Jenessa Oviok
Jenessa Oviok鈥檚 nephew was born with a hole in his heart. Watching him face that challenge, while she wasn鈥檛 able to help, helped her decide on a career. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why I want to be a doctor,鈥� she said.
Oviok, from Utqiagvik on Alaska鈥檚 northernmost coast, said she chose to start at UAF because it has strong biology and science courses.
Her lower-division classes, though, have included one whose subject she鈥檚 found very familiar -- a course in the Inupiaq language, which her grandmother taught in North Slope schools for 35 years.
In fact, Oviok lives with her grandmother in Utqiagvik when not in school. That time is spent learning, too.
鈥淪he teaches me how to sew and how to make homemade meals, traditional meals,鈥� Oviok said.
Attending UAF wasn鈥檛 Oviok鈥檚 first foray outside Utqiagvik for education. She attended three of her four high school years at Mt. Edgecumbe, a state boarding school in the Southeast Alaska town of Sitka.
In 2019, she attended a summer camp at the University of California Los Angeles for students interested in medicine.
鈥淲e saw live surgeries and learned how to draw blood and stitch, and how to help people with medical emergencies when help is far away,鈥� she said.
Oviok pursued that interest after watching her nephew struggle.
鈥淗e basically spent his whole baby years in the hospital,鈥� she said. 鈥淥ne time he actually died for a few minutes (but was resuscitated). That was scary, and that whole time I just wanted to do something and I couldn鈥檛.鈥�
So Oviok started at UAF in fall 2019. She said she likes the atmosphere.
鈥淚t鈥檚 very small, and it鈥檚 close to Barrow,鈥� she said, referring to her hometown by its previous name. 鈥淭he weather is similar, and there鈥檚 family, some family, I know here, so I don鈥檛 feel as homesick as I used to when I was at Mt. Edgecumbe.鈥�
On the Fairbanks campus, she lives in the Eileen Panigeo Maclean House, which she calls 鈥渢he Maclean.鈥� The house, established with help from the Arctic Slope Regional Corp., seeks to create a supportive atmosphere like that found in small communities such as Oviok鈥檚 home village.
鈥淚n Barrow, it鈥檚 like everybody knows everybody, and everybody is always there for everybody,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 in our culture to do that.鈥