From Patient to Doctor

Zain Latif, a biology major, has struggled with chronic conditions all of her life. That is part of the reason she aspires to be an emergency room physician. “I know, a lot, what it’s like to be that scared patient,” she said. She wants to help others overcome their challenges.

Zain, from the Garden State (New Jersey), never actually gardened until she came to West LA College. She volunteered to work on events and projects with the Center for Climate Change Education at West. There, she learned about the campus S.A.V.E. Environmental Club and its gardening group which she greatly enjoys. A year later, she was elected president of the Environmental Club, one of the most active organizations on campus. Biology professor and club advisor Vered Mirmovitch said, “She contributes to the college community and excels in every commitment she takes on.“ Those commitments include the rigorous additional academic requirements of being a Transfer Honors Scholar and a Learning Center science and math tutor.

Zain says she opted to start at a community college rather than a university “because I didn’t have many opportunities in high school to be the student I wanted to be…Everyone here has been so supportive and understanding of my situation. That’s another reason I chose a community college because students come from so many different backgrounds and professors are so receptive to that.” Zain also likes the small, friendly college atmosphere at West where she says it is easier to form relationships with instructors and stand out. For example, her English professor was so impressed with her research paper on Edgar Allan Poe that she invited Zain to submit it to a conference sponsored by the Honors Transfer Council of California. They invited her to be a student presenter. “I never imagined I’d be presenting at a research conference in my first year of college.”