Name: Mahdin Hossain
Year: Fourth Year
Major: Health Equity & Justice, Spanish Minor
Hometown: Charlottesville, Virginia
Involvements at UVA and their significance to UVA:
At UVA, I am in the University Guide Service, and being a Guide at UVA is more than just going out and sharing some facts and statistics about our school. As Guides, we engage with the University's long, and often difficult, history in order to guide others to engage with the school’s past and its potential future. Joining this organization has afforded me the opportunity to connect with the school and allow others to connect with it as well. Beyond that, I am in Phi Delta Epsilon, the University’s medical fraternity. When I got to UVA I had no premed friends or anyone who could offer advice on how to navigate the track while here. Joining PhiDE connected me to older students who had lived through the path I was about to start on and now in turn in my later years, I have been able to turn back and help younger students navigate their premed journeys. But more so, it provided me with a community of people who were doing similar things to me and understood the work that came with it. Most importantly, it was a group of friends that I would be able to see all Grounds. I have also had the privilege of being a Peer Health Educator: a group of students who empower students to practice holistic health and wellbeing. In PHE, I have been able to help students develop healthy practices as they move forward with their lives.
What is something you wish you had known during the college application/decision process?
Quite honestly, as much as I love UVA, I probably would have been okay somewhere else. For potential applicants that can be a scary thing to hear because you have such a big decision to make in front of you, but had I done somewhere else, I probably would have found my place there too. I have loved my time at UVA -- it has been an incredible experience to make lifelong friends, to broaden my interests in order to introduce me to new ideas that drive me to do more, and to help me try new and exciting experiences and adventures that I will always cherish. While I can’t actually imagine being anywhere else, I’d probably be saying that about another school had I gone there instead.
How would you describe your experience at UVA?
My experience at UVA has been very hectic, but not in a bad way. More so in a there’s a lot going on and I’m always engaged type of way. From moving in three days late to being asked not to return from spring break because of the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, my time at UVA has been hectic. As with anyone in college, there has been a lot of uncertainty, but I think the community and friends that I have made while here has provided me with the most incredible network to navigate any chaos and uncertainty and furthermore to grow and learn as a person. I am often asked what is my favorite thing about UVA and without fail my answer is always the people that I have met. I count my lucky stars that I have been fortunate enough to have crossed paths with such incredible people and now I just can’t think of anyone else I would want to surround myself with.
Thoughts and feelings about diversity at UVA:
By the numbers UVA is not diverse and there’s no denying that. In all seriousness, we lack the diverse statistics that other schools may have. That being said, the diversity that does exist on Grounds does so in very tight communities. I am a Bengali American student and I joined the Bengali Student Organization in the hopes of finding a group of students with a similar background. By doing so, I came to realize that so many different organizations and groups at UVA are doing so much to welcome their communities to Grounds and proudly share their diverse backgrounds. Being a part of this organization has truly allowed me to maintain my Bengali identity and who I am as a person while also maintaining my identity as a student at UVA.
Advice for incoming students?
Try new things and open yourself up to new experiences! UVA has so much to offer and sometimes it can even seem like there’s even too much to offer, but take a stab at it. Push yourself out of your comfort zone and out of your box of familiarity to explore something that maybe you’d heard of once before and maybe had a fleeting thought that you wanted to try it out. You’d surprise yourself at how much you are capable of and how much more you might enjoy if you’d let yourself do so.
Favorite class(es) and a brief description?
AAS 3810: Race, Culture, and Inequality -- this class with Professor Pendergrass was one of the most engaging and fascinating classes I have ever taken. The class focuses on different cultural forms and how they relate to race and inequality. We had the opportunity to discuss language, media, art, expression, and so much more to break down what makes up our culture and how it reinforces the social constructs of race. If you have a chance, I cannot recommend this class enough.
Gavin Ryno
College of Arts and Sciences, Class of 2024
Neuroscience major