Alum earns full scholarship to SUNY Upstate Medical University

07/16/2024

A SUNY Cortland young alum is the first-ever recipient of the Upstate Say Yes Scholarship to attend SUNY Upstate Medical University's Norton College of Medicine, earning an award worth more than $240,000 to cover full tuition, housing and a $5,000 stipend throughout medical school.

Alex Guerrero '22, a biology major at SUNY Cortland and resident of Syracuse, was recognized July 15 at a ceremony attended by SUNY Chancellor John B. King Jr., SUNY Cortland President Erik J. Bitterbaum, SUNY Upstate President Mantosh Dewan, M.D., and other leaders throughout the Central New York region.

They were there to honor a product of the Syracuse City School District who emigrated from Cuba to the U.S. as a teenager and worked tirelessly to chase his dreams in healthcare.

Since 2008, Say Yes Syracuse has provided full-tuition undergraduate scholarships to more than 100 colleges and universities for eligible graduates of the Syracuse City School District and the city's charter schools. Guerrero's award is the first for Central New York's only medical school.

"It still feels surreal," said Guerrero, who received his white coat at the event, a common tradition for students at the beginning of medical school. "I couldn't have ever expected this."

Guerrero's path to medical school was winding, but it was shaped in large part by his effort in the sciences, especially during his time at SUNY Cortland.

He earned a Say Yes Scholarship to attend Cortland after graduating from Henninger High School in 2018, choosing the university because it offered the biochemistry major he wanted, close proximity to home and his high school friends attended.

The first semester on campus was difficult, but Guerrero had already proved capable of overcoming obstacles. He moved to the U.S. at 14, just three weeks before starting high school. He taught himself English to prepare for English as a second language courses. By graduation, Guerrero passed AP English with his peers.

As a college student, he found community in SUNY Cortland Emergency Medical Services, a student-run, basic life support emergency response agency on campus.

"I started to make friends, I started to make connections and I really met people who shared the same goals as I did," said Guerrero. "It was a life-changing thing for me at Cortland."

Academic success propelled him to join the university's Honors Program before his college experience was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Early in the pandemic, he was enrolled in a human physiology course with Professor of Biological Sciences Theresa Curtis.

She recalled how Guerrero responded with resilience and appreciation for her efforts.

"When everything got shut down, he was one of those students who could still keep the connection," Curtis said. "He still was fighting for his education and didn't let things stop him."

Curtis also praised her former student's growth mindset.

"Any time he missed a question on a quiz or a test or homework, if he didn't understand why he got it wrong, he would send me an email or come to my office hours and have me explain why he got it wrong," she said. "He was always trying to do better."

Even during the pandemic, Guerrero seized the opportunity to pursue undergraduate research remotely, earning the Dr. Arden P. Zipp Summer Research Fellowship to work with Associate Professor of Chemistry Katherine Hicks on a partial National Science Foundation Grant. He credited his undergraduate development to professors like Curtis, Hicks, Professor of Biological Sciences Christa Chatfield and Associate Professor of Biological Sciences Christian Nelson.

During his senior year, Guerrero was accepted into several physician assistant programs but realized a shift in his healthcare interest. He wanted to focus on immunology and human physiology. Still, he worried about the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT).

He contacted Curtis for advice and guidance.

"I thought that I wasn't a good standardized test taker, and she told me that if that's really what I wanted to do, then I should just go for it," Guerrero said. "I shouldn't let one exam keep me from doing what I want to do.

"So that's what I did."

Guerrero pursued the medical school application process and completed two years as a student in SUNY Upstate's Post-baccalaureate Research and Education Program (PREP-Up), where he focused on research related to neurodevelopmental disorders, such as Fragile X Syndrome that causes intellectual disability.

Over the last four years, he also spent weekends working as a patient care technician in the Emergency Department at Garnet Health Medical Center in Middletown, N.Y.

Guerrero credited his research mentor Alaji Bah, an assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at SUNY Upstate, for providing inspiration. He also acknowledged his younger brother and his mother for their motivation and support, especially when he worried about delaying his education.

"(My mother) said, 'You know I will support you with whatever you decide. It's your life, and I want you to be happy with your decision,'" Guerrero said.

In November, he received a phone call from an admissions staff member at Upstate. Guerrero was hoping it would be news of his first acceptance, and turned out to be something much greater - with news that his medical school education would be fully funded.

"I was just completely overwhelmed with emotion and I had to hold back my tears," said Guerrero, who begins medical school next week. "I hope to use this Say Yes scholarship to the best of my ability and hope to give back to the community once I graduate."

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Above left: Alex Guerrero '22 receives his white coat from SUNY Upstate Medical University Norton College of Medicine Dean Lawrence Chin, M.D.

Above right: Professor of Biological Sciences Theresa Curtis, Guerrero and President Erik J. Bitterbaum pose for a photo

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