Graduates contribute to community
Samuel Chow can trace his passion for science back to a university-based summer camp he attended while in a Port Moody elementary school. There, he and other students had the opportunity to examine a human brain and to conduct a range of scientific experiments.
Years later his love of science has not dimmed. Thanks in part to that early experience, the encouragement of a high school chemistry teacher, and a lot of hard work at UBC, Chow is graduating with a BSc in honours Chemistry/Biochemistry. He has now set his sights on getting his hands on yet another human brain -- this time as a medical student.
"Surgery seems the most fascinating to me right now," says Chow, who's been accepted to the University of Alberta's medical school but hasn't ruled out the possibility of returning to UBC for medicine.
Chow's interest in medicine goes back almost as far as his interest in science. Since high school he's volunteered for St. John's Ambulance, an organization that often places volunteers with first aid training at sporting and community events and rock concerts.
"I started with St. John's because I wanted to learn first aid. I then became really interested in first aid and the idea that there is a real opportunity to help people," he says.
He has also volunteered as an activity worker at Sixth Street House, a Burnaby home for the mentally challenged, and continues to volunteer as a gift cart worker at Vancouver General Hospital's UBC site.
The fact that he finds most of his academic work fascinating helps make a heavy workload easier to bear. And as his studies have progressed, he's found the work involved more intriguing.
"As you get into the later years of your degree the experiments are really fun," he says. "This year we cloned and sequenced our own DNA."
His performance at UBC has kept him on the Dean's Honour List and last year earned him the status of Wesbrook Scholar, a top UBC honour. Beyond his school work and volunteer activities, Chow has made time to get involved in clubs and intramural sports, including soccer and ball hockey. Residence life has also provided its share of distractions.
"I've always found time to do the things I want to do. If you can identify the things that are most important to you and manage your time, you can accomplish a lot. Getting involved has also been really important to me. At a university with 30,000 students, it's easy to feel lost if you don't get involved."