Alumni
 |
Camille Powers
|
Camille is a senior in Peabody College, studying Neuroscience and Child Development, interested in healthcare and a passionate advocate for those with special needs. In high school, she worked at a camp for children and adults with mental and physical disabilities, where she learned the importance of celebrating individuality and became determined to project the voices of people who are often underestimated, overlooked, or unheard.
In Nashville, she has continued this focus, volunteering at Nashville Dolphins, Aceing Autism, Big Brothers Big Sisters, and the Vanderbilt Ambassadores Next Steps Program. Her goal in her service endeavors is to continually learn from others and show everyone has the capability to uniquely impact the world. As a member of the Nashville Dolphins Junior Board, Camille helps with fundraising efforts and is also a volunteer coach teaching children with special needs how to swim on Fridays throughout the semester. Through Aceing Autism, Camille teaches children with autism how to play tennis, and how to play as a team with other children. During her senior year, Camille will serve as the President for Next Steps and hopes to help cultivate a more inclusive community, where Next Steps students can shine bright in all parts of campus life. Additionally, she spends time each week at the Monroe Carrell Jr. Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital, playing with children before and after medical procedures. She aspires to be a pediatric surgeon, with the goal of using surgical skills to help children who are in disadvantaged situations achieve their maximum potential.
The Ingram Scholarship Program at Vanderbilt has given Camille broad exposure to international service and health. She had the opportunity to go to Panama with Manna Project International (MPI) during her spring break of her freshman year, and her sophomore year, Camille co-led a spring break trip to Nicaragua through MPI with fellow Ingram scholar, Meredith Waites, where their group built a library and supplied nearly 150 English books for the English program there. Camille was amazed by the graciousness and love from the people in Nicaragua, despite her being part of the community for only a few days; she hopes to treat everyone she meets abroad and domestically with those same open arms. Additionally, combining her love for children and healthcare accessibility, Camille completed her summer project in Kodaikanal, India, the summer after her sophomore year, where she worked alongside the Foundation for International Medical Relief of Children (FIMRC). While in Kodaikanal, a small mountain town of 36,000 people, Camille experienced what low-resource, underfunded healthcare was like first hand, altering her viewpoint on medicine as a whole. The doctors with whom she had the opportunity of working were motivated to use their expertise to treat and heal their patients in the most resourceful and efficient ways, as many people in Kodaikanal are day-laborers, and the goal is to make healthcare as affordable as possible. One doctor in Kodaikanal, Dr. Mascarenas, described his medical practices as such: "[I was] created to work for the poor people, not to become rich. That is my wealth." Camille hopes to take the compassion she has seen in the doctors of Kodaikanal into her future professional career.
Camille is deeply grateful to the entire Ingram family for her many opportunities and exposures. The relationships formed here and abroad continue to mold her thinking and guide her with confidence into the future.