Showing Up is Step One: Making the Most of Every Opportunity

Like many GS students, Stephen Fox ‘25PBPM came to Columbia with a wealth of life and work experience. A tech professional for the better part of a decade, Fox nevertheless found Columbia’s Postbac Premed curriculum to be a unique challenge…one he faced with enthusiasm, humility, and determination on his way to Brown University’s Warren Alpert Medical School!

Tell us about your path to GS.

I worked in the tech industry from age 19 until 27, the first half of which I spent as a distributed systems and cloud software engineer; the latter working on machine learning products and AI and research at Eight Sleep and Raytheon. Working on nearly-medical devices at Eight Sleep sparked my desire to heal patients, and working at Raytheon trained me to navigate large organizations for the success of others. After a rapid-fire loss of multiple loved ones, I decided to start taking action to make the transition to medicine. I attended a medical school fair and learned that Columbia's Postbac Premed Program was the best in the city. I was accepted in the fall of 2023 and started the program in Spring 2024.

I'm a deeply spiritual and religious person, and I attribute a nontrivial portion of my success to trying to be a diligent, intelligent, loving, and kind person who follows the example of Jesus and is generous to others like my God has been generous to me. I'm not here to proselytize, but I want to "give God the glory" for getting me here: he put good people in my life that have encouraged, uplifted, supported, and refined me into a better man than I would have been otherwise. I think that man might do great things as a physician one day, and I thank God for the opportunity to try.

What has been your proudest accomplishment at Columbia?

Pressing through the program and successfully linking to the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University! It was incredibly difficult, and I needed a lot of help to make it a possibility, but my hope and dream came true.

Who are some people who have contributed the most to your Columbia experience?

Dr. Sarah Hansen is a brilliant champion of education out of the Department of Chemistry. She teaches General Chemistry Lab, which is an intense class, but so well designed you'll find yourself learning without evening trying. She's incredibly generous with office hours and study guidance, and it really feels like she's in your corner. She has grown into something of a mentor, and has been an excellent sounding board as I've gone through the Postbac Program.

Contemporary Biology Lab with Dr. Joshua Abrams is also amazing. It's something of a survey in experimental biology and nicely complements the Contemporary/Intro Bio sequence (though maybe not the workload!). This class showed me so many things that I found simply joyful in biology, that I once teased the professor, "Dr. Abrams, you're showing us too many cool things! I came here to become a doctor, but now you've got me thinking about bench work!" Thankfully, physician scientists are a thing. Joking aside, it's an incredibly fun, stretching class that you should take in a lighter semester, so you can savor it.

Finally, I have to mention my advisor, Dean Brian Allen, was supportive every step of the way. He helped me appreciate the standard path through the program, and how I could adjust it to achieve my goals while maintaining my family life. There is so much to do, and Dean Allen regularly provided clarity, helped me move past my doubts to produce high quality writing, and was a near-cheerleader throughout the medical school application process.

What are your plans for after graduation?

I'll celebrate success in the Orgo/Bio year and maintaining my linkage acceptance to my dream medical school! I intend to take the briefest of breaks (approximately ten days) to relax, before packing up my life and executing our move to Rhode Island.

What advice would you give to a student who's about to start their GS journey?

It's been said that, "most of success is just showing up," and that can be said at Columbia, but you need to take it with a mature perspective. It is not enough to just go to class. Show up to lectures and ask questions. Show up to office hours, bring questions. Show up to your desk or the library and put in the hours working problem sets. Show up to the ARC when you need clarity from a more senior student who's been in your shoes. Show up to your advisor's open hours, so you can get some face time, build a relationship, and solve problems. Show up as the adult you are, so you can be treated like one. If you invest yourself in this experience, it will be an incredibly rewarding one. Don't hold back and make it an amazing time.