Sarina Barrett, HS ’22

Health Studies alum Sarina Barrett, class of 2022, took some time to answer a few questions about how she chose UW Bothell, her experiences in the Health Studies program, and advice for current students. Thank you to Sarina for sharing her story with our community!

Tell us about yourself and what led you to UW Bothell.

I grew up in Arlington Washington and graduated from Lakewood High School where I concurrently completed my Associate in Arts and Sciences from Everett Community College. For as long as I can remember, I always wanted to attend UW Bothell. The beautiful campus, the student to professor ratio, and the focus on commuters made me feel like it was the best choice for me. I love small class sizes so I can get to know my classmates and my professors where we can really focus on supporting and uplifting each other. Collaboration is a key element of success for me. Being able to learn from each other’s experiences and previous knowledge gave me a well rounded experience during my time at UW Bothell.

How did you choose the Health Studies program?

I was encouraged to apply as a direct admit to the Health Studies program by the academic advisor as I applied to UW Bothell. Right in my first meeting with the advisor, I instantly felt the support and passion that they have for the program and their students. I was given resources, next steps, and knew that this program would support my future goals and give me an education that I could apply no matter what I ended up doing. I was able to be flexible and mix my Health Studies courses with multiple science classes including chemistry, organic chemistry, biochemistry, biology, microbiology, and anatomy & physiology. I have always had a passion and drive for science classes and with this background from the Health Studies program, I found there really is a way that I can tie in Health Studies material to every other course that I was taking. I was really grateful to also have been accepted to the Seattle campus of UW, but the Bothell campus felt more at home for me.

How did your experience in your coursework help you find your career path (area of focus or current role)?

My coursework actually had a direct impact on getting hired where I am currently working. When I was completing my fieldwork course and got to work with a community organization, I was paired with Latino Educational Training Institute – LETI. I worked directly with the Director of Health and Wellness Programs, Marisol Bejarano, who also is a Health Studies alumni, and I got a glimpse on how this coursework could be applied. After I finished the fieldwork and graduated, I got an offer from LETI to join their team. I started out working on a rent assistance program in partnership with Volunteers of America for almost a year where I alone was able to allocate $1 million to families so they could catch up on rent. The team was established before I joined so over the course of the three years that LETI was doing rent assistance, the team gave out a combined amount of $7 million. Stability and affordability of housing is a social determinant of health that I began to tie into the work I was doing. Since then, I have now been there almost three years working through different positions including outreach at events, survey distribution and analysis, coordination of the Latino Leadership Initiative program in partnership with local colleges and universities including UW Bothell, communications specialist, managing a grant and program with the Washington State Department of Health, and working directly with LETI’s Founder & CEO, Rosario Reyes. All of these roles and especially the survey analysis provided me with knowledge from the community about what their needs are, but my background in Health Studies allowed me to apply my social determinants of health knowledge and look deeper about what these results are actually telling us.

Please tell us about a moment you’re proud of from your time at UW Bothell.

A moment at UW Bothell that I was proud of was a time where I did an assignment of a mock grant proposal for microbiology with the topic, “Rodent Model for the Effects of COVID-19 Evolution on the Human Host.” This has been one document that I have kept with me since 2021 as it taught me resilience and perseverance. I was at a point in my life where I was going through a lot and when I received feedback on my draft, there was a lot of room for improvement listed. This is not feedback that I would usually get, but there was a lot going on in my life and I wasn’t able to prioritize. My passion for science allowed me to really focus on fixing my draft and submitting my final report in which I got full points for. This was a defining moment for me and I am proud that I was able to focus on my schooling and not lose sight of why I was there in the first place.

Please tell us what you’ve carried over from your education.

In the work I am doing now, I have carried over my knowledge in social determinants of health and what I have learned about the intersectionality of health. All of the determining factors of health including education, housing, job stability and how all of these intersect with gender, race, class, and others determine the health of an individual and of a community. I did not realize how much I have learned until I started seeing myself automatically applying it to the work that I started doing and in my life in general.

Please tell us what has fueled your passion.

