Making your own path
A look at the journey of BVH alumni Arianna Chavez to become a non-profit founder and CEO
On Jan. 27 at Bonita Vista High (BVH) in room 302, students of the future medical leaders club watch guest speaker and future medical student Arianna Chavez presents the achievements of her non-profit organization San Diego Free Resources. This organization has earned multiple awards and helped many.
February 10, 2023
On Jan. 27 in room 302, the Future Medical Leaders Club hosted a presentation led by guest speaker, Arianna Chavez. Chavez is a Bonita Vista High (BVH) alumni and the founder of San Diego Free Resources (SDFR)—a non-profit organization that helps connect communities to free resources for healthcare. She mentions her incentive as to starting the organization .
“My journey into medicine started when I was a kid, my parents couldn’t always afford health insurance so we went to these free or low cost health clinics,” Chavez said.
Due to the fact that Chavez grew up without health insurance during her childhood, her family struggled to find affordable medical services. Seeing her family go through this experience, she made it her mission to support those who are going through a similar situation. Regardless of insurance status, she believes that everyone should have access to equal healthcare.
“It made me realize how important being healthy is. This idea that everyone, regardless of how much they make, regardless of whether or not they have insurance is ingrained in me,” Chavez said.
As a public health advocate, Chavez became aware of the vitality of healthcare. In order to give students a chance at discovering what they are truly passionate about, Chavez gave the BVG Future Medical Club members an opportunity for an internship at the San Diego Free Resources called Basta la Disparidad 2023. Basta la Disparidad 2023 is designed to share free resources with local people who need them. I really love it when people have no previous experience because it makes me feel like I’m giving them the experience that will get their foot in the door for the next project. I love people who are just really eager and wanting to get experience. — Arianna Chavez
“I think it’s a really great opportunity for students to get more involved with our community. [They will be able] to learn more about health care and actually be able to help solve healthcare inequity as well as disparities within healthcare,” Future Medical Leaders Club co-president and junior Cherise Magtoto said.
For Future Medical Leaders Club co-president and senior Raul Ontiveros, her family never had insurance, so going to free clinics was the only option. Now that people like her and Chavez are able to spread the resources to people in San Diego, Ontiveros thought this was an epiphany.
“I feel like it is a full circle moment, because she [Chavez] said that she used to grow up going to these free health care providers. Now she’s kind of offering that system to others. I think it has a really good purpose,” Ontiveros said.
Initially, Chavez went into UCSD hoping to focus on biology when she started her educational path. She planned to become a biologist in order to help create more affordable medication treatments and start her own research projects. She decided that there was something more she could achieve, while not straying far from her initial goal. Chavez took another approach to improving affordable healthcare.
“I decided to leave this dream and pursue another dream that would help me make healthcare more equitable.,” Chavez said. “From a health equity viewpoint I thought if I can lower the cost of medicine through research, then it’s going to be more accessible so more people can afford their medications.”
Chavez always encourages students to trust their intuition when choosing a career path. Chavez’ intuition urged her to switch from majoring in biology to the medical field. As of now, she is not only doing something she loves, but is also impacting her community.
“Initially, she did not want to be in the medical field, she wanted to be a biologist. I thought that was interesting because our paths can change a lot,” Magtoto said. “I think it was nice to see how her path changed and how her journey led her to be in the medical field.”
Chavez sheds light on how students should not feel the need to commit to their first major, but rather follow the path they are passionate about. If Chavez had never departed from her original path, she would never have been a part of the solution to reduce the health disparity across San Diego.
“I really love it when people have no previous experience because it makes me feel like I’m giving them the experience that will get their foot in the door for the next project. I love people who are just really eager and wanting to get experience,” Chavez said.
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