Lela Okromelidze

My Transition from School to University and career in STEM Lela Okromelidze lela.okromelidze@gmail.com 5th year medical student Tbilisi State Medical University

Background • Born and raised in a small town Akhaltsikhe, Republic of Georgia • Graduated from Akhaltsikhe Public School #2(Akhaltsikhe, Georgia) and Franklin High School(Portland, OR) • Medical School – Tbilisi State Medical University with a full scholarship

International Programs • Medical Placement at the University of Lublin, Lublin, Poland, 2015 and 2016 • AMGEN Scholars Program, University of Tokyo, 2015 • Erasmus Mundus ALRAKIS II Scholarship, University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain, 2013-2014 • FLEX(Future Leaders Exchange Program), Portland, OR, USA, 2010-2011

Why STEM path? • I was introduced to science and medicine in my childhood • My major motivators: o My family o My secondary school biology and chemistry teachers

Why does Family Matter?

• My family played a crucial role in my education • My mother(who is a doctor) and my grandmother(who was an engineer) let me shadow them during their work.

• Because the education system was not good, they paid for a tutor to teach me science classes • They were always interested how I was doing at school

How have my chemistry and biology teachers influenced my(and not only) life?

• They cared about their students • They actively engaged their students in classroom activities • Even though my school had a badly-functioning chemistry lab, my teacher showed us experiments • They constantly helped us during the study process • They helped us establish ecology club, where they actively involved students of middle and high school, organized presentations, essay competitions, etc.

How AMGEN changed my life • Introduced me to the field of research • Gave me a confidence to follow my dreams • Inspired me to apply for a PhD degree after graduation • Gave me a chance to meet wonderful professors, students from all over the world.

• Opened many doors to various opportunities in my country and abroad • Taught me that ….. sky is the limit!

How has International Education Changed My Life?

• Gave me a courage to follow my dreams and defy the odds • Gave me a confidence to pursue careen in STEM field • Helped me to experience a high-quality education

What I wish could have been different?

• Books o During my school years, I fell into “pilot” educational program, that was very bad and did not give me much knowledge in the field of science and medicine

• More student engagement in classroom activities • Environment o School could not always provide basic studying environment, like electricity, heating

• Gender perception o I was told to choose “family-oriented job” many times, and at one point I was even considering changing my future career plan

• Foreign Language Classes o more productive classes

What I Wish I Could Have Had an Access to? • Information about International Educational Programs for high school students o There was an information only about FLEX(Future Leaders Exchange Program), which I won and which gave me a big motivation to choose STEM path

• Better IT classes

What I Wish Teachers Would Have Done for Students of My School?

• Established job shadowing programs • More science-related events(inviting STEM field speakers, etc) • More interactive classes • More conferences • More trips to universities, colleges • Explaining to students that STEM path is not only for students who come from a rich family or from a very good school, but rather for everyone who can work hard to achieve their goals.

Future plans • Graduating from Tbilisi State Medical University • Planning to apply for a radiology residency program in the USA • Planning of pursuing a PhD Degree

“Those who educate children well are more to be honored than they who produce them; for these only gave them life, those the art of living well.” ― Aristotle