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For the love of helping others

Cathy Hao ’13 has a quiet voice, easy smile and polite manners that belie a tenacious drive to help others: She’s conducted research in three laboratories, examining colon cancer cells, counting nanoparticles and controlling experiments related to cognition. She’s worked with people with HIV/AIDS in Kibera, Kenya, which the United Nations says is the second-largest urban slum in Africa, testing blood and consoling the infected. She’s spent time at a rural clinic in Guatemala administering injections and assisting births. And for six years she’s volunteered once a week at the Dr. Garabed A. Fattal Community Free Clinic in Binghamton.

Many people don’t accomplish as much in a lifetime, but Hao is only 20 years old.

And there’s more: She’s shadowed five doctors; roughed it all over New England as a volunteer on an Appalachian Trail work crew; counseled kids with muscular dystrophy at summer camp; is an undergraduate teaching assistant; and even spent a summer modeling for Abercrombie & Fitch.

That’s an abbreviated list from just the past two years. “Part of my personality is I’m very stubborn,” Hao says. “When I have these visions I just kind of go for it. I don’t really like people stopping me from doing other things. I think when you’re young it’s good to gain experience because the more experience you have adds to your character, to your individualism and your understanding of the world.”

Through all the volunteering and travel, the pre-med double major (biochemistry and neuroscience) has maintained a 4.0 grade-point average and figured out the area of medicine she wants to concentrate on.

“I’m really interested in oncology,” she says. “It’s hard because most of your patients do die, but oncologists see their patients once a month, once a week, constantly, and really get to know them and have intimate relationships. They really depend on you because when they have a terminal illness like cancer, they really need your help to guide them through the toughest time of their life. You play a much more important role in their life, and I really like that.”

Hao’s dedication to community has earned her both the Robert Mancini ’80 Scholarship for Commitment to Helping the Indigent and the Binghamton
University Forum Scholarship.