Ask Kiah Kapoor what she studies, and you’ll get an answer. Ask her what she does in her free time, and you’d better have a few minutes.

Being a Stamps Eminence Scholar, majoring in biomedical science with minors in Spanish and medical pharmacology, is a pretty strong way to introduce yourself. But for Kiah, it’s just the starting point.

“There's structure in my major, but everything else feels like it’s up to me. At Ohio State you can really figure out what matters to you.”

Every semester, she’s shown up somewhere new, said yes to something uncertain and has plenty to show for it. Not just lines on a resume, but real perspective — the kind you achieve by caring enough to go all in.

That instinct has given her a lot of stories to tell.

Take her trip to Nicaragua, where she spent time living and working alongside rural families, helping in schools and simply being present in a way that no lecture hall could replicate. She came back with a new perspective on global health — one that’s less about systems and statistics and more about the people living inside them. It's exactly the kind of experience that will shape the doctor she’s working toward becoming.

Now, take Kiah’s passion for dance. She noticed there were students on campus who shared her passion but had no outlet for people who just wanted to dance without the pressure of competition. So she founded Aaja Nachle, a Bollywood dance club — open to everyone, no experience required. What started as a simple idea grew into a thriving student organization built on the belief that creativity and joy should be accessible to anyone willing to walk through the door.

However, nothing may define Kiah’s time at Ohio State more than her work with SmileChild, an app designed to make infant care education more accessible for expecting mothers and caregivers. She has spent hours in conversation with moms in underserved communities, simply listening. Learning what families’ lives actually look like and what they have gone without.

That work is informing a maternal health feature built not around assumptions but around real voices and real experiences.

Those conversations have been some of her most valuable experiences at Ohio State, a reminder that the best solutions start with actually knowing the people you are trying to help. It is a lesson she plans to carry into her future as a doctor, where knowing your patient matters just as much as knowing your medicine. She has no plans to stop listening, and as SmileChild continues to develop, her work within it will too.

“It's so different when you’re hearing directly from people, it makes everything feel more real.”

Looking back, Kiah says the biggest thing Ohio State taught her was intentionality. Learning to be honest about what brings out the best in her and choosing where to put her energy wisely.

With medical school ahead, she is taking all of this with her. The countless hours spent listening to mothers who needed someone to hear them. The families she lived alongside in Nicaragua. The students who just wanted a place to dance.

Good medicine has never just been about clinical skill. It has always been about showing up for people.

And that, she has had plenty of practice with.

Advice to Ohio State students:

“There is so much this university has to offer, you just have to go after it.

Try things, meet new people and don't be afraid to do something new or different.

“You get to choose your own path here, and it won’t always feel certain. But there are people built into this university who will support and show up for you. Let them.”