Mehrdad Zarifkar

As a pre-med student, Mehrdad Zarifkar has a busy courseload.  But he's also found it possible at Cornell to head the Performing Arts and Activities Committee (PAAC) and to pursue his main passion -- serving as a volunteer firefighter and emergency medical technician in Mount Vernon.

As PAAC chair, Zarifkar oversees many students in producing concerts, comedians, lectures, movies, and other fun events.  He says he was particularly gratified by the success of the recent Ultimate Foam Dance Party.

"It was a brand new idea and it took a lot of work and cooperation to make it work," he says. "In the end I think everyone in the group had some ownership in the event."

As a volunteer for the Mount Vernon Fire Department, Zarifkar is frequently on call to respond to emergencies of all sorts.  He's also brought a creative touch to his role, organizing birthday party events to educate local school children about fire safety.

Zarifkar also serves as a peer advocate, performs community service through Sigma Kappa Psi, and has job shawdowed an emergency room physician in Cedar Rapids.  How does he find time for all this while majoring in biochemistry and molecular biology and minoring in anthropology?

"One-Course-At-A-Time does not allow procrastinating, so that helps," he says. "I plan for unexpected events (such as emergency calls) by staying on top of what needs to be done."

His busy schedule is good practice -- Zarifkar plans to attend medical school after Cornell and become an emergency room physician.