Reported by today.ucsd.edu
Jared Helms ’24, MPH ’26, a first-year student in UC San Diego’s School of Medicine, is not letting his non-traditional path to medical school deter him from giving back to the community that raised him. As a former graduate student staff member of the Intertribal Resource Center and planning committee member for both UC San Diego’s Powwow and Native American Heritage Month , Helms shares in his own words how the power of community, finding mentors who see your greatest potential, and Indigenous spirit shaped his journey and inspire his future.
I left high school early, testing out at the beginning of my senior year, and planned to join my dad’s masonry business. I worked for him from 18 to 21, but during that time, I realized I wanted to go back to school to find a way to serve my community and empower our family. Pursuing medicine felt like a grand idea at that time—no one in my family went to college, and I saw how hard my dad worked in construction. But I wanted to heal a lot of the struggles I'd seen in my family and community.
