Raised in Brooklyn, Rochelle began her undergraduate journey at Georgetown University and then transferred to Barnard College, where she graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a major in Neuroscience & Behavior. Outside her studies, Rochelle channeled her passion for neuroscience into founding the Grey Matters Journal at Columbia University, serving as the undergraduate publication’s first Editor-in-Chief. She also conducted basic science research examining the conditionability of the cephalic phase insulin release in mice, which she presented at the Association for Chemoreception Sciences 2022 conference and is slated for publication in 2024. Currently, Rochelle is on her second of two gap years, keeping busy as a Research Assistant in Mount Sinai’s cardiovascular surgery department, as a volunteer EMT in Brooklyn, and through harm reduction work across Manhattan. She eagerly anticipates starting her medical education at a T20 program this fall.
Rochelle aspires to be an academic medicine physician and hopes to teach medical students someday. Her commitment to education began in high school, where she volunteered with students from under-resourced communities to prepare them for the SHSAT and continued into college as a teaching assistant in biology and an SAT tutor. Her leadership at the Grey Matters Journal honed her ability to connect with students from diverse academic backgrounds, a skill she's excited to bring to help aspiring medical students achieve their MCAT goals. Having succeeded on the exam after just three months of part-time studying, Rochelle is well-equipped to help tutees master the MCAT’s unique structure, content, and strategies. She finds joy in creating "aha" moments for her students—moments she believes are key to building confidence and unlocking a test taker’s full potential.
As she looks toward medical school, Rochelle hopes to explore the field of addiction medicine and its overlap with the realms of health equity and social justice. In her free time, she loves playing beach volleyball, puzzling through the daily New York Times Games, and uncovering new corners of NYC with friends.
