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Kimberly Hernandez '28
Kimberly Hernandez ’28
When it came to the college search for Kimberly Hernandez ’28, Agnes Scott College passed the vibe check. Born and raised in the Atlanta-area, first-generation college student Hernandez knew there was no shortage of colleges and universities in the area, but ultimately she was attracted to Agnes Scott’s small size—and the community to be built there.
“At first, I was wary of an all-women’s college,” Hernandez admitted. “I had to think to myself about what it has to offer—what I could get out of it as a woman. Agnes won me over because I saw so many opportunities, and I saw the sense of community I could build as a woman.”
“Agnes won me over because I saw so many opportunities, and I saw the sense of community I could build as a woman.”
Kimberly Hernandez
And build community, she has—through an array of opportunities, such as her role as social media chair for Association of Latino Professionals for America (ALPFA) and as a Summit peer advisor, mentoring first-year students through their first semester of college. The opportunities Hernandez is pursuing during her undergraduate career at Agnes Scott are the ones that teach her she’s capable of anything, but her origins inspire her to keep going.
"My mom is from El Chucte, El Salvador, and my dad is from Tlaxcala, Mexico. Both are rural communities where many families face economic hardships," Hernandez said. "A lot of parents take their children back to visit where they grew up, but sometimes those places are seen as 'less than' because they're not wealthy. I believe it's important to appreciate where your family comes from because it's part of your identity."
After earning her Bachelor of Science in biology with a second major in sociology/anthropology, medical school is her goal—specifically serving rural populations in El Salvador, as well as other underserved countries that need greater access to healthcare. Her Sophomore Class Atlanta Leadership Experience (SCALE) working with a team at Morehouse School of Medicine and general surgery at Grady Hospital reaffirmed the need for medical care in areas of need.
“We met this trauma surgeon who told us more about her life story and how she became a surgeon,” Hernandez said. “The stuff those trauma surgeons see is so wild, but she remains so bubbly.”
Hernandez learned that at Grady, the physicians work with the community to help victims of gun violence integrate safely back into their communities, and they have a separate space in the hospital to serve prisoners with the same quality care others receive. Of utmost importance to Hernandez is partaking in activities that change harmful or biased systems. Serving in the healthcare profession grants her access to change systems that are not serving their communities.
But Hernandez, like her peers at Agnes Scott, contains multitudes. While she’s pursuing the pre-medical track, it is not her sole focus. She spends time working with animals-in-need at PAWS Atlanta, volunteering at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and participates in ROTC at Georgia Tech through the Atlanta Regional Consortium of Higher Education (ARCHE).
“I almost enlisted in the National Guard during college,” Hernandez said. “But I decided at the last minute to look into all my options and ended up with ROTC at Georgia Tech.”
Through the program, she plans to enlist as an officer in the U.S. Air Force after graduation. She will then receive tuition assistance once she enters medical school. She has taken a lot of time working to find a balance between what’s right for her and what she needs to do to benefit her family, but she is looking forward and is ready for tomorrow.
“It has been a bit of a challenge to figure out how to both use my voice while staying respectful and maintaining integrity,” Hernandez said. “Once I’m an officer, I will have a lot of responsibility. I hope I can use that to implement some good into the system.”
