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Rocky D. Chavez

Biography

Graduate Scholarship Biography (prepared September 2005): First named a Jack Kent Cooke Scholar in 2003 through the Undergraduate Scholarship Program, Rocky Chavez remembers shadowing a doctor at age 15. He knew he was witnessing an appreciation for life, an ability to communicate with diverse people, and a desire to treat patients with compassion - and he knew he wanted a career in medicine. Later, a summer as a research assistant at the Harvard School of Public Health convinced Rocky he wanted to be a surgeon.

Rocky was the first person in his family to attend college. He grew up in a one-bedroom house with seven family members and attended four different elementary schools. Academics became his refuge from anger and poverty at home. He was an outstanding student in art and the sciences and, by his freshman year in college, had earned a competitive internship at the University of Texas-Austin, where he conducted cancer research.

While at Dominican, where he earned dean's list every semester, Rocky received funding from the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation to take international field biology courses in Thailand and India, experiences that showed him a "new meaning to hardship" and gave him a renewed commitment to work with underserved communities as a doctor. He is particularly pleased to be going to the UC-San Diego medical school because of its student-run free clinics and its program aimed at improving care for the deaf and hard-of-hearing community.

Undergraduate Scholarship Biography (prepared May 2003): "Being a first generation learner and living in lower-economic-status neighborhoods helped me to envision my future," writes Rocky Chavez. Having to watch his grandfather's body deteriorate for lack of money for proper medical care made him realize that he wanted to build that future around helping others in need.

Rocky hopes to be a practicing physician and teach in medical school. His aptitude and willingness to work has not gone unnoticed: He is on the dean's list and received seven grants and scholarships in 2001 alone. During the summer of 2003, Rocky will participate in an internship with the Harvard School of Public Health.

Rocky worked in the laboratory as an undergraduate research assistant on two projects in order to learn multiple techniques. His contribution in both projects earned him authorship for two conference abstracts accepted for presentation at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research. He also earned co-authorship in a peer-reviewed journal based on his work on plant growth promoting soil bacteria. In the summer of 2002, Rocky was offered two paid competitive internships, including one (from NIH) rarely offered to freshmen. The resulting work was also accepted for presentation at a national conference.

Rocky served as president of the Civic Education Club, organizing fundraisers and community service activities, and as vice president and then president of the Science Club.

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