Gabe Calzada: Building bridges for lives

April 28, 2006

By Michelle Van Rysselberge

Source of Article: COLLEGIUM , A Publication of Baylor University , College of Arts & Sciences, Summer, 1998, PP 22-24.

One of Gabe Calzada's favorite quotes is: "Caminante, no hay puentes, se hace puentas al andar," or "Voyager, there are no bridges, one builds them as one walks."

Calzada's family and community in El Paso built bridges to provide him with opportunities they never had. Those bridges led to Baylor.

Calzada's father, a butcher, never taught his son how to cut meat, saying, "I see something more for you. You're going to college." Calzada graduated in the top 2 percent of his high school class and fulfilled his father's dream by becoming the first person in his family to attend a university.

Calzada chose Baylor because it has a strong Christian background and ethic, along with one of the best undergraduate pre-medical programs in the U.S.

"Where I am today is the result of dedication meeting opportunity. I came to Baylor with dedication and the University provided me with opportunities," he says. "Dedication, passion, and a love for your future profession is what gets you through premed."

Others have noticed.

"Gabe Calzada personifies the best of what Baylor is all about. He's maximized his intellectual opportunities here and has committed himself to a life of service through medicine. He's a beautiful student and a beautiful human being," notes Prof. Betsy Vardaman.

In summer 1997, Calzada participated in the Cornell Medical School Travelers Summer

Research Fellowship Program for Pre-Medical Minority Students. He was one of 25 students selected from more than 500 applicants. When Calzada could not finance his trip to the interview in New York , the College of Arts and Sciences built another bridge for him.

"Dr. Daniel and Mrs. Vardaman have treated me so nicely. I feel indebted to them for funding my trip to Cornell because it was a gamble for them, but they gave me a chance," he says.

The Cornell fellowship offered Calzada his first opportunity to travel out of Texas as well as a chance to compare his education and preparation with students from Harvard, Yale, Columbia , and Johns Hopkins, among others.

"Going to Cornell was the first indication that my hard work had paid off. It made my future career tangible and gave me confidence. More than any-thing, the program made me fall in love with medicine all over again," he says.

Dr. Daniel says, "Gabriel Calzada has been one of our stars in the College. His integrity, hard work, commitment to service, and desire to reach out to others make him special. He is a person who had already brought a great deal of distinction to the university through his selection to one of the finest summer medical programs in the country."

People might assume Calzada's ambition is to pursue post-graduate studies at an Ivy League university. On the contrary, Calzada aspires to attend medical school in Texas and, afterward, practice medicine in El Paso .

He has experienced first-hand the poor medical care that low income families receive at crowded clinics and hospitals in El Paso and Juarez , Mexico . When his grandmother died of a brain hemorrhage at an ill-equipped, understaffed hospital in Juarez , Calzada realized the danger of inadequate health care.

"I have the desire to return to border towns for one simple reason: my love for the people. It is not an obligation. The people of El Paso helped me get where I am today, and I feel committed to return to those people and give back to them," he explains. "The people deserve a quality, compassionate doctor and that's what I want to provide them."

Calzada, a May graduate with a bachelor of science degree, plans to attend Southwestern Medical School in Dallas .

As he prepares for graduation, Calzada recalls a recruiting slogan for Baylor: "Small enough to care who you are but large enough to take you where you want to be." He says that Baylor has invested a lot in him, and he intends to make sure that investment is worthwhile.

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