Staff Profiles

Courage Project Staff

Co-directors: Sarah Arora and Rachel Yong
Founding Directors: Jennifer Miller and Michael McCullough

Student Staff:

Sarah Arora

Hometown: Albuquerque, NM School: Stanford Major: Human Biology

Sarah is a rising junior at Stanford University and is studying towards a Human Biology major. She is interested in pursuing medicine, inspired by her parents who are both physicians. In her spare time, Sarah sings opera and dances, whether it be in a class or alone in her room. She also enjoys shadowing physicians in the ER where she is more fully able to understand the life medicine which she hopes to pursue. The Courage Project intrigues Sarah, and she hopes that the project will have far-reaching effects concerning people's willingness to serve.

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Jennifer Miller

Hometown: San Bruno, CA School: Stanford Major: Human Biology

A senior at Stanford University, Jennifer Miller is majoring in Human Biology with a focus in International Health. Early in college, Jennifer was surprised to read that 46% of physicians say they "often think about leaving clinical practice," according to a study quoted in the New England Journal of Medicine. From her experience as a premedical student herself, she hypothesized that one of many causes of this disturbing statistic might be that premeds' expectations of a medical career are often misaligned with reality. This can lead them to choose a career in medicine when they might have chosen differently had they been better informed through practical experience and mentorship. She has spent the last four years growing SCOPE and the BeAGoodDoctor Organization in an effort to provide premedical and medical students with the ability to make an informed decision on their career choice and to create a more cooperative and noble premedical community.

Along the way, Jennifer has confirmed her own desire to become a physician through a myriad of experiences with patients, physicians, and other health workers in the bay area, Nepal, and Honduras. Jennifer is interested in travel as a means of expanding cultural awareness and language ability, and has recently created the Roatan Clinical and Public Health Internship in Honduras (RCPHI) for undergraduates and medical students (see rcphi.beagooddoctor.org). She will be returning to Roatan, Honduras in January on a Fulbright fellowship to conduct research on food security and nutrition and to evaluate the current partnership between undergraduate and medical student RCPHI interns and the local community, including the public hospital, surrounding clinics, and other community health workers.

Jennifer plans to build a life in which she is constantly serving, growing, researching questions, teaching, and creating needed medical and educational programs. In her free time, she enjoys hiking (especially in Yosemite and to local hot springs), dancing (salsa & swing are her favorites), and a hammock/good book combo. She loves talking with other students about their goals and aspirations, and welcomes you to email her with any and all questions.

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Leo Perry

Hometown: Stigler, OK School: Stanford Major: Symbolic Systems (Logic)

Leo, a Native American of the Choctaw Tribe, grew up in a heavily wooded rural area eleven miles outside the small town of Stigler, Oklahoma. Although he does not quite remember, he believes that he has been a scholar since his first days. Leo took a year off after his senior year after a rather fortunate accident. During this time, he painted, plumbed, and worked on computers in order to earn the money to volunteer at the James Moody Adams Healthcare Center (Clínica Amicus) in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, a missionary medical clinic, for several months.

Leo defines his life mostly in terms of his mind. He tends to think on levels from the infinite to the infinitesimal - sometimes unable to see what is in front of his eyes. Despite this mental hypermyopia, Leo takes great pleasure in life: nature, people, and ideas constantly flow through his mind in a harmonious composition whose movements continually bring him immense joy. As you might guess, he also takes joy in creating gramalgamations such as, well, gramalgamation and hypermyopia.

A student of everything, Leo currently finds himself learning in and around Stanford University. He would like to discover how to integrate his passion for abstract thinking with his desire to help the world's needy. Above all, he strives to serve God, Who continually teaches him how better to love.

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Rachel Yong

Hometown: Pacifica, CA School: Stanford Major: Symbolic Systems
Comparitive Studies in Race and Ethnicity

Rachel is a rising junior and is entrenched in her attempt to earn a B.A.S. In the mean time, she likes to act, solve problems, analyze minority representation in the media, spend time with family and friends, and maintain a vigilant appreciation for life. Her main interest, however, has always been writing. The Courage Project is a tremendous opportunity for her to begin living her dream: using words to inspire others to live more passionately.

Her favorite books are The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Life of Pi, and A Fine Balance.

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Sonia Singh

Hometown: N/A School: Stanford Major: Human Biology

As a sophomore, Sonia enjoys browsing the Stanford Bulletin (and The Facebook) on a daily basis trying to decide on an official major (tentatively Human Biology). She does know decisively that she would like to minor in Ethics in Society and someday go to medical school. She feels that activities like the Courage Project allow her to take advantage of all that Stanford has to offer, while simultaneously doing good for the community.

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Michael Doan

Hometown: N/A School: San Jose State Major:

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Cindy Wang

Hometown: N/A School: Stanford Major: Psychology

Cindy Wang is a junior majoring in Psychology with varied interests in film, design, and visual cognition, but eventually hopes to enter medicine. Having conducted research on the genetic determinants of HIV susceptibility during high school, Cindy has extended her interest in the issue of HIV/AIDS to benefit the Stanford community through involvement in campus organizations such as Stanford Dance Marathon, which raises funds for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS foundation, Stanford Scientific Review, and the Stanford Access Treatment Initiative.

Cindy is very excited to contribute to the Courage Project because she greatly admires the brave and compassionate individuals who have sacrificed personal comfort, safety, and security for the noble goals of making a positive impact on the world by doing what he or she thinks is right, not what is convenient or accepted.

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Sagar Bapat

Hometown: School: Stanford Major: Biochemistry

Sagar Bapat is a sophomore majoring in Biochemistry at present conducting research in the area of cellular trafficking. His other interests include playing tennis, writing short stories, and learning languages, currently Mandarin and Marathi. Sagar became first interested in the Courage Project because of a question that was inspired by the project name: What is the meaning of courage? Participating in the Courage Project, Sagar hopes to understand more fully the meaning of the word that has motivated many of the great events in history, provided the inspiration for many famous pieces of literature, and continues to be an ideal that Sagar strives to achieve in his own life.

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Lauren Finzer

Hometown:Orinda, CA School: Stanford Major: Undeclared

A freshman at Stanford, Lauren sees the Courage Project as an opportunity to connect people with opportunities to be courageous and explore courage. While preparing for a possible major in Human Biology, Lauren is also working on a campaign to get Stanford and other universities to lower their carbon and greenhouse gas emissions. She loves to read, run, chat, travel, and learn whenever possible.

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Bernie Miller

Hometown: School: San Jose State Major: Spanish

Bernie is a post-baccalaureate student pursuing a career in medicine. Earning a degree in Spanish and a minor in Linguistics, he has utilized both disciplines, working as a Spanish and English Language Development teacher in California Public Schools, and as an ESL instructor through University of California Extension. Having worked with hundreds of students of many ages and cultures, Bernie hopes to utilize his experience to make himself a better physician, and work in a diverse community that is underserved. Bernie has always taken an interest in health, disease, and the human body. From a young age, he has been interested in learning how to improve health and well being. He has enriched his study of pre-medicine with courses in complementary and alternative medicine such as nutrition, Traditional Chinese Medicine, and botanical medicine. Outside of study, Bernie has a wide variety of interests including travel, sports, and appreciation of the outdoors. Bernie enjoys meeting new people and building relationships, especially cross-cultural. In his ever-diminishing free time, he enjoys hiking in the Santa Cruz Mountains, riding his bike, good movies, and just being around friends and family.

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