Second-year University of Minnesota Medical School student Nicholas Chapman brings a special kind of empathy to all he does. Before earning his bachelor’s degree in neuroscience, he was a homeless teen working to stabilize his life. His passion for medicine stems from a heartfelt desire to provide others with the sense of safety and trust that he craved while unhoused.

International upbringing: Grew up in Brazil with his single mother; at age 15 moved to Long Beach, California, to live with his father  

On his commitment to education despite difficult circumstances: “As a Brazilian, my mother ingrained the importance of education into my brain. So even after I had dropped out of high school, I could still hear her voice in my head: ‘Get an education.’ So I did. I’d go to this little one-dollar bookstore in downtown Long Beach and sit there for hours, reading old economics, sociology and philosophy textbooks. Eventually, I earned my GED. Then I enrolled at Long Beach City College.”

The experience that sparked his interest in medicine: “One day, when I was tutoring a young boy, his uncle suddenly collapsed and had an epileptic seizure. Afterward, the family was silent — stunned by what they witnessed — but I was inspired. I wanted to learn whatever I could about whatever that was! That afternoon, I went back to that same one-dollar bookstore. This time, I picked up a human biology textbook. I read about the brain, the neurons and the nervous system. And that’s when I fell in love — with science, with medicine and with understanding the human body.”

Scholarships include: Lester W. and Lois P. Netz Scholarship; Barbara Schneidman, MD, MPH, Endowed Scholarship; Eugene S. Strout, MD, Endowed Scholarship in Family Practice

On the impact of scholarship support: “Because of the generosity of those who have invested in scholarships, I will be able to use my education to help others. This support has not only empowered me but also given me hope — hope that extends to others who, like me, face significant barriers.”

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