“The person that I was upon arriving in Seattle—shy, terrified of traveling alone for the first time, and shielded from understanding others’ struggles—was changed entirely in three days,” says Newen, a 2019 Most Valuable Student scholar sponsored by Hackettstown, N.J., Lodge No. 2331.
Newen’s personality wasn’t the only thing that evolved during the trip. Serving in Seattle set the course for her future. “Because of the Elks, my worldview changed: I realized that serving the underserved can create cycles of positive change.”
With new-found inspiration and the desire to make a difference, Newen began volunteering as a medical assistant at a free primary care clinic. The clinic, which helps with prescriptions, preventative screenings, and labs, has served more than 650 low-income patients since Newen started.
“At the clinic, I’ve witnessed the paradox of how patients who need healthcare the most oftentimes cannot afford it,” says Newen. “I have come away with an unwavering conviction that health should be a human right.”
Newen, a 2022 Rutgers University graduate, continued to live out this conviction as she performed cancer research and shadowed some of the top cardiologists at the National Institutes of Health. As she attends Rutgers New Jersey Medical School with the help of the Weigel scholarship, Newen’s studies will be focused on cardiology—an area she discovered a passion for in college.
“The unique electricity of the heart, how blood circulates throughout the body, and all the ways that cardiopulmonary disorders can cause collateral damage clicked in my head,” says Newen.
While she continues to learn and serve, the Elks will always be close to Newen’s heart.
“Because of the MVS scholarship, I have been privileged with the time to develop my perspective on how scientific research and medicine are tightly knit and what it means to positively lead in healthcare,” says Newen. “These perspectives will undoubtedly shape the physician I will become.”