Joshua Soundarajan

I ran into the subject of this interview outside of the Java City inside the Stapleton Library. Out of students who were in the area- he was the only one I saw who wasn't working on assignments. Stealing the opportunity- Tablet, phone and a cup of coffee at the ready- I sat down next to him. I kindly asked if he would allow me to interview him for my blog. Though he had class in thirty minutes, he was very courteous. Below are some of the questions that I asked him. I made sure he knew he could stop at any time, and that if there was anything he didn't want me to mention, I would leave out.

I started off with a couple of easy questions, just to make sure he was comfortable around me.

“What is your name?”

“My name is Joshua Soundarajan.”

“Where are you from?”

“I was originally born in Pittsburgh, PA. Now I live in Indiana.”

“So that makes you a native of Indiana?” I asked to make sure I comprehended him.

“Yeah, I’m a native,” he smiled.

“What’s your major?” I ventured.

“Pre-Medicine.”

“Do you have any minors?”

“I’m going to get a minor in Chemistry and Economics.”

His responses to my questions about his major and minor immediately drew me in. Being a major in Communications with minors in Sociology and Religious Studies, I had very little interaction with people who were going into the Pre-med field outside of my classes. While I wanted to dive right into learning more about his story, I refrained and asked a couple of more questions.

“What year are you?”

“I’m a freshman right now, but I will be graduating in two-and-a-half years.”

“Dual Enrollment?” I inquired.

“No, I took AP classes in my high school last year. And I managed to get 30 credits. I skipped a whole year even before coming to I.U.P.”

I raised my eyebrows. I had heard such accounts before where people were able to knock off time off of their education…but to have been able to receive that many? Needless to say I was impressed.

I went on though, asking: “What are your hobbies and interests?”

“I like to work out a lot at the Fitness Center,” Joshua told me. “I like to play violin, I used to do a lot of competitions with district P.M.A orchestras, regional orchestras, and state orchestras as well. I do a lot of stock investment stuff too. Mostly penny stocks. Though people vary. They don’t like the idea in investing in penny stocks, but once you understand the patterns, it’s very easy to understand how it works.”

“That's really cool,” I complimented. “I’ll be honest, I don’t know anything about economics.”

He elaborated his answer. “I don’t know much either- I decided to get an Economics minor because back in high school we were playing this stock market game. I thought it was really interesting. I was better at it than many of my classmates- even my teacher! So I realized if I get better at working in the stock market, I have the potential to pay off my college and medical school because medical school is expensive.”

Figuring it was time I dived deeper into his story I asked, “Do you know what you plan on doing with your degree?”

“I want to be an E.N.T. Ears, nose and throat specialist. Maybe open my own clinic here.”

“Are you one of those people who likes to stay close to home?”

“Yeah. Though I don’t like this weather outside right now.” We both laughed and he continued on. 

“If I could go to one place, it’d be Miami, Florida.”

“So you’re interested stocks, you loved violin, and you competed in that…and you work out?” I asked.

“Yeah. I like to do a lot of body-weight exercises. Just getting in shape.”

“Do you play any sports?”

“When I was in high school, I used to play football, tennis and track. I would throw the javelin shot.”

“Did your school ever make it to districts?”

“Yeah. I was from Indiana Area School District, and they were pretty good at football. They usually 

get in the playoffs every year.”

“You love football you said, you have a particular team you support?”

“Pittsburgh Steelers, because I’m from Pittsburgh. I’ve grown up with them, and I love black and gold.”

“Do you do anything special when the Superbowl comes around?”

“We usually get KFC or we make our own chicken wings. The one day to eat a lot of junk food!”

“Why did you decide to go to I.U.P?” I asked, moving our topic from sports.

“Firstly, because my Dad is a professor at I.U.P, so I get free tuition. In these economic hardships, you can’t pass off on free tuition. If I didn’t have that opportunity though, I would have gone to Pitt.”

“What’s your Dad a professor of?” I asked him.

“He’s a professor of Computer Science. He’s in Stright Hall.”

“So you said you were hoping to open your own clinic. Do you know what you might practice?” I was curious about E.N.T work, it was the first time I heard the term. I wanted to know more.

“I want to specialize in ears, nose, and throat. I’ll probably just specialize in those body parts. In Indiana there aren't many who specialize in the eyes, nose and mouth.”

“That would be pretty good to have since there isn't many,” I agreed.

“Yeah, it’ll be good to have especially winter, when people get a lot of ear and throat infections.”

“Hey, if you ever get that clinic open and if I’m still in the area at the time, maybe I’ll come see you!” I told him.

“Yeah!” he laughed, and pretty soon we were both laughing once again. 

“Have you gotten sick at all?” I asked him. Since we were talking about health, I was curious if he had any tips on staying healthy aside for the typical “wash your hands” or “drink lots of fluid.” Little did I realize how far off my feet his answer would knock me?

"I haven’t been sick in almost 3-4 years. I drink almost a gallon of water a day, I eat my yogurt, and I cut down on carbohydrates. I usually never get sick at all.”

“Really? So if you cut down on carbohydrates it actually prevents you from getting sick?”

“It prevents cholesterol building up in your blood. That’s from my experience. I used to have high cholesterol in my blood, but once I started cutting down on rice, pasta and all those carbs my cholesterol went down like crazy.”

Once again, I was impressed. “That’s actually really cool. I didn't know that.”

“Most people, they say fats are bad for you- no. Fats are actually really good for you. Carbohydrates use transfer fats. If you can cut the carbs out, your fat can be digested instead of carbs. Most of these classes teach mainstream sciences, others teach off-brand. We’re so used to hearing fats are bad. If you change that, you change the textbooks. Which would cost money. Personally, I think it’s because many doctors here in America care more about money than they do about taking care of people.”

