Meet K., a first-generation Asian American student who’s doing dual graduate degrees in business and medicine. K. has one more year of medical school before he does his residency. He opened up about his academic journey, how he chose his career path, some of the challenges he’s faced, and how the current administration’s policies could impact students like him.

On why he chose an in-state university

I was initially very headstrong about going out of state for college. Unfortunately, out-of-state tuition cost a lot, even back in 2016-2017, so I decided to stay in-state. I chose my undergraduate university because its tuition was relatively affordable compared to other schools in the state.

On choosing a career path

I started off as a chemical engineering major. At my high school, there was always a big push to send kids into engineering. I didn’t know what I wanted to do yet, so I just picked a type of engineering and then realized a few weeks into the first semester of my freshman year that chemical engineering wasn’t a good fit.

Failure is hard, particularly when you’re first generation and you’ve grown up in a household where there’s an undue amount of pressure to not fail. I think for any first-generation student, it’s important to give yourself the grace to fail and pick yourself back up and learn from those mistakes and move forward

I switched to public health when I learned that you could be a food critic with a public health degree. Because who doesn’t love the idea of being the next Guy Fieri, dining at restaurants, eating food, and critiquing it? But I still didn’t feel like public health was the right fit for me either. So, I looked at the degree list, focusing on STEM, and chose biological sciences as my major. Around that same time, my friends suggested I join a pre-health organization at my college. I did, and I ended up volunteering at the hospital. That eventually led to me shadowing physicians and seeing my first heart surgery, which was what sold me on medicine.

I thought about pursuing an M.D./Ph.D. But after working in a lab, I wasn’t enthusiastic about basic science research. It’s important work, and the subject matter is interesting; it just wasn’t for me. So, I decided to get an M.D., and started working at the student-run free clinic. I took on a variety of student leadership roles, eventually making my way up to student director. What that experience showed me was that there are a lot of flaws in our healthcare system, especially around access and affordability, and the people who can make the changes that I want to see systemically are those at the top of the leadership chain. Those people typically have MBAs, because healthcare is a business at the end of the day. So, I decided to pursue a dual degree and work toward an MBA and M.D. When it came time to apply to medical school, I applied and interviewed at several places and had several offers. I chose to stay in state because my support system is here, and it was the most affordable option. Same with the MBA program.

I finished my undergraduate degree in 2021. My dual-degree program is five years long. I had to get admitted into both medical school and business school and declare my intention to do a dual degree. I just finished my MBA this year and I have my final year of medical school to finish. I expect to graduate in 2026, but then I’ll have to do my residency.

On paying for college

Fortunately, for me, my parents were able to cover the cost of attendance for my undergraduate education. It also helped that I lived at home and commuted all four years of undergrad. That saved a lot of living expenses, and what was left to cover was tuition, which, at the time, was relatively affordable. Both of my graduate programs, though, have been primarily covered by student loans and scholarships.

On the tradeoffs he’s made

The major tradeoff was that I missed out on the traditional college experience. My university is a commuter school. You show up, get your work done, and then leave. When it comes to loans, I have to make sure that I’m allocating them appropriately and budgeting appropriately. With my graduate loans, interest starts accruing the minute I withdraw a loan. So, every day that goes by, my loan amount increases.

On the challenges of being a first-generation student

Being first generation comes with a lot of nuances and obstacles to navigate. The most significant one is you have to figure everything out almost entirely on your own. My parents didn’t go through the American educational system, and they don’t know how to help me with this. My high school had college-prep sessions, but they were very generalized. So, applying to colleges, prepping for the ACT or the SAT, figuring out AP classes, and all that jazz, were things I navigated on my own.

Once I got to college, figuring out my career path and what the next steps were was challenging. I’m thankful that there was pre-health advising at my university, but when it came to everything else, I had to research it independently, so I visited a lot of community forums to get insights, looked at a lot of websites for info about my double-degree programs, and read a lot of blogs from students who’ve done it before, just to build that repertoire of information and understand how to navigate college and graduate school.

