Homestead High Alum Heads to Medical School

CUPERTINO, CA -- An alumna of Cupertino's Homestead High School has been accepted into medical school at George Washington School of Medicine and Health Sciences in Washington, D.C. Koumudi Thirunagaru, who grew up in Cupertino and San Ramon, is making the move to the nation's capital after receiving her bachelor’s in biology with minors in chemistry and Spanish May 21 from Caldwell University, a private, Catholic coed four-year liberal arts university in Caldwell, New Jersey.

As a teenager, Thirunagaru volunteered at Stanford Children’s Hospital and took AP biology at Homestead High School. During her undergraduate years at Caldwell, she received departmental honors in the Department of Natural and Physical Sciences and became involved in a number of activities at Caldwell, including holding leadership positions in the Health Professions Club, playing tennis all four years, tutoring in the Academic Success Center and working as a scribe at a hospital in Newark.

"I became involved in everything that had to do with the medical field my first year including being an officer for the Health Professions Club," Thirunagaru said.

During the summer between her freshman and sophomore years at Caldwell, the idea of pursuing a career in medicine "turned from a fantasized dream to a realistic goal" when she went on a medical mission to Nicaragua -- an eye-opening experience that also spurred her to pursue a minor in Spanish.

During her college career, Thirunagaru also got involved in community service opportunities ranging from planning the annual Halloween-for-hunger drive to attending Midnight Runs for the homeless in New York City and volunteering at Caldwell Day, the university’s annual volunteerism day.