Stephanie McCoy isn’t just her family’s first college student and graduate.
She is their first master’s-degree student and—should she decide to pursue it—could become their first doctoral degree student, too.
McCoy, who is strongly motivated by her personal experiences and her immigrant parents who overcame adversity, is ardently pursuing a career in public health and currently is a master’s student in health behavior and health education at the University of Texas at Austin.
She already is already gaining experience working in underserved communities.
McCoy has spent several years working with nonprofit organizations, as well as the City of Austin Health and Human Services Department, to help disadvantaged residents.
She wants to further explore health disparities and health care delivery among immigrant populations. In fact, one of her goals is to set up a community clinic for immigrants in El Paso to provide culturally competent services to improve Latino health.
To expand her training, she applied for the Éxito! Latino Cancer Research Leadership Training program, which recruits 25 master’s-level students and professionals for a five-day Summer Institute to promote doctoral degrees and careers studying Latino cancer.
“Hearing personal stories from the [Éxito!] presenters was really inspiring and motivating for me” McCoy said. “Don't give up. All you need is ganas, si se puede.”