On the importance of networking

A lot of first-generation families have a strong work ethic. Put the work in, and you’ll get what you want. But, realistically, the United States, isn’t that, right? Sure, the American mantra is you work hard for the things you want. But where you get to in your career and what you’re able to accomplish may ultimately come down to who you know and who can help you move forward. Having the right mentors to guide you and lift you up on their shoulders can open doors for you. When I reflect on how far I’ve come, I recognize that it wouldn’t have been as achievable without my mentors and connections.

So, learning to network, learning to “play the game” in terms of building connections, building relationships, that was also a crucial lesson to learn early on, and I learned it through a lot of trial and error. If I could talk to my younger self, I’d probably tell myself to sign up for more networking sessions. At the business school, there are networking opportunities every week. And if you’re new to it, you can sign up for networking skills development with the Career Center, and they can give you an overview. But truthfully, it’s one thing to learn it; it’s another to do it. You have to intentionally put yourself out there, go to events, and talk to people. This may seem intimidating, but only because they have 20 or 30 years of life experience on you, and you’re just starting out. A lot of what I hear from the students I mentor is, I’m scared to do it. Well, yes, it seems intimidating, but you have to, right?

On the Trump administration’s cuts to research funding & student debt relief

In my field and in science, generally, there’ve been a lot of research funding cuts. Many scientists feel discouraged. And there are students whose acceptances to graduate programs or to research opportunities are getting revoked because there’s insufficient funding. And it sucks, right? I hope it’s not permanent, because the cuts to science funding are a detriment to public health and the advancement and betterment of our society. Science shouldn’t be limited by certain people’s opinions about certain facets of science. Just because you don’t understand the science doesn’t make it false or wrong. This country has made huge investments that now could go up in smoke for no good reason, unfortunately.

But I’m personally more worried about loans. I’ll probably be more directly affected by the alterations to the loan forgiveness programs. I’m going to finish with $160,000 in student loans, which is less than the average medical student graduates with. The average medical student graduates with about $225,000 to $250,000 in student loans. Unfortunately, a lot of the loan forgiveness options that we would typically be able to take advantage of during residency and into our attending practices are being limited. For example, Public Service Loan Forgiveness was an option I was considering, but if there are new limitations placed on those programs, it’ll be more difficult to access them. So, I’ll have to consider other ways to pay off these loans, whether it’s refinancing them privately, or what have you.

On the political climate & the chilling of free speech on campus

Unfortunately, I think you have to be careful about what you say or get involved in now. I remain anonymous, because I don’t want me or my loved ones to be negatively affected. That’s a genuine concern, as I’m applying for residencies and my career could be impacted, which is unfortunate, because I do a lot of policy and advocacy work with groups at the state level to help protect student rights.

Institutions should be protecting and supporting their students. But not every institution is doing that. Columbia, for example, is clearly choosing its funding and investments over protecting students and student rights. I’d say that having something as simple as a session where faculty and administrators talk to students about the ways that they can legally get involved in their community and continue to express their speech and their right to protest is something institutions should do to safeguard student rights, but also in that session having realistic conversations about the potential consequences.

At the end of the day, students should be careful about what institution they choose to go to. For example, I took my sister to an out-of-state event at the future college that she’s planning to attend. We were at a booth where she wanted to engage in some level of activism, and my first question to them was, “How are you protecting your students?”

His advice for other first-gen students

You will fail at something. Failure is hard, particularly when you’re first generation and you’ve grown up in a household where there’s an undue amount of pressure to not fail. I think for any first-generation student, it’s important to give yourself the grace to fail and pick yourself back up and learn from those mistakes and move forward. You may feel like a failure if you bombed a test or did poorly in a class, even though you put a lot of time and effort into studying for it. But one score isn’t going to define you. Ten years in the future, will that score matter? No. That’s a crucial piece of advice that I wish someone had shared with me. I didn’t give myself as much grace back in undergrad as I do now.

On what’s next

Applying for residency is a yearlong process that typically starts the March prior and ends the March after. It’s a match system, and there’s an algorithm behind it, and certain specialties are more competitive than others. Mine is surgery. But a match isn’t guaranteed. For those who don’t match, there are different options. You can take a research position and delay graduation. You can reapply next year or try to match into what we call a preliminary spot, which is like a one-year job, or you can switch to another specialty that’s easier to match. Optimistically, I’d like to find myself matching at a program next March and then graduating in May. That would be fantastic.

Series: Getting To & Through College