Hello!

My name is Joseph Rodriguez. I am president and founder of a new club at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign called the the Cultural Pre-Health Association. Our mission is to provide all pre-health students the opportunity to travel and volunteer abroad in underprivileged countries. We know the cost of undergraduate studies, living away from home, and application and testing cost can hinder an individual's chance to have that amazing experience of healthcare abroad. My job is to make these trips as affordable as possible for these student, so they are able to attend and become competitive, global pre-health students. This May we are sending sixteen student to Costa Rica to learn, shadow, and experience their successful health system as a two week program. The total cost was still rather expensive, but with out constant efforts and fundraising every week, we managed to lower it by a small, but adequate amount. Eighty five percent of the club's fundraising is distributed amongst the individuals attending the trip, while the other fifteen percent is to offer discounts on test (MCAT, DAT, PCAT, etc), guest speakers, equipment for further fundraising (BBQ), and many other services we like to provide our members. Although we barely started in August 2012, we are going to strong with 47 members, despite the financial difficulties of a new club. Any donation or help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you so much for your time!




Best,
Joseph Rodriguez