We have all once experienced a fork in the road. I have always heard that the difference between those who are successful and those who are not is how much one is willing to overcome certain obstacles. Dr. Raphael Valdivia truly drove this message home as he emphasized the importance of never giving up in the midst of adversity, allowing creativity and passion to guide you, and always giving back to society. Not only did those words resonate with me, but I was able to relate to his story regarding his upbringing. Dr. Valdivia was born in Lima, Peru and his father always stressed the importance of receiving an education. Because of this, he was motivated to find any way possible to leave his native country and pursue higher education in the United States. After attending UWC USA for the remainder of his high school career, Dr. Valdivia attended Cornell University where he had wonderful mentors who shaped his career as a future scientist. Here at Duke, I have been able to find advisors who have encouraged me in the same manner so I was able to understand when he said “find someone who’s career you admire.”
Although Dr. Valdivia did not have a successful first round of attempting to apply to graduate school, his determination and persistence as well as knowledge of what his true passion is kept him going. After getting accepted to Stanford University, Dr. Valdivia was able to work on a project dealing with bacteria for his doctorate degree. It was, again, because of a very involved mentor, that he was able to successfully enter the field of science with full force. After a while, Dr. Valdivia came to work at Duke University where he now studies Chlamydia, a pathogen that is now associated with sexually transmitted infections. His research focuses on the pathogenicity of Chlamydia and how a cell is unable to perform apoptosis or cell death when infected with Chlamydia. I found the videos of this process to be very interesting and informative.
Dr. Valdivia spoke on the importance of hard work, serendipity, and service to society. I was inspired by his willingness to continue mentoring others as he realized the impact his mentors had on him. Currently, Dr. Valdivia is a Vice Dean and he helps counsel students as well as faculty on effective learning methods. He also works closely with legislature in improving the way lawmakers view discovery science research in hopes of increasing the number of grants that are given out to scientists. Overall, every faculty talk has truly taught me a lot. I have been inspired by female scientists such as Dr. Williams and her work on neuroplasticity and aerobic exercise and I am privileged to have been granted such an opportunity.
