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Social Inequality, Health & Policy Student Profiles

Students in the Social Inequality, Health, and Policy BDP form a community with shared interests in learning about the disparities in socioeconomic status, access to health care, life expectancy, and quality of life in the world today. Social Inequality, Health, and Policy students have come from a wide range of majors at UT, including Anthropology, Asian Studies, Economics, Geography, Government, Human Biology, Nursing, Plan II, Pre-Med, Sociology, Social Work, and many others.

Name: Jaclyn Markovich
BDP: Social Inequality Health and Policy
Major: Political Communication

What attracted you to the Bridging Disciplines Programs?

The opportunity to focus my education in the areas that most interested me, particularity in regards to social inequality. I really admired the cross-disciplinary approach to the program that would allow me to branch out into other colleges across campus.

What would you say has been the biggest benefit of being in the BDPs?

The biggest benefit has been the personal approach to the program that has allowed me to work one-on-one with such incredible faculty. For my first connecting experience, I worked with Dr. Deborah Edward from the LBJ School of Public Affairs. As an undergraduate student, you rarely get such an opportunity to work with professors at the grad school level. Dr. Edward took a chance with me when I first approached her, and she truly believed in the vision for my project. When my experience was over, she went on to help me connect with other organizations in my field as well as encourage me to take the Social Innovation class at the LBJ school the following spring. My relationship and experiences with Dr. Edward went way beyond the classroom. This has been an experience I will take with me the rest of my career.

What would you want other students to know about the BDPs?

I like to tell people that the BDP is like getting a small liberal arts education with the opportunities of a large state school atmosphere. BDP makes your college experience so much more intimate, particularly on an academic level. Few other programs around campus allow you to pick your own field, course work, and connecting experiences so freely, and yet wrap them together so well with the support and opportunities provided by the BDP staff. The BDP is an incredible way to take a hold of your academic career and give yourself the experiences that will last well past college.

See also past profiles of Social Inequality, Health, and Policy students.

To read about Social Inequality, Health, and Policy students who have participated in Connecting Experiences, see the Social Inequality, Health, and Policy Connecting Experiences page.