IRVINGTON, NJ — When Clerson Xavier and Jefferson Jean-Paul enrolled at Centenary University in Hackettstown, they couldn’t have envisioned the success they’d achieve in college. Four years later, they’ve each won international research awards, traveled to Florida to participate in a marine biology research project and now have paid internships with a Hackettstown doctor as they apply to medical school.
The cousins from Irvington recently earned their undergraduate degrees at Centenary University’s 146th commencement. Now, the speaker at their commencement — a prominent COVID-19 doctor who has helped to shape national health care policy for the Biden administration — has offered to mentor Xavier and Jean-Paul. After meeting the pair on campus before commencement, Dr. Aakash Shah, an addiction and emergency room doctor at Hackensack Meridian Health, has invited them to shadow him in the emergency room this summer.
It’s a great career start for the two cousins from Irvington High School, who are painfully aware that the potential of urban students can often be overlooked. Xavier said, “We come from a high school where people don’t expect much from the students.”
When they were in high school, their wrestling coach and a Junior ROTC teacher — both Centenary graduates — insisted that Xavier and Jean-Paul look at the university. It didn’t take long during their freshman year at Centenary for Lauren Bergey, professor of biology and dean of special academic programs, to recognize their drive to succeed. They began working directly with Tammy Quasius, the university’s laboratory technician, in the Centenary labs. Then, they leveraged that experience to participate in summer projects researching invasive species at the Jersey shore with Bergey, and cancer cells in sea turtles at the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute in Florida.
During their junior year, Xavier and Jean-Paul were among four Centenary University students to place among the top 10 in an international research competition in Texas sponsored by The Society for Integrative Biology — besting more than 750 entries from research powerhouses including Harvard, Yale, Cornell, Stanford and Johns Hopkins. In fact, Xavier placed second at the event, which drew entrants from around the world.
This school year, Bergey connected them with Dr. Sandira V. Segaram, who has an internal medicine practice in Hackettstown. The cousins now have paid internships as medical assistants and medical scribes with Segaram, gaining experience and learning new skills like how to conduct EKGs and pulmonary function tests, while honing their bedside manner with patients. They plan to continue working with Segaram while taking a gap year to complete their applications to medical school.
Jean-Paul, who has set his sights on cardiology, said, “I’m interacting with patients now, and it’s great. They know my name because I see them once a month. Getting that experience now will be valuable moving into medical school.”
As they look back at their Centenary careers, Xavier and Jean-Paul are thankful for the opportunities they’ve had in college.
“When you’re first going to college, you hope for something big, but you don’t know exactly what that means,” said Xavier, who plans a career as a trauma surgeon or emergency room physician. “We didn’t accept what we had and always wanted more. To new freshmen, I’d say, ‘Stay hungry. Keep going after what you really want because you’re going to get there — you just have to want it bad enough.’”
Jean-Paul added, “When I was a freshman, I never envisioned having a paid internship, doing research in Florida or traveling to Texas to present my own independent research. I just never thought things like that were possible. Centenary has a lot of opportunities to do different things. It’s a very supportive and motivating university.”
Photos Courtesy of Kristen Volkland
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