![felicia attor](/academic_departments/world_languages_cultures/french_studies/felicia-attor.jpg)
MAJORS
LEARN BY DOING
- Semester Abroad in Morocco
- National Institutes of Health Internship, Thailand Internship
EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
- SGA, Diversity and Culture Committee
- French Club, Black Student Union
![Icon of globe with graduation cap](/_resources/assets/icons/donor-icon.png)
SUPPORT FROM DONOR PROGRAMS
- Douglass Cater Society of Junior Fellows
- Crouse-Enokido Fellowship for Study in Asia and Beyond
![felicia attor](/academic_departments/world_languages_cultures/french_studies/felicia-attor.jpg)
Global Citizen
Felicia Attor
Class of 2020 鈥 Accra, Ghana, West AfricaMAJORS
LEARN BY DOING
- National Institutes of Health Internship, Thailand Internship
EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
- SGA, Diversity and Culture Committee
- French Club, Black Student Union
![Icon of globe with graduation cap](/_resources/assets/icons/donor-icon.png)
SUPPORT FROM DONOR PROGRAMS
- Douglass Cater Society of Junior Fellows
- Crouse-Enokido Fellowship for Study in Asia and Beyond
鈥淏efore junior year in college, I didn鈥檛 think about the policies that go into making primary health care accessible and affordable to all people, and that is something that has piqued my interest, especially after Thailand,鈥 she says. The summer after her junior year, Felicia spent a month living with a family in rural northern Thailand, where she worked as an intern shadowing health professionals in the local clinic. She also conducted independent research, through a grant from the Douglass Cater Society of Junior Fellows, to analyze the accessibility and affordability of the Thai health system.
鈥淚 have such a big passion for public health and medicine in general, but I鈥檓 thinking about doing a master鈥檚 degree in global health disparities and then see if I still want to go to medical school after that or expand on the global health path,鈥 she says.
During the fall of her junior year, Felicia spent the semester at Al Akhawayn University, where she studied primarily humanities, Arabic, and French. She enjoyed speaking in French so much that she decided to elevate it from a minor to a major when she returned to WC. She was able to maintain her chemistry major even while abroad thanks to help from her advisor in chemistry, Professor Anne Marteel-Parrish, (also a native French speaker).
鈥淎 lot of science majors have the impression that you can鈥檛 study abroad because you鈥檙e a science major, and it鈥檚 complicated,鈥 Felicia says. 鈥淏ut Dr. Marteel was ready to sit down with me and plan out whole semesters and how it would go, so it鈥檚 been fantastic. She was willing to make it all work for me. I was doubling up on my course loads before and after going to Morocco so I am not behind at all in my chemistry degree.鈥 Taking humanities classes while there helped fulfill her distribution requirements, so she could more fully focus on chemistry at WC.
鈥淥ne thing I like about all my professors is that we have conversations outside of class, we talk about things that are not part of the classroom, and it鈥檚 always amazing to just sit and talk with them. They are very good listeners and give really good advice,鈥 she says. For example, she enjoys talking with Jennifer Benson, chair and associate professor of philosophy, about news stories related to Benson鈥檚 work. 鈥淚 will go there and we will talk about this news article and she will give me her perspective from academia and I will be, 鈥極h, I never thought of that.鈥 鈥欌
Felicia wasted no time landing internships, the first during the summer after her sophomore year, when she worked in the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, part of the National Institutes of Health in 缅北强奸, D.C., on cancer-related research.
Along with the Thailand internship last summer, Felicia also received a Cater grant to work one-on-one with Anna Smith, visiting professor in chemistry, synthesizing flavonoids for anti-aging research鈥攚ork she will continue to do as part of her Senior Capstone Experience (SCE) for chemistry. Her French SCE will examine sub-Saharan immigration to Morocco and how European Union policies effect the human rights abuses that happen at the southern border there.
And, during winter break of her senior year, she鈥檚 joined the Cuba Experience course where she will continued independent research on public health accessibility and affordability, using that research to complement her work on the topic in Thailand.