When Shirley Amunya’s family moved from Kenya to the United States during her junior year of high school, she initially felt very shy due to her thick accent.
“We moved to Chicopee in Western Massachusetts,” she says. “I was coming into an area where everyone knew each other and I was the new girl from a different continent.”
Fortunately, Amuyna’s initial shyness did not prevent her from excelling academically and by her senior year she was enrolled in AP coursework and making plans for college. Amuyna toured UMass Amherst but felt overwhelmed by the size of the campus, so she decided to take a look at Framingham State.
“I liked that it was smaller and everyone was so friendly,” she says. “I kind of felt like I was home and that was a big factor for me coming here.”
Amuyna has found her voice at Framingham State, where she majors in Biology with a Pre-Med concentration.
This past summer, Amuyna spent 10 weeks performing research on Protein Biochemistry at Holy Cross as part of the highly selective National Science Foundation’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates.
In a statement, the First Lady said this year’s marathon would have been to celebrate the achievements made so far, that saw every county receive a mobile
“My ultimate purpose was to ensure that no mother or child lost their lives unnecessarily and I believe that this is something which should be owned by all of us. However, I have never been willing to politicise this agenda. As a consequence I feel it necessary to cancel the First Lady’s Half Marathon this year,” the First Lady said.
The First Lady has however assured the country that the cause remains until the ultimate goal, which is the betterment of maternal healthcare in this country, and to build the Beyond Zero Referral Hospital is achieved.
In her application last December, Bensouda said that the witnesses had opted to leave their protection and return home.
“I remain committed to and will not deviate from my ultimate goal, which is the betterment of maternal healthcare in this country, and, to build the Beyond Zero Referral Hospital. I want to reassure all Kenyans that this is a commitment that will remain with me throughout my life,” she asserted.
She has however applauded Kenyans for supporting the initiative saying, “We have done more together than I imagined possible. We have run marathons and raised enough money to purchase 47 fully equipped mobile clinics delivered to every single county in Kenya.”
“Throughout the last four years, our partners—from ordinary Kenyans, to workers in the health sector, to civil society, to policy makers, to the business community and international donors—have given Beyond Zero the inspiration and impetus it has needed to keep going.”
Source-capitalfm.co.ke
“I applied to this program because I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go to medical school or do research,” she says. “That experience helped me figure out that research is very interesting, but it’s not for me.”
This fall, Amuyna applied to the prestigious Teach for America Program, which has been on her radar since sophomore year, when she learned that many people take a gap year before medical school. She was selected for a two-year placement following a rigorous interview process.
“It was a little intimidating because I interviewed with a group of ten students and five or six of them were from Ivy League schools and I was thinking ‘how did I end up here?’” she says. “But I didn’t let that keep me from going for it and showing them who I am.”
After graduating in May, Amuyna will teach secondary school science to low-income students in either Springfield or Holyoke. After that, her plan is apply to medical school with the hope of one day becoming a doctor.
“Coming into college I wanted to be a cardiologist,” she says. “Now that I’m taking developmental biology, I’m starting to think fetal medicine would be interesting. I will go into it with an open mind and go from there.”
Amuyna says she has no regrets about her decision to attend Framingham State.
“I love that I can walk around campus and I may not know everyone’s name, but I know everyone’s face,” she says. “I have professors like Dr. Davis who are not only great teachers, but are invested in my wellbeing. That has really helped me.”
ABOUT FRAMINGHAM STATE UNIVERSITY
Framingham State University was founded in 1839 as the nation’s first public university for the education of teachers. Since that time, it has evolved into a vibrant, comprehensive liberal arts institution offering small, personalized classes on a beautiful New England campus. Today, the University enrolls more than 6,400 students with 53 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in arts, humanities, sciences, social sciences and professional fields. As a public university, Framingham State prides itself on quality academic programs, affordability, and commitment to access for all qualified students.
Source-framingham.edu