What fueled my passion was learning all of the different realities that communities face when it comes to health outcomes. Not only do we need to uplift a member in the community, but also their family, their community, and the world. Bettering health outcomes and reducing the negative impacts from different aspects of social determinants of health including housing, job security, etc, will be beneficial for all. I also have a passion for education and health literacy, both of which are focuses at my current job. It is crucial that all members of the community are able to understand health materials so that they can make their own informed decisions about how they would like to proceed. LETI staff worked to translate material into Spanish from the Washington State Department of Health and have it read at a level that the community can fully understand all while being culturally appropriate. From there, the outreach team that I was part of distributed this information to the community at events with a focus on rural areas as they have barriers in accessibility.

Where has life taken you since graduation and what are your future plans?

Since I have graduated, I continue working at LETI and now I am pursuing my Master of Pharmaceutical Bioengineering at the Seattle campus of UW. I have found that social determinants of health can be applied anywhere and everywhere in the work that I am doing currently and in the pharmaceutical work I will be doing in the future. Understanding the needs in the communities, the factors at play, and the barriers that stand in their way will help me in my future research positions. My ties to UW Bothell continue to grow through the work I am doing with LETI. We collaborate with UW Bothell for the Latino Leadership Initiative program that I coordinate which is a partnership with Edmonds College, Skagit Valley College, UW Bothell, and WSU Everett and it tasks Latino students with conducting community service projects while attending seminars where they hear from the experiences of Latinos in local government and leadership positions. I am currently working in collaboration with Dr. Shari Dworkin’s Social Dimensions of Health class and with a Mary Gates Research Scholarship recipient, Sabrina Prestes Oliveira, on a research project about the needs in the Everett community as LETI recently acquired a building in this area. Previously, I had the honor of working with three faculty members from UW Bothell on different projects through my work at LETI. Dr. Hoa Appel, a previous professor of mine, and Dr. Mabel Ezeonwu, my previous fieldwork professor who connected me to LETI, on a PCORI funded project called “Capacity Building on Behavioral Health Research.” I had the pleasure to again join Dr. Hoa Appel for a presentation on “Community Engagement in Addressing Economic and Social Determinants of Health” at the Re-Imagining Behavioral Health: Race, Equity & Social Justice Conference joined by Dr. Robin Fleming.

Was there a faculty, staff or student service that had a positive impact on your success?

UW Bothell in general has amazing and supporting staff and I will never forget the professors who were so dedicated to help me and other students not only succeed, but thrive. The academic advisor that I had while completing my bachelor’s degree, Kaitlin Wolf, was the one individual that had the most impact on my success in the program. She was one of the first people that I met at UW Bothell when my parents and I came to visit the campus and she quickly directed me towards the Health Studies program due to my future interest of being part of the health field. I loved the structure of the program and right away, I knew that this would be the program that I was supposed to be part of. Every quarter, I would meet with her to make sure I was on track with the program and aligning it to pre-reqs that I needed for my future path. She was so helpful and dedicated to student success and overall happiness, guiding me through the program and through my future.

What would you tell those considering the Health Studies program?

What I would tell students who are considering the Health Studies program is to not be afraid to jump in and follow this path. I was uncertain of exactly what my career path should be, but this degree allowed me to eventually find my way. This material and knowledge can be applied in all different types of employment like healthcare or community work, but also is such beautiful knowledge to take into account in your day to day life. I did not have any idea about social determinants of health or any of the course material that I learned, it really opened my eyes to seeing how there are so many other factors that maybe we do not explicitly see that are affecting others lives.

Do you have advice for current students?

Advice that I have for current students is to take advantage of the clubs and opportunities on campus. Work with your advisors to make sure that you are on track and plan out your future. Build connections and network with your professors because you do not know the opportunities that could come out of those interactions or what you can learn from them outside of the lecture material. You also could see them after you graduate and end up working on projects with them like I did through my employment.

How do you spend your time outside of work?

Work life balance is important and my coworkers have been helping me achieve a more healthy balance. With working full time and doing my master’s degree, it is hard finding time to focus on yourself. I have learned to prioritize self care and relaxation and I love to spend time with my mom, my two ducks, crochet animals, do creative arts & crafts, and ride my dirt bike around our property.