Hey, what's up? It's Gustavo Oriano.

2021 is almost over, and we here at the times would be remiss in our holiday spirit.

If we didn't try to help the next generation of podcast producers get some episodes on the resume, you know?

So this week we're going to highlight some of the work of students from the Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California.

And here I have to say, go Bruins, because I graduated from UCLA.

They learned well this semester from their profe, the Times Senior Producer Denise Kerr.

Today we give you Maya Abu Zara.

She's an undergrad studying journalism, Spanish, and pre-med.

And it's that last subject that's the subject of Maya's episode.

I mean, in the age of COVID-19, it's good to know how the pre-meds are doing, you know.

Great job, Maya, and A'Ivamos.

Yeah. Every once in a while, I go back and forth between the notion that maybe I'm not meant to be a doctor, that maybe I'm not even built for it. Some days those feelings are

stronger than others. In other days, I feel like I can conquer the world. The premed

track is a long and strenuous process. Some of us know for certain that that is what we want to do.

Sometimes you keep with it, and other times you veer

away from that path in whatever way makes sense to you. In college, the opportunities for finding

what you're good at are limitless, but oftentimes when you come into college with a certain goal in mind,

it's hard to give it up, you know, like telling people you made a complete 180

can be kind of difficult.

That fear of not knowing how your peers,

your friends, and family might react

can hold you back.

...