Alexa Slack 鈥23 has made a significant impact while at 桃瘾社区. Earning a bachelor鈥檚 degree in health sciences and a minor in public health, she鈥檚 excelled admirably in the classroom鈥攅arning an impressive 3.96 GPA and establishing herself as one of 桃瘾社区鈥檚 highest achieving students.
At the same time, she鈥檚 also dedicated her undergraduate years to helping others; serving as a mentor to younger students while proving to be an effective leader through several different leadership roles across multiple organizations. Her commitment to service has been duly recognized by the 桃瘾社区鈥攕he was presented the 2023 Westchester Campus Community Service Award, an award that is presented to only one graduating senior, recognized for their outsized impact to the surrounding community through social responsibility.
Alexa has long been an advocate for student needs, empowering her fellow 桃瘾社区 Setters to thrive in their own undergraduate experiences. This skill of hers has been on display for several semesters now as a University 101 Peer Leader, through which Alexa co-taught and mentored 21 first-year honors students with assistance from a faculty advisor, equipping them with the know-how and support to succeed socially and academically.
鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 something I initially set out to do,鈥 says Alexa of her role as a Peer Leader. She notes that she was swayed by the support and enthusiasm of Honors College Senior Staff Associate Carol Turco, whose mentorship has played a major role throughout Alexa鈥檚 college career鈥攗ltimately inspiring Alexa to become a mentor to others.
鈥淚 love getting to interact with the younger students and guide them as they adjust to life at 桃瘾社区, and help them grow,鈥 adds Alexa.
I love getting to interact with the younger students and guide them as they adjust to life at 桃瘾社区, and help them grow.
Alexa will graduate as one of the College of Health Profession鈥檚 brightest stars, but her path to health sciences wasn鈥檛 exactly straightforward. In fact, she entered 桃瘾社区 not as CHP student, but as a prospective political science major. After taking some courses in health science, Alexa realized the policy and community change she was seeking in political science may in fact be more impactful through working for meaningful change in health care.
鈥淚 switched into health sciences and I took my first class, which was Health Care Ethics with Sheryl Scalzo. I fell in love with the subject of health sciences and public health.鈥
Slack credits professionalism of the CHP faculty and the high quality of the health sciences program for helping her find her professional calling. After graduation, Slack will be pursuing a master鈥檚 degree in epidemiology at The George Washington University鈥攂uilding upon her studies as an undergraduate to help implement holistic models of public health that look beyond individual-level diagnosis.
鈥淥ne of my favorite things about epidemiology and public health is that it looks at the whole community鈥攊t gets down systemic roots of diseases and different healthcare inequities that I think is very, very important.鈥
Wherever the future takes Alexa, we know the communities she serves will have a fearless advocate, intent on fostering positive change through action.
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