Sarah Beshara
For Sarah Beshara,’25, a first-generation college student from LaVergne, choosing to come to Tech was an easy decision thanks to the programs offered. She wanted to take advantage of Tech's double degree program for degrees in biochemistry and cellular and molecular biology.
“That is part of the reason I chose to come to Tech. I knew the school had highly revered science programs and resourceful pre-health extracurriculars which made it an easy decision to come to Tech,” Beshara said.
As a senior in high school applying to colleges, she knew she wanted to eventually go to dental school. The degrees that align most closely with the prerequisites for dental school are chemistry and biology.
The Tech pre-health sciences office connected her with Amanda Carroll, chemistry senior lecturer, who told her about the double degree program that Tech offers for two separate degrees in chemistry with a concentration in biochemistry and biology with a concentration in cellular and molecular biology.
“She told me how well-run the chemistry department is, and the numerous resources the university provides for pre-health students,” Beshara said. “This made the decision very easy for me when deciding on where I wanted to go to college.”
Beshara will use the degrees to satisfy the prerequisites for dental school, and will possibly specialize in orthodontics in the future.
“It was certainly the right choice as the rigor of the science courses shaped me as a student to better prepare me for professional school and the range of extracurriculars they offer make me a competitive applicant,” Beshara said.
There are many diverse clubs and activities to get involved in at Tech that directly pertain to pre-health careers such as undergraduate research, Chem- Med Club, Remote Area Medical Host Group, American Chemical Society, among many others.
She said the most rewarding part of her experience as a student at Tech was her participation in the RAM club on campus. This club is a part of the RAM organization which puts up clinics that provide free medical, dental, and vision care to those in need. The actual club is the host group which plans and organizes the clinic.
“We do everything from recruiting healthcare professionals to advertising the clinic,” Beshara said. “Going through the process of planning and then seeing it come to fruition on the actual day of the clinic was truly inspiring.”
Tech uses the words bold, fearless, confident and kind to describe its students. For Beshara, she feels that Tech is preparing her well and that has allowed her to become more confident.
“As a pre-health student, it can sometimes be challenging to feel 100 percent confident that you are good enough to be pursuing a healthcare career,” Beshara said. “However, Tech offers a lot of information to students to help them feel prepared and informed about the GPAs we should be striving for, activities we should get involved in, and pre-health application tips.”
