Eneida Miranda says the Office of AHANA Student Programs helped her during her Boston College years. “They have pushed me when I needed it: ‘Yuu’re going to stick to this.’” (Photos by Christopher Huang)
No Letting Go of the Dream
Dr. Donald Brown Award Winner Eneida Miranda knew at age five what career she wanted. She’s getting closer to it, day by day
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It’s certainly not unheard of for a kid to fake being sick, whether to get out of going to school, or to avoid other undesired situations.But Eneida F. Miranda,’09, had a very different reason for feigning illness: She was after some medical education.
“As far back as when I was five years old, I knew I wanted to be a doctor,” says Miranda, who was born in Cape Verde and moved to Brockton at age nine. “I’d pretend to be sick so I could go to the hospital and when I was there, ask the doctor all these questions I was curious about — how this part of the human body worked, or why a certain thing would make you ill.
“I did this a few times, and they’d catch on, but I still tried to do what I could to find out the answers.”
Miranda’s quest to fulfill her childhood dream has occasionally run up against uncertainty, even doubt, but has never vanished — and, with her graduation only weeks away, it is closer than ever to reality. Yet Miranda’s four years at Boston College have not been solely dedicated to this pursuit, and it is because of her other activities that she has been selected this year’s winner of the Dr. Donald Brown Award.
The award honors a senior who throughout his/her undergraduate career has made extraordinary contributions to the BC community in ways that have benefited AHANA students in the areas of leadership, service, and academic development. It is named for the former BC administrator who was instrumental in developing the Office of AHANA Student Programs and numerous initiatives to strengthen diversity at the University.
A psychology major enrolled in the BC pre-med program, Miranda has served four years in the AHANA Leadership Council in various capacities, including as programming director and chief of staff, provided leadership to the Cape Verdean Student Association and the Mendel Society Mentorship Program, and co-chairs the Black History Month Committee.
Her volunteer activities have included participating in the Turkey Creek Community Initiative that helps to rebuild the homes and lives of Hurricane Katrina survivors, and working at the Bird Street Community Center in Dorchester, where she tutored elementary, junior high, and high school students in math, English and SAT prep courses.
One of the most compelling experiences for Miranda while at BC, however, has been her internship with schizophrenic patients through the Psychosis Research Program at the Lemuel Shattuck Hospital. “I was a little anxious about it at first, but I went in with an open mind. I’ve been intrigued by the people I’ve met, and grateful for the opportunity to get to know them — and that some have trusted me enough to talk to me.”
Working at Shattuck has helped Miranda better define her career plans in medicine, which have shifted over the years. A major event in her childhood, she recalls, was the death of her great grandmother from a stroke: “I remember thinking, ‘Maybe if I was a doctor, I would be able to save her.’ At first, I thought I would be a brain surgeon. Then I became interested in being a family physician, and then I started looking at emergency room medicine.
“But with the experience at Shattuck, now I can definitely see myself working in emergency psychiatry.”
The first in her family to attend college, Miranda admits to having had moments of uncertainty on the path to her goal while at BC. She credits the AHANA Office for being “very helpful and encouraging. They have pushed me when I needed it: ‘You’re going to stick to this.’”
Miranda also points to Associate Vice President for Institutional Research Kelli Armstrong, with whom she was paired through the AHANA Mays Mentoring Program, as another source of support. “She’s the best person I’ve gotten to meet here. When I was in sophomore year, I had doubts about staying at BC. But Kelli told me to face up to what was bothering me, and to move on and move forward.”
The way forward will include a year-and-a-half-long mission through the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Afterwards will come the search for a medical program in which to enroll, hopefully in Boston, she says.
“Boston is close to home, of course, and there are so many good schools in the area,” she says. “I don’t know exactly where I might end up, but as long as I get into a school, I know I will make it work.”
Sean Smith can be reached at sean.smith.1@bc.edu