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Maryknoll Palisoc

Biography

Profile: While a student in College of Southern Nevada (CSN), Maryknoll Palisoc gave thousands of hours of her personal time helping out wherever she was needed.  At Helping Hands of Southern Nevada, she droved senior citizens to their medical appointments, and with Southern Nevada AmeriCorps she was the project coordinator of “Shots 4 Tots,” which provides free immunizations to less privileged families in the region.  That’s just scratching the surface – Maryknoll also volunteered with the American Cancer Society and the Catholic Worker of Las Vegas.  In her “free” time, when she wasn’t studying in a rigorous pre-medical curriculum, she served as a science and math tutor.  It’s been said “youth is wasted on the young.”  The person who was credited with saying that obviously didn’t know Maryknoll.

Inspiration:  Maryknoll took a year of organic chemistry at CSN with Professor Kaveh Zarrabi. “We call him ‘Dr. Z’ and he was always giving helpful advice to us aspiring scientists,” said Maryknoll. “He taught me the value of allocating ample time and undivided attention in studying. He also inspired me to work harder in developing my craft and in mastering the foundations of knowledge and training that I need to acquire to become a cancer researcher.”

Aspiration:  Medical school and a career as a Neuro-Oncologist are in Maryknoll’s immediate future.  Her professional interest in discovering a cure for brain cancer drives her to succeed in all her course work.

Making a Difference: One of Maryknoll’s professors affectionately called her “indefatigable” because she never quits...there’s always something left to do during the day, someone else to help, another assignment to study, or another on campus event that needed her input.

Accolades:  Maryknoll was the winner of a Nevada Regents' Scholarship Award and also earned the President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo Leadership and Excellence Award (Office of the President of the Republic of the Philippines).

Interesting Fact:  About five years ago Maryknoll saw the Japanese version of the movie, "The Grudge." She still remembers it as being “the scariest movie that I have ever seen in my entire life and it took me a month to forget the images from the movie.”

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