“You really don’t like that, do you?” I asked him.

“No, I don’t,” Joshua answered.

“You really want to serve the people?”

“Yeah. That’s responsible.”

I decided to dare ask the one political question you shouldn't in today’s modern political world. “Do you ever look at the healthcare system and the politics behind it here in America?”

“Yes, absolutely. I’m a very liberal person. I agree with having affordable health insurance. We have mandatory car insurance, why can’t we have mandatory health insurance? If people can spend hundreds of dollars for iPhones, why can’t money be spent on that?”

“Do you ever get frustrated with the politicians?”

“Sometimes. Everyone blames Obama, but it’s not just him. It’s Congress who passes the laws. You can’t blame just one person.”

“Do you wish there was something the Affordable Care Act would do that it isn't doing already?”

“It still needs to be more affordable. Here in America for instance, an open-heart surgery costs nearly forty thousand dollars. Whereas in European countries like Switzerland and Sweden, the equivalent is that of ten thousand dollars. It’s much cheaper. Also, the average doctor’s appointment costs one hundred fifty dollars- you don’t realize it because insurance only has you pay like twelve. Doctors are really charging a lot for even a simple check-up. You could just as easily look up your ailment online. It’s way overpriced.”

Having no more questions about the topic of Affordable Healthcare (guilty is charged I lost my train of thought) I went on and asked him, “When you do work out, what do you focus on?”

“On certain days, I focus on certain parts. Chest and triceps on Monday. Back and biceps on Tuesday. Legs and shoulders, calves on Wednesday. Then I repeat the process for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. On Sunday, it’s usually a cardio or an abs workout. Yeah, there aren't any rest days.”

If my mouth dropped any further, it would touched the floor. “No rest days?”

“For me there’s no rest days. I’ve worked out for four years. So my body has adapted to working out. In order for me to get better, I have to spend more time on it.”

“Wow,” I remarked. “That’s amazing. I took a Health course last semester where I worked out a bit. I I haven’t been to the gym this semester. It’s bad, but I've just been so busy. Do you have advice for people who want to get involved in an exercise program?”

“It’s your diet that matters most,” Joshua told me. “You can exercise all you want, but if your diet isn't checked there’s no point in working out. It’s like putting water in a sports car. You can have the nicest car, but if you don’t have the right fuel, it won’t work. Reduce your junk food, and that will help you more. Don’t jump into a workout. Build yourself into it, build yourself up.”

I thanked him. “I’ll definitely need to keep that in mind when I get back into the swing of things.”

I went on and asked him if he had a professor he was close to:

“I’m close with my Dad, of course. I do talk to my Organic Chemistry Professor a lot. He’s one of the most knowledgeable professors at I.U.P in my opinion.”

“Organic chemistry sounds pretty difficult,” I remarked.

“There’s a lot of memorization involved. It’s either you know it or not.”

“How would you describe yourself in one word?” I asked him.

“I want to say unique. I want to be well-rounded. I like to be knowledgeable about a lot of backgrounds rather than focus on one thing. It’s always good to be knowledgeable so you can have a broad perspective. Most people who are narrow-minded don’t want to open up their minds to new ideas.”

“Is that one of your pet peeves?” I asked him.

“Well… I’m kind of O.C.D too, that’s one of my pet peeves. I like to keep things organized. I like to get things done. I don’t like to wait, like if I have an assignment, I like to get it done.”

“What advice would you give to someone going into your field?”

“First thing is, you study like crazy because the medical field is one of the hardest fields to go into. You have to have a really good GPA.  If you also do it for the money rather than the biology, there is no point. In order to actually pass you have to enjoy what you do. If you don’t like biology, just forget about it.”

“Do you personally think I.U.P does a great job preparing their med students?”

“I believe I.U.P does a really good job at preparing med students. Some I wonder about. The professors I had though, have done a really good job at teaching me.”

"Do you ever wonder about the future about the medical field?”

“I would assume the field would expand because people live longer and there’s more people- especially with the Baby Boom- which is right now. There’s also the Echo Boom which is ninety-five to ninety-nine, when they start getting older they will need some sort of health care. I think the medical will be expanding in the next 20 and 30 years.”

“What is the one thing you hope America sees when it comes to medicine?” I asked him.

“Less dependence on pharmaceutical medications and more focus on natural remedies- which are probably much more effective. Watching carbohydrates, eating healthier, exercising. There’s only so much that medicine can do. Lifestyles changes will help you more individually.”

By the time we had finished our interview, he had only ten minutes to get to his class. I took his picture, and thanked him once again for letting me interview him. I told him he was my first subject for the blog, and he smiled. “I've never been blogged before. There’s a first for everything!”

There certainly is Joshua. 

I do want to say that out of all the people I could have interviewed for my first candidate, I'm grateful it was Joshua. Not only did I get to learn about an interesting face of I.U.P, I also got to learn much about health and the science. As I write this post, I’m thinking about him. I know that wherever life takes him, he will definitely go far in life. He has huge dreams; and he has the work ethic, the knowledge, and the character to achieve them. I think in the days ahead, he will be a face to keep your eyes open for as he continues to achieve great feats. I meant what I said too. If I am still in Indiana when he opens his clinic, he might be one of the doctors to whom I will turn. I hope that my future doctors will be as devoted and caring towards their patients as I know he will. 

After we finished talking, we shook hands and I wished him well. Letting him know that the post will be up in a couple of days. I hope that wherever he is, he has read it. I do hope that he feels I gave his story justice. 

 Unfortunately we've come to the end of today's post. However, I do ask that you be sure you check back.There’s still plenty of faces to encounter and stories to tell. If there’s one thing I.U.P is never short of…it is people!

If you have any feedback- be it praise or constructive criticism of my style- by all means let me know! Until then, catch you all later!