Scholarship feeds student’s passion for medicine

By Kit Tindall

Sanjana Gupta’s journey to becoming a pediatrician started years before she stepped foot on Virginia Commonwealth University’s campus in 2024. In high school, she chose a health science studies track but it was her summers serving as a YMCA camp counselor and a go-to babysitter for her cousins that cemented her love for taking care of children. After watching her aunt build a fulfilling career in pediatrics, Gupta was inspired to follow in her footsteps.  

“My aunt is a pediatrician, and she’s my biggest role model,” said Gupta, an Honors College student majoring in health, physical education and exercise science in the College of Humanities and Sciences. “For me, she’s the gold standard of being a doctor. While I was growing up, I watched her complete medical school and start practicing. It always appealed to me. My aunt would tell me that I’d be a great pediatrician and that approval from her is important to me. It made me think I could do it.”

When Gupta was assigned a research project in her first semester at VCU, she chose to focus on the impact technology has on a child’s development. Her experiences watching her cousins, who were obsessed with their technological gadgets, inspired her focus. She was especially interested in researching how technology affected children raised during the COVID-19 pandemic, when they had much less interaction with people outside of their homes.

“The main thing that came out of the research was that you can’t take technology away. Use of technology is only going to grow. What’s important is what kids are doing with technology,” said Gupta, who presented her work in 2025 at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research in Pittsburgh.

While she was succeeding academically, Gupta wasn’t thriving personally. She tried her best to save as much money as she could in her first year at VCU, including not purchasing a dining plan but quickly ran into problems trying to stay fed. She doesn’t have much experience cooking, she said, and a well-balanced diet is not easy to plan or pay for.

“I thought I was going to starve,” Gupta says. “I didn’t have time to spend three hours working on a meal I would probably hate.”

In her second year, she was determined to find a way to fund a dining plan. The VCUAA Endowed Honors Scholarship filled this gap for her. The scholarship, which was established in 1995 by generous alumni donors, is awarded to meritorious students on the Monroe Park Campus who are enrolled in the VCU Honors College.

“Now, I feel more confident because I have more time to study, complete assignments and make sure I’m prepared. Knowing I have access to good meals every day, even when I’m in a rush between classes, is a huge relief,” she said.

Gupta spends her free time staying involved on campus. She participates in a number of science-related clubs including the Medical Journal Club, she volunteers at the Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU and serves as a campus tutor. Most recently, she was the marketing co-lead for TEDxVCU, a student-led organization that will present a live speaking event in April featuring talks from VCU students, faculty and staff.

“Lately, I’ve been trying to get experience in different areas,” Gupta said. “I had time to work on a research project about autism. I’m trying to build up a resume and try new things.”