“During a bone-marrow transplant, they extract your blood, separate your cells, and return the blood to your body. I know this because I was my brother’s donor. He was at the end of his road with leukemia, but he was too ill for a transplant. A prominent oncologist in #Mexico told us there was a drug in the U.S. that could help. My family isn’t wealthy, but we did everything we could to get the drug. We got it, and he improved enough for the transplant. But the odds were still against us. To be a donor, you have to be a 100% match. Of my four siblings, each of us was only 50%. A doctor told us it could still maybe work, so I decided to be his match. It worked. My brother progressed so significantly that when the drug was introduced in Mexico, they used him as a case study. The experience showed me how a social security system can be life-saving. It also showed me the disparity of the markets from one country to another, even if they’re neighbors. I came to @Princeton to study international development. Before coming here, I worked at the @refugees Agency, helping refugees to rebuild their lives in Mexico. Princeton was always part of my plan, but I was rejected the first time I applied. It just wasn’t the right moment. So, I worked on improving myself and my application. I got promoted at work. I won a @the_fulbright_program in Mexico, and I applied again. I got in. I had a plan, I stuck to a plan, and I worked for it. I’m a firm believer in staying the course. When I was young, I told myself that before I turned 30, I wanted to work at the U.N., graduate from a good university in the U.S. and live in Africa for a year. Last month, I turned 30, and while I’ve never lived in Africa, I’m studying at one of the best universities in the world with U.N. training under my belt. It’s part of what I’ve always dreamed.” - Juan Pablo Alvarez Enriquez MPA ’22. * #Princetagram #PolicyProfile is an @Instagram series featuring our community. Want to be featured? Comment/DM us.