Mugdha Mokashi grew up in Madison, a high-achieving Huntsville suburb where one-fourth of her high school class had ACT scores of 30 or higher. This upbringing, the University of Alabama at Birmingham senior said, was “extremely privileged, with a lot of support. I never had that bubble pop.”

Then she came to UAB.

“When I saw medical clinics and I met friends who didn’t grow up in Madison,” she said, “I realized how systemically you can be deprived of the advantages Madison had. I got to know people who have had little support.”

One example: Her Science and Technology Honors program in UAB Honors College had a first-year course on basic lab procedures. “I had worked in a biotechnology organization in Huntsville, so I had experience,” Mokashi said, “but I had a friend who had never seen a pipette before.” The friend had come from a high school that offered only a single AP course.

“I realized that the world was unfair for so many people,” Mokashi said. “UAB gave me a passion for public service.”

Mokashi spent five semesters volunteering with Rape Response at the Crisis Center Birmingham, where she would be on-call 12 hours at a stretch.