Jazzmine Mata, seated at the far left, participated in the GCH Case Study competition.
Meet Anna Jazzmine Mata
Jazzmine Mata graduated from Mason in the spring of 2020 and will go on to pursue her Masters in Public Health (MPH).
What do you want to do after graduation?
My goal is to be an epidemiologist so my next steps after graduation will be applying to MPH programs and start graduate school in the fall semester.
How did Mason help prepare you for your next steps?
Mason helped prepare me for life after graduation by providing awareness regarding all the different routes I can take with my degree. While many of the classes are important, it was the professors who helped me find what I wanted to do in my career. Most students who go into college believe they already know what career they will be doing in the future, myself included, but the professors here at Mason showed me it is never too late to change decisions.
How did the GCH 465 case competition help prepare you for your next steps?
The case competition really allowed us to become creative with our proposed program. There were not many other programs related to the population we wanted to serve so we developed it as we went along. I was nervous when first hearing about the competition, but by the end we were confident because no one knew our program better than we did. The confidence I built throughout this process will certainly help me in the future.
What did you learn during the process of preparing for the competition?
I learned that there are gaps in serving vulnerable groups such as pregnant women and babies if they are associated with opioid addiction. Many people would not have expected this to be the case, so we wanted to spread awareness on this issue. Initially, my group and I did not want to participate in the finals, but as we developed the program and did more research on the topic we decided it would help to bring more attention to pregnant addicted women.
What should future GCH 465 students know about the competition experience?
When it comes to choosing a case topic, don’t be afraid to pick a topic that is not heavily researched. Less research attention does not mean the topic is irrelevant. Ultimately, choose a topic that interests and inspires you, that’s the most important component to success.