“We provided health care to people in Jamaica who live in conditions that normally prevent them from receiving it. The experience opened my eyes. I can't wait to once again offer my skills and heart to those in need.”
Ask pre-med student Meghan Webb about her post-graduation professional dreams and the Virginia Beach, Va., native will share her commitment to helping children one day, perhaps as a pediatric surgeon with a specialty in orthopedics or oncology.
It’s a lofty goal and a challenging road to get there, but no one who has ever encountered this high-achieving Florida State student and enthusiastic campus and community leader would doubt for a moment that she has what it takes, and then some, to make her dreams come true.
For starters, the 4.0 grade point average Webb earned as a first-year student — a performance she’s repeated many times since — led to her induction into the FSU Honors Program and Phi Eta Sigma National Honor Society. And that’s not all.
“My freshman year, I became involved with the Florida State chapter of Alpha Epsilon Delta (AED), the national health pre-professional honor society,” Webb said. “It was a great way to meet other pre-med students and get the advice I needed to succeed here.”
And succeed she did. As a second-year student, undergraduate research — such opportunities abound at Florida State — became a big part of this biological science major’s focus. Webb received FSU’s Mentored Research and Creative Endeavors Award, a fellowship that would fund her work over the following summer on a research project that would be presented at the university’s Undergraduate Research Symposium during the fall 2010 semester.
“So my third year began with the incredible experience of presenting my research at the Undergraduate Research Symposium,” Webb said. “And also incredible was being selected as one of the five undergraduate researchers invited to the FSU President’s skybox for the Homecoming football game, where we had a chance to meet and discuss our research with a great group of alumni.”
That “incredible” third year ended with Webb’s induction into the FSU chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, the nation’s oldest and most prestigious honor society.
“I felt so honored to be among some of the brightest students at Florida State,” Webb said, “and the Phi Beta Kappa reception at the President’s House afterward was pretty amazing, too.”
Webb would eventually rise through the AED leadership ranks and, as a senior, is the president of the campus chapter. In that key role, she has helped to organize the 14th annual Medical School Deans Day, an event attended by 200 students from Florida State and nearby universities.
What’s more, Webb now works as a teaching assistant in biological science — a highly competitive position.
And this busy senior also serves as a Teach For America campus campaign coordinator.
“I’m dedicated to spreading the word about this unique opportunity for students to make a difference by working to bridge the achievement gap in America,” Webb said. “In fact, I may do so myself by serving in an inner-city school teaching science before I go to medical school.”
While it’s impossible for her to pick just one or two favorite FSU activities, Webb said she especially enjoyed her stint as a “FIG” (Freshman Interest Group) leader, a role in which she guided new undergraduates as they adjusted to the academic and social environment of college as aspiring pre-medical students.
And then there’s her four-year commitment to service in the community beyond Florida State, and to her own religious faith. Webb has found that mentoring area high school girls through the Christian ministry Young Life Tallahassee — and performing good works with her church, Wesley Foundation at FSU — is a rewarding way to serve both.
Of all the meaningful experiences Webb savored while at Florida State, an AED medical mission trip to Jamaica during the spring of her junior year connected her academic aspirations with her life outside the classroom in an especially profound way.
“We provided health care to people in Jamaica who live in conditions that normally prevent them from receiving it,” Webb said. “The experience opened my eyes. I can’t wait to once again offer my skills and heart to those in need.”
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