Major – Biobehavioral Health
Minor – Global Health, Microbiology

Hometown – Bronx, New York

Hello everyone! My name is Moses Akintunde, a rising senior this fall studying Biobehavioral Health. I am a New York native, and I currently reside in the Bronx.

This summer I was awarded the prestigious honor to intern at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia. The internship is part of Project IMHOTEP; a summer program designed to train underrepresented minorities for careers in public health, and is one of six programs under the CDC Undergraduate Public Health Scholars (CUPS) program. My particular internship is open to rising juniors, seniors, and recent graduates, and it had presented itself to me at the most opportune time. Here, I work with the Division of Parasitic Diseases and Malaria (DPDM) in the Center for Global Health. My responsibilities are to conduct, analyze, assess, and present the findings of a national survey of U.S. laboratories for a parasite that causes Cyclosporiasis, a gastrointestinal illness. In English, I’m conducting a survey and reporting my findings.

Speaking for my fellow undergrads, it can easily be agreed that finding the right career path is harder than finding an open computer during finals week. Now of course the exception exists of those that have known exactly what they’ve wanted to do in life since we were all still playing with Barbie’s and Hot Wheels. But honestly, who really knows if their intended career path is indeed the right fit. Speaking for myself, I’ve bounced back and forth between pre-med and public health degree options. Why? Well personally, I just wasn’t sold that med school was actually for me. At one point I had listed more reasons ‘against’ than ‘for’ attending med school. And on that list against you would’ve found the years, debt, O-Chem (shivers*), and most importantly, my lack of passion. I admire nothing more in people my age than those who are passionate about their intended careers; and before this internship, I wasn’t passionate at all. This summer, however, I learned that public health is what I intend to do, and what’s most comforting is that I have absolutely no idea where the field will take me. But that’s okay. From all of the people I’ve met this summer not one person actually had life figured it out. I’ve heard countless stories, and they’re all dedicated to this same field.