Rosemary Bastian
Biomedical Engineering, focus on Nanotechnology, Drug Design PhD Candidate
"The doors we open and close each day decide the lives we live". My baby steps were very carefully monitored by a protective brother who has always been my support. I was born in Kerala, India but from when I was 3, I have been in Africa. My school life has been all in all a collection of several languages, faces, 5 syllabuses, and more than 7 school changes. My high school was my attic in Uganda, Africa where I was home-schooled. Therefore my childhood has been a compendium of several school lives.
I have volunteered in The Aids Support Organization (TASO) in Kampala, Uganda, where I got my inspiration, my passion and my future directions. I have surpassed my fears, and understood more than I could have ever imagined. I have learned and developed several skills, both academic as well as intellectual and I still have a lot to learn. I have seen more than most of my classmates, the pain, the hope, the strength and the commitment. And currently, I work at Drexel University doing my second year PhD on developing Anti-HIV drug candidates that can be used to prevent as well as control the spread of AIDS.