“I feel like when you know what you want to do, you just have to go at it headfirst. That is exactly what I did. I graduated high school a year early and I wanted to be around people who were pre-med and passionate towards science.”
Dafne Balderas, a senior biomedical science major minoring in chemistry, is set to be the first person in her family to graduate from college and attend medical school. Originally from Waco, Texas, Dafne was raised by a single mother. She graduated from high school a year early and, thanks to the scholarships she was offered, decided to attend Tarleton State University.
In addition to receiving several college grants, Dafne was offered Tarleton State’s President’s Guaranteed Scholarship and the Honors Degree Program Scholarship. Receiving these scholarships felt like freedom to Dafne. Without them, college would have never been an option, but because of them, not only is she graduating from college, but she is also going to med school in the fall. These scholarships allowed her to leave home and experience life as a four-year college student.
Dafne wanted to find like-minded people who valued education as much as she did, and after coming to Tarleton State, she did. She was beyond excited even to have that opportunity. College was always a goal for Dafne, and she has worked very hard throughout her life to achieve it.
Tarleton State has had a big impact on Dafne. She has gone from being the shy student in high school to having a thriving social group. She knows a lot more people than she did when she came into college and has since found a little family to call her own. She has become much more confident in herself and is no longer nervous about her classes because she knows she can pass them. She knows what her place is now, what she wants out of life, and how to take it.
The biggest impact Tarleton State and the scholarships have had on Dafne is allowing her to be a part of JAMP. Short for the Joint Admission Medical Program, JAMP is basically a guaranteed acceptance into medical school for students like Dafne. The application, completed in her sophomore year, was very similar to an actual med school application. It had the same type of format and interviews. After she was accepted, Dafne had guaranteed internships for the summers after her sophomore and junior years at different medical schools in Texas. After she graduates in May, the program will pair her with the school it thinks best matches her, and she will be automatically accepted there.
However, it was not just Tarleton State that had an impact on Dafne; Dafne also had an impact on Tarleton State. Shortly after coming to Tarleton State, Dafne got with a few of her friends, and together they brought back Kappa Delta Chi—the first Latina sorority at Tarleton State University.
Dafne describes her college journey as one big blessing after another. She knows others in her family did not have the same opportunities, so she feels very blessed to be the first in her family to graduate and go on to med school. Very blessed to have been given the scholarships she needed to have that opportunity, and to have been accepted into JAMP.
Through JAMP, Dafne will attend a medical school in Texas after she graduates. She will become a doctor and will go where she is needed. Ideally, she wants to serve a low-income Hispanic community, but she also knows how bad rural healthcare is here in Texas and wants to help change that. Ultimately, Dafne wants to serve a little slice of the community and make an impact.
“I’m not trying to cure cancer. I think I just want to be a part of a community, make a small impact, and help where I came from.”