From Foster Care to Future Physician

When Avenue M student Jessica de Laguna opened her MCAT score, years of work suddenly felt uncertain. After returning to school in her 30s and completing demanding science coursework, she had fallen short of the score she hoped for.

"I got a 490," she recalled. "So I have to retake it again."

For a student who had spent years battling imposter syndrome, it would have been easy to see the score as the end of the road. Instead, someone at UC Davis saw something else.

"Hearing Dr. (Charlene) Green say, ‘it's okay, we're here, we're not going anywhere. Just take the time you need to restudy and retake it,’ was everything to me," de Laguna said. "It was such a relief when I realized... they're still going to work with me to get me to where I need to be."

Finding a pathway to medicine

Today, de Laguna is a recent graduate of Cal Poly Humboldt where she graduated magna cum laude and is moving toward her goal of medical school. But her path to get to this point has been anything but traditional.

Growing up in foster care throughout the Bay Area meant frequent moves and interruptions to her education. Entire portions of elementary and middle school were lost as instability in her home life forced her to leave school before the academic year ended. She didn't fully understand what those disruptions meant until she entered college as an adult.

"I had to go backwards, to go forward," she said.

Although she considered herself intellectually curious and a strong reader, she discovered there were foundational concepts she had never been taught.

"I never even had the foundation of knowing all my multiplication tables," she said. "I didn't have some of the basic knowledge learned in elementary school.”

At the same time, she was navigating challenges familiar to many former foster youth including food insecurity, chronic stress and the reality of becoming a first-generation college student without family members who could help navigate higher education.

"My parents knew nothing about college," she said. "They didn’t even really know how to help me study."

Those experiences also shaped her interest in medicine. Growing up, the emotional stress of being separated from her mother and siblings often manifested as physical health conditions, leading to frequent visits with doctors and sparking an early fascination with the connection between mental and physical health. But it was years later, while working her way from medical receptionist to clinic manager at a high-risk pregnancy center, that her career path came into focus. When a new mother came to the clinic seeking help overcoming opioid addiction so she could deliver a healthy baby, de Laguna realized she wanted to be the one providing care not simply managing the clinic. That experience confirmed her decision to pursue medicine.

Seeing the person before the numbers

When de Laguna enrolled at Sacramento City College during the pandemic, she began searching for a pathway that could connect her to UC Davis School of Medicine.

Then she found Avenue M. The program, supported by UC Davis’ involvement with the K-16 Collaborative and part of the UC Davis School of Medicine, supports community college students pursuing careers in medicine by providing mentorship, academic guidance, clinical experiences and a structured pathway toward medical school.

For de Laguna, the program represented something she had struggled to find elsewhere.

"They saw who you were first, your story first, your potential first," she said.

That mattered. Throughout her education, she often wrestled with imposter syndrome or was discouraged by the choices others offered that fell short of her ambitions.

"I remember hearing about different programs that they have for foster youth where it was like, 'We'll train you to be a janitor' or 'We'll train you to be in hospitality,'" she said. "There wasn't this expectation for foster youth, of having the ability to be a scientist or a doctor or a lawyer."

Avenue M offered a different message. Rather than waiting until students had perfect GPAs or MCAT scores, the program focused on helping them build the knowledge, experiences and confidence needed to become competitive applicants.

"They accepted me before they even knew what my numbers would be," she said.

More than mentorship

Beyond academic preparation, Avenue M became a source of stability for de Laguna. The program connected her and other students with mentors, introduced them to clinical experiences, helped prepare them for the MCAT and created a cohort of peers pursuing similar goals.

When de Laguna transferred to Cal Poly Humboldt, Avenue M coordinated a warm handoff, connecting her with campus resources, pre-med organizations and a support network from the moment she arrived.

That support proved especially meaningful during a difficult season marked by the death of her biological father and a niece undergoing leukemia treatment.

"I think having Avenue M and the check-ins... kept me anchored and focused on school," she said.

Looking back, she says the greatest gift wasn't simply academic advising, it was knowing she wasn't navigating the journey alone.

"I have people to go to to ask questions," she said. "I have people to go to when I'm uncertain."

For de Laguna, earning a college degree represents more than achieving a personal goal. As a first-generation college student, former foster youth and member of the Yo'eme Tribe, she hopes her journey encourages others to believe that higher education, and careers in medicine, are within reach. Native American and Alaska Native physicians remain significantly underrepresented in the medical profession, and only a small percentage of former foster youth earn four-year degrees. By continuing her education, she hopes to demonstrate to her siblings, nieces and nephews, and other students with similar backgrounds that it is never too late to pursue a new path.

Giving back through rural and tribal medicine

For her goals for the future, de Laguna hopes to pursue family medicine with an emphasis on rural and tribal health and is currently attending an internship with United Indian Health Services. She hopes to eventually serve Native communities along California's North Coast, where physician shortages remain a significant challenge. Her vision has evolved from psychiatry to internal medicine and now family medicine, reflecting a growing belief that caring for patients means understanding the connection between physical, mental and community health.

As she prepares to retake the MCAT and continue toward medical school, de Laguna hopes her journey reminds others, especially students who may not always see themselves represented in medicine, that there is more than one path forward.

"I think Avenue M gave me support," she said. "Having people on my side, people who understood academics, understood college and understood medical school, and saying, 'We're going to help you get there,' was life changing for me."

She hopes her own journey will encourage others to pursue dreams and that “it’s never too late to go back to school, change careers” and that “you can achieve anything you want–even when the odds and statistics say otherwise.”

De Laguna continued, "Passion can open doors, and determination provides the momentum to keep going."