MEET OUR GRADUATES: Xenia Fernandez

Homeschooled for the first two years of high school while receiving chemotherapy at Hasbro Children’s Hospital, Fernandez said, “It cut into a transitional part of my life. I lost the years between age 14 and 16. I had to mature faster than I would have, and I was also delayed a bit. I was still in the eighth-grade time warp.” 

Chemotherapy also affected her hip joints, leaving her unable to walk without crutches. After six years of physical therapy, she can now ambulate – though slowly – without crutches.

Fernandez said that her interest in the field of medicine came from interacting with her doctors. “My mom is Columbian and had a hard time understanding the medical terms,” she said. “So I would get as much information as I could from the doctors, asking a lot of questions, and then relay the information to my mother. After awhile the doctors would tell me, ‘You really know your stuff. Maybe you should go into the medical field.’”

Fernandez made her decision at age 16, when a friend and fellow cancer patient succumbed to the illness and died at age 10. She said, “It hit me really hard and opened my eyes. It made me want to do something. It made me want to become a doctor.”

In 2012 she earned a RIC baccalaureate degree in biology, with a minor in chemistry. Following graduation, she enrolled in RIC’s graduate program in biology and earned her master’s degree in 2014.

During her tenure at RIC, Fernandez has been on the Dean’s List for four consecutive years. She has won a total of 12 honors and awards for superior scholastic achievement and engaged in six years of laboratory research with RIC Assistant Professor of Biology Deborah Britt. Fernandez has also engaged in more than 150 hours of volunteer work at Hasbro Children’s Hospital.

She will be attending medical school at the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Medicine and is leaning toward pediatrics with specialization in hematology/oncology.