Prabhavi Aghamkar
Cell and Molecular Biology Major, Louisville, Ky.
Having attended a public high school, Union junior Prabhavi Aghamkar desired to attend a Christian college in hopes of strengthening her faith as she prepares to one day enter the medical field.
“I was already considering going to a Christian college because I think going into the medical school, it’s going to be very different,” Aghamkar said. “I just wanted the next four years of my life to be very rooted in Scripture, especially since I will be going to a very secular field, just to make sure I always have my priorities straight when I’m in medical school.”
Aghamkar described the environment of her high school as being competitive and lacking a supportive community to encourage her academically and spiritually.
“I didn’t have a solid, encouraging community around me like I do here [at Union],” Aghamkar said.
Aghamkar currently serves as a student ambassador in the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, chief of staff for Union’s Student Government Association and an officer for Union’s chapter of Student Members of the American Chemical Society.
Aghamkar shared how her fellow members in SGA have encouraged her leadership potential and inspired her to become more involved on campus.
“They’ve all encouraged me to take on leadership roles,” Aghamkar said. “It felt kind of validating to me that they see that I have the capacity for leadership, and so that was really encouraging. It’s just made me want to do other things like get involved in SMACS and become a student ambassador in admissions.”
In addition to her extracurricular activities, Aghamkar has been inspired by seeing faith and science so clearly displayed in the classroom. She described how her professors frequently pray before or after class, regularly ask the class for prayer requests and thank God for the resources he has given to Union.
“I never would have expected to have such a well-integrated faith and science learning path here, which has just been a blessing in itself and has absolutely helped me grow in my faith and just my wonder and amazement of the Lord,” Aghamkar said.
Aghamkar said that her professors are constantly reminding their students of God’s glory while lecturing or leading labs and dissections.
“That’s just a blessing that we’re constantly being reminded of that,” Aghamkar said.
Aghamkar hopes to one day work as a pediatrician with a specialization in endocrinology.
“I know the things that I’m learning here I’m going to carry with me into the medical field and just constantly be reminded of God,” Aghamkar said.
By Avery Chenault (’24)