Intern Spotlight: Anudeep Alberts
This is the second in a series of spotlights on our summer 2018 student interns. Learning Life’s students this summer are assisting with planning, fundraising, curriculum development, and international family-to-family projects focused on community photography and food culture as part of our Citizen Diplomacy Initiative (CDI). Anudeep Alberts, interviewed below, is, among other things, helping with community health-focused curriculum planning and development, and research on family supermarket tours as part of our food culture project.
Where were you born and raised?
I was born in Mangalore, India. I immigrated to the United States with my family around the age of 5, and I was raised thereafter in metro Boston, Massachusetts.
What school do you attend, and what is your year and major there?
Starting next month, I’m going to be a second-year medical student at Georgetown University School of Medicine.
What do you like to do in your free time?
I love reading a variety of books, including Stephen King novels. I also like hiking in Rock Creek Park in Washington DC. I love playing video games, like Borderlands 2, and watching Netflix. Right now on Netflix I really enjoy watching “Nailed It.” It’s a really funny show where normal people try to make complicated desserts.
Is there a life experience you have had that has particularly shaped you thus far? If so, what is it, and how has it shaped you?
In 2017, through a Master’s program in physiology and biophysics at Georgetown University, I had the opportunity to observe a surgeon remove a gallbladder “laparoscopically,” that is, through tiny holes in the abdomen assisted with a camera. It was amazing to see how technology can be used to remove an entire organ through such a minimally invasive process. I was able to hold the gallbladder afterwards and see the stones inside that had been causing the patient pain. It related what I had been learning in class to a living breathing person. I really valued the experience and seeing that convinced me that medicine is the career I want to pursue.
What are your career plans?
I plan on becoming a doctor, though I’m not sure what type yet. I think family medicine or general surgery could be interesting. So many things interest me though, I will have to see how medical school clinical rotations in different areas of medicine go starting in the spring of 2019.
Why did you choose to intern with Learning Life?
I learned about Learning Life’s food culture project and thought it was an interesting approach to teaching people and families about nutrition. I like their focus on lower-income families in Washington DC as well as their longitudinal approach, working with the same families over a span of years to increase local to global awareness. I feel that working with families in the long-term deepens our understanding of the issues they face and helps make the program more embedded in the community.
What is the most beautiful place you have seen on Earth, and why is it so beautiful?
I really enjoy walking and hiking in Rock Creek Park in Washington DC. There’s a really beautiful stream in the woods there that I like to visit to watch fish and ducks. It’s a very quiet area with a lot of shade where you can sit and listen to the stream. It’s a great way to de-stress.