless of whether it made lots of money or not. Her job as a speech therapist was definitely not easy as she came back home many times with scars, but she told me that she’s never regretted her choice and I think that’s what makes someone successful. Being able to love what they’re doing even if that’s something what others don’t notice or give credits for because it makes you happy. Return to top of page...