Summer Miller-Walfish

Hometown: San Jose, N.M.
High School: West Las Vegas High School
Major: Political science
Possible Career: Undecided

During high school, Summer was an active member of her school and community, a small town in New Mexico, where she was involved with food and clothing drives and initiatives to raise awareness about the genocide in Darfur. She continued her activism at Swarthmore, campaigning door to door for Barack Obama in 2008.

Summer has used her Evans scholarship to volunteer with the Village Education Project, a program founded by Katie Chamblee, Evans '07, which provides volunteer tutors for indigenous children in rural pueblos outside of Otavalo, Ecuador to help prepare them for high school. While there she made a promotional video for the organization. The next summer she participated in a program through the Union for Reform Judaism's Religious Action Center called Machon Kaplan, which aims to teach about Judaism's connection to social justice and community service. She took two classes in the subject and, as part of the program, interned at the Violence Policy Center, a gun control lobbying group.

Summer spent last summer as a research assistant to Professor Reeves of the Political Science Department and was responsible for the research for one of his books on abuses in the prison system. Additionally she was able to gain valuable pre-medical school experience volunteering in the Cardiac Cathetrization Lab at Taylor Hospital, which allowed her to interact with patients. She also spent time in upstate New York shadowing a doctor and Swarthmore alum who works in a rural farm community and treats multiple generations of families. Summer was able to experience the work of a physician in a private practice and accompanied him to see patients in the hospital and in the retirement home.

Summer is an RA (Resident Advisor) and assistant captain of the varsity basketball team; she has played basketball since her freshman year.