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Take a step, make a change

Greg Goodman ’09

For Greg Goodman, the academic challenges at Brandeis have fueled ambitions beyond the classroom.

“Brandeis has shown me that if you want something, and if you push hard enough, this world has huge opportunities,” he says.

In his case, that means getting accepted into Tufts University School of Medicine through an early decision program in partnership with Brandeis. It also means providing medical care to people who may not otherwise have access to it.

After working for a medical clinic in Honduras, Goodman is now trying to replicate that model in rural Ethiopia. He’s partnered with a doctor from Houston to lay the groundwork for the clinic, and has already won a $150,000 grant to buy medical equipment for the clinic and others like it. After med school, his long-term goal is to create a system of clinics throughout Africa.

“For me, this is about not accepting a situation,” he says. “Brandeis has enabled me to say, ‘Maybe we can do something about this. Maybe we can take a big step and really make some changes.’”

History, biology, community

Adam Ross ’09

A great source of passion and interest for him was writing his senior honors thesis for the history department on how the Black Death changed the practice of Western Medicine.

Ross came to Brandeis looking for academic excellence in an atmosphere of cooperation and cohesiveness in the student body. He found what he was looking for.

“The sense of community that I have developed here has been my favorite aspect of this experience. I absolutely loved working with my fellow classmates on anything, and it is that sense of friendship and loyalty that I will cherish forever.”

Intensely unhurried, she says

Jackie Saffir ’10

Jackie Saffir insists she’s not in a hurry.

So why does she go to school full time (a self-designed major in neuroscience, linguistics and philosophy), work full time (for the editorial board of the Boston Globe), help run Brandeis’ world-class debate team and contribute to the Justice student newspaper?

“It’s easy to be energized when you’re really excited about what you’re doing,’’ says Saffir, who is headed for a career in the foreign service, journalism or maybe politics.

Two years into undergraduate work, having completed most requirements for her intended major in philosophy, Saffir felt stuck. What next, she wondered. She happened onto a “get-to-know-you” pizza dinner featuring Professor Don Katz, who was talking about how he hadn’t decided what to major in until the last minute. He recommended neuroscience – his own specialty – and became an adviser.

“The faculty is what I love at Brandeis,” she says. “It is continually amazing how available and accessible they are.”