Profiles in #URiMedPhys: Humberto Monsivais
September 2021
Over twelve years ago, I never imagined that I might be living in the United States, much less aspiring to become a scientist. I grew up in a small rural community in Mexico, where most people worked as farmers. The highest aspiration one could have was to take over the family's land or work at a factory in the city. Obtaining an education just was not the norm. My father, fettered to his father's land, did not finish elementary school. My mother decided to stop after middle school to support her youngest sister's goal to become an accountant. Yet, our parents tried their best to provide us with as many resources as possible to ensure their children had a better life.
For this reason, my parents made many sacrifices for their five sons to move to the US as permanent residents. My dad was one of the lucky individuals who received amnesty through The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. This was right around the time he met my mom, so he did not come back to the US for many years until he realized that there was no future for his family back where we lived. My parents decided to start applying for our residency while my dad worked in the US. This meant that I only got to see my dad six times a year while my mom raised us by herself. As a kid, it never occurred to me that we would eventually leave our hometown and move to a different country. Many other families had similar situations, but my parents always told us that ours was different. Ultimately, my dad became a US citizen and this sped up the process tremendously. In the summer of 2008, we said goodbye to our friends and family and moved to Crockett, TX. The move profoundly affected our lives. I felt lost for a while and faced many challenges along the way, but these experiences have shaped me into who I am today.
I entered high school in the 10th grade without knowing English. Although this limited me in every aspect of school, my resolve to succeed allowed me to gain enough proficiency in the language to graduate with honors and attend a local state college eventually. Even though I was accomplishing my goals, I was always unsure of how best to do it. Many of the things that my peers took for granted, such as why GPA and SAT scores were important or why taking AP courses was a good thing, I had to learn on my own and ultimately learned too late. As the first member of my family to graduate high school and enter college, I had no one to guide me along the process. Our school district was poor, and not many teachers/counselors were eager to help the kid who barely spoke English and whose ambitions were just "unrealistic." However, I did have a few teachers who always believed in me and pushed me to pursue my dreams. At the same time, I had no idea what my dreams were. Everything was so new to me and it was difficult for me to grasp all of the opportunities at my reach.
When I entered college, I became aware of just how much behind I was compared to the students in my program. I could not take calculus my first semester because my math SAT score was too low, which meant that I had to take a few pre-requisites before I even started taking physics courses. Thus, I was set behind by a year, but this did not shine me away from constantly striving to do my best. During my second year of college, I joined a Latin-based fraternity, became a math tutor, and truly started my path to become a physicist. However, once again, I did not know what to do next. What could I do with a physics degree? I realized that I was so focused on passing my classes and graduating that I never considered the next steps. In the end, I graduated Cum Laude and moved back with my parents. For six months, I worked as a restaurant manager while applying for jobs in the major cities. Eventually, I secured a position as a medical physicist assistant at UT MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX. This is where I fell in love with the field of medical physics and medical imaging. As a result, I enrolled in Purdue's medical physics graduate program in 2019 and received my Master's in MP in Spring 2021.
Currently, I am a medical physics Ph.D. candidate at Purdue. My research is focused on the applications of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Spectroscopy (MRS) to study the effects and mechanisms of manganese (Mn) and iron (Fe) deposition in the human brain exposed to welding fumes. Under the guidance of Dr. Ulrike Dydak, I will work on developing and validating multiparametric quantitative MRI (qMRI) techniques to accurately visualize and quantify Mn and Fe deposits in the human brain, thus allowing noninvasive measurements to support early diagnoses, monitor metal-related disease progression, and assess therapeutic responses.
Although my path to where I am today has been anything but straightforward, I want to serve as a living testament that it can still be done. I want other students with my background to know that even though we start at a disadvantage, hard work and perseverance can overcome the many obstacles in our way. You will mostly likely face racism and discrimination along the way. Still, you will also find people who will help you achieve your goals. My goal is to be one of those people and I believe this network will serve as a catalyst for the advancement of minority and under-privileged Hispanic students in the medical physics field.