Adjoa Fosuhema-Kordie, Teacher

af477@cornell.edu

My name is Adjoa Fosuhema-Kordie. I am Human Development major with a minor in Nutrition and Health in the College of Human Ecology. I was born and raised in the Soundview section of the South Bronx by Ghanaian immigrants as one of six children. On campus, I am a member of Big Red Buddies, Pre Professional Programs (P3), and Global Medical Dental Brigades. I am interested in the role that biological, environmental, and sociocultural factors have on health and nutrition outcomes. After graduating from Cornell, I plan to attend medical school and enter into medicine and public health in order to address the barriers preventing health equity in communities like my own.

My interest in PRYDE and Brain Days lies more with the potential positive impact our visits could have for the children than with psychology or neuroscience. I joined PRYDE because I wanted to get research experience, but I did not want the traditional research experience that involved wearing a white coat and pipetting in a lab. When I first heard about PRYDE, the one theme that recurred was that the research was aimed at addressing real-world problems in tangible and impactful ways. And that has been my exact experience with the Brain Days project. As a first-generation American who grew up in a low-income neighborhood, I can relate to some of the struggles the students face. I understand what it is like growing up without all the resources necessary for success being readily available. A key part in my success and ability to be at an institution like Cornell is because of the people who made it their mission to instill the importance of education in me and to help me succeed in spite of the odds. Being apart of PRYDE and the Brain Days team has granted me the opportunity to do that very same thing for these students. I am grateful that being a PRYDE Scholar means that I am now apart of a community that is working to ensure that these children know they have agency over their development and life course. In just a few months, I have been a PRYDE scholar, I have learned the true power and impactfulness of translational research. I am so grateful that my first research experience is something that is so tied and connected to who I am.