Hello, my name is Nayeli. I am working on my Master’s currently hoping to finish in the summer of 2025. Before starting my undergrad, I spent a year and a half at Butler Community College. At Butler, I obtained my Associate of Science in Biology degree while playing collegiate soccer. During my soccer career at Butler, our team made it to the national tournament 2 years in a row. After finishing my time at Butler I transferred to Newman to finish my Bachelor’s degree. I continued my soccer career at Newman and graduated in May of 2024 with a Bachelor of Science in Biology/Pre-Med concentration. I originally was set on going to medical school and decided to go a different route in 2023. I was diagnosed in 2022 with Crohn’s disease after an admission to the hospital. I spent a little over a year trying different medications in order to find the best one that worked for me. It was not easy. As soon as a medication started to make me feel better, my body would quickly reject it. I would then start another medication hoping it would work but had no luck. I went through this process a couple times until I was admitted to the hospital again for a perforated bowel after a colonoscopy. My doctors recommended surgery to get rid of a portion of my small intestine to get rid of a stricture that they felt was causing all my problems. I went along with the surgery and started a new medication shortly after surgery. I am so thankful that I did because so far it has seemed to work wonders for me that I am currently in remission! After this whole process, I realized that it was going to be very important to take care of my physical health. I started working at a hospital as a PCT in the PICU and have loved every second of it. After working in this setting, I realized I preferred the work/lifestyle balance a PA has compared to a physician. I knew this would help me prioritize my physical health and decided I want to apply to PA school instead. First, I wanted to increase my knowledge for PA school so I decided to start the Master’s program here at Newman. Not only did having Crohn’s take a toll on me physically, it also took a toll on me mentally. So enrolling in this Master’s program was also for me to get back to a routine before applying to PA school. I am planning to apply to PA schools in April with hope to start in the Fall of 2026. I can’t wait to get started on a journey I’ve been looking forward to since I was little!
