Danielle Safo

In addition to the financial support the Crimson Commitment program provides students, it also offers a mentorship program, designed to connect freshmen with their peers.

One of these mentors is Danielle Safo, a biology pre-medicine senior from Edmond, Oklahoma. After receiving an email that included applications to become a mentor, Safo went online and learned more about Crimson Commitment. She said the program interested her because of the way it gives students the opportunity to come to OU and have resources and financial aid available to help them complete their degrees. 

This mentorship component included monthly meetings that highlighted speakers from different departments at the university like the OU Writing Center, Financial Aid, and other key resources OU has to offer. As a mentor, Safo also worked directly with a group of about five students who were biology majors, allowing her to share her experiences, tips she had for them, and what she is planning to do with her degree. Some of these students were even interested in being pre-med like Safo.

When choosing where to attend college, Safo knew she wanted to stay closer to home and also that she was interested in attending OU Medical School, which is still her top choice. Those factors, combined with the strength of OU’s science programs and hearing about the university from family members who attended, led her to Norman. 

During her time at OU, Safo has been active with Global Brigades, traveling to underserved countries to help provide people with resources they need in their daily lives. She also volunteers with Katie’s Art Project, which makes an impact through art for kids with life-threatening diseases or illnesses. 

Safo shared that a long time ago, she realized health resources are not the same everywhere in the country, leading her to want to pursue medicine. Right now, Safo sees that being in a public health area, working more within a community and possibly going to a different country to work after earning her medical degree. 

“What first drew me to medicine is whenever I was 10, I had an aunt who died in Ghana died due to a lack of resources there to help her survive after surgery,” Safo explained. “At that point, I knew that I wanted to go into this field to hopefully kind of start that facilitation of that change to where people aren’t passing away after surgery just because we don’t have the same resources another country does.”