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Some high-school seniors applying to college rack up the extracurricular activities to pad the resume. Once safely in school, their level of motivation tends to diminish.
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| Nkosi Mason |
For Nkosi Mason, who began his undergraduate career at Fordham as most students his age were finishing theirs, it was the exact opposite. Mason immigrated to New York from Guyana in December 2000. Unable to enroll in college before fall 2001, he enrolled in a registered medical assistant program and completed a three-month internship at the Comprehensive HIV Center of St. Vincent’s Hospital in Manhattan, then worked as a medical assistant at the Institute for Urban Family Health until he could start taking classes at Fordham in 2002.
Once enrolled in Fordham College at Rose Hill, Mason set out not only to fulfill his dream of becoming a doctor, but to get the whole college experience as well. He didn’t allow his need for high grades to keep him from music and religion, other reasons he chose Fordham. As a Protestant, Mason was attracted to the University’s emphasis on theology as part of the core curriculum.
“Religion is my source of integrity,” he said, “a great source of integrity.”
Now, as he graduates and looks forward to medical school in the fall, Mason, 25, can look back on his Fordham years as an education in and out of the classroom.
He cultivated his love of music by minoring in the subject and playing drums in the University’s concert and pep bands, and piano in the gospel choir.
A biological sciences major who plans to become a cardiothoracic surgeon, Mason honed his lab research skills at the University while conducting basic sleep research under the tutelage of Levente Kapas, M.D., associate professor of biological sciences. He was an active member of the Biology Club and the InterChristian Fellowship, and found inspiration in a course he took on African-American philosophy last fall. He earned the capstone of his undergraduate career just before graduation, when he was inducted into Sigma Xi, a scientific research society.
The University, Mason said, offered opportunities that weren’t available in his native Guyana.
“I think Fordham approaches academia in a holistic manner,” he said. “The variety of things I studied certainly allows me to engage in conversations in many fields. To be widely read and knowledgeable is something I value.”
But Mason’s road to Fordham was not easy. His mother immigrated to the United States when he was 8 months old, leaving Mason and his father in Georgetown, Guyana’s capital. He was reunited with his mother at 19, when he went to live with her in New York. Mason always dreamed of becoming a doctor, and of studying medicine in the United States. His mother, a home health aide, touted the Pre-Medical Program at Fordham, the only school to which he applied.
As he chooses which medical school to attend this fall, Mason said he won’t forget the impact Fordham has had on his life.
“I just love my school. I’m very proud of it,” he said. “They’ve given me an excellent education. Hopefully, someday, I’ll be able to come back and contribute something to the students who will be there.”
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