Alumni Testimonial

When I first joined the Kidney Health Innovation and Leadership Program (KHILP) at UCLA, I was honestly at a point where I had no idea what I wanted to do with my future. I knew I was interested in healthcare, but that was about it. Medicine felt so broad and overwhelming, and I remember feeling intimidated by how many different paths there were and how everyone else seemed to already have everything figured out. I joined KHILP mostly because I was looking for some kind of direction, but I didn’t realize at the time that it would end up becoming the starting point for so much of my growth.

From the very first few sessions, KHILP exposed me to an entirely different side of healthcare than I had ever seen before. We weren’t just learning random facts or memorizing information. We were hearing directly from physicians, medical students, and undergraduate healthcare leaders about their journeys, challenges, and experiences. For the first time, healthcare started to feel personal and real to me instead of something distant or impossible to reach. “Pre-medicine” was no longer some vague label, but a tangible thing I could pursue.

At the same time, KHILP pushed me out of my comfort zone in a really important way. Before the program, I was the type of student who would hesitate to ask questions because I was scared of sounding uninformed. I didn’t feel very confident discussing science or speaking in professional settings. But over time, KHILP helped me become more comfortable engaging with difficult topics, communicating my ideas, and being curious without feeling embarrassed for not knowing everything. Everybody was starting from scratch, and everybody was learning together. I started discovering how to think more critically, how to connect scientific ideas to real patient experiences, and how to approach challenges with more confidence.

What made the experience even more impactful was the people behind it. Through KHILP, I was introduced to the Bruin Beans Health Club at UCLA, students thriving at my dream university. The Bruin Beans mentors stood out to me because they genuinely cared about helping students like me feel welcomed and supported. They weren’t trying to impress us or speed through concepts: they truly cared about teaching, and it showed. Seeing college students who were so passionate about mentorship and outreach made me realize that healthcare wasn’t only about academics or careers; it was also about community and lifting other people up.

That experience motivated me to become more involved myself. After KHILP, I joined Bruin Beans and continued growing not just as a student, but as a leader. A lot of the confidence and communication skills I developed through KHILP carried over into everything else I did as a pre-health student. I became more willing to pursue leadership opportunities, speak up in professional spaces, connect with mentors, and take initiative in ways I probably wouldn’t have before. Looking back, KHILP gave me the foundation that allowed me to grow into those opportunities. It also gave me access to the most meaningful leadership opportunities I’ve had: this year, I’ll be the Co-Director of KHILP.

Returning to KHILP as a Co-Director has been such a meaningful full-circle moment for me. I still remember what it felt like to join the program unsure of myself and unsure of where I belonged. Now, I have the opportunity to help other students who may be feeling exactly the same way. Whether it’s organizing sessions, reaching out to speakers, or helping shape the direction of the program, everything I do comes from a genuine desire to give students the same sense of support, inspiration, and possibility that KHILP once gave me.

Sometimes all it takes is one program, one mentor, or one experience to completely change how someone sees themselves and their future.