Violet Spotlight: Silvana Bravo
At NYU, pretty much everyone you meet is excited to be here,” says Silvana Bravo, a sophomore in the Rory Meyers College of Nursing. “That’s encouraging, and it also fosters a little bit of competition, which I think helps you grow.”
For Silvana, who took three science courses as a high school senior in Atlanta, nursing was the perfect field to blend her academic interests with her passion for community service. She hopes to practice in a hospital before going back to school for a graduate degree in pediatrics—and then on to a career in public policy for health care, perhaps. For now, she’s throwing herself into a favorite course, Microbiology for Nursing, which she loves because of the way professor Robert Boylan uses examples from history to show how researchers used the scientific method to make advances in public health.
On weekends in the city, Silvana likes hitting the museums (the Met is a favorite for people watching) or stopping for ramen or bubble tea on St. Marks Pl. For a special treat, there’s Lanewyorkina on Sullivan St., which the Mexico City-born connoisseur says serves the best Mexican-style ice cream she’s ever tasted in the U.S.
“I thought that coming here would mean going to school with a lot of people who weren’t like me,” Silvana reflects. “But it’s actually really comforting to get lunch with a classmate you don’t really know. You always find something to talk about, and it helps you relieve stress because you don’t feel like you’re all alone in the city. You see that other people are going through the same things that you are.” Know someone you’d like to see featured here? Send suggestions to [email protected]
