Triple grad eager to serve as student speaker
Matthew Marx, who will earn his third Tulane degree on Saturday (May 16) when he becomes a medical doctor, followed his brother to Tulane. “Even when I was in grade school in New York and New Jersey, I told my friends that I was going to move to New Orleans after high school and go to Tulane.” (Photo by Paula Burch-Celentano)
This year"s Tulane University Commencement ceremony on Saturday (May 16) will hold triple honors for Matthew Marx. He will earn his third Tulane degree, become a doctor of medicine and give the address as student speaker representing the class of 2015.
Marx has wanted to serve as student speaker ever since he attended his first Tulane commencement in 2010, when he received a bachelor"s degree in neuroscience.
The ceremony “was so exciting ⦠I knew it was something I wanted to be a part of,” he says. He turned out to be the perfect candidate and was chosen this spring by a university committee for the speaking honor.
A look at his activities on behalf of Tulane tells the tale of a student dedicated to serving his campus, community and world volunteer student doctor at Ozanam Inn homeless shelter; work on Habitat for Humanity building projects; student coordinator of an organization that shipped supplies to five continents for pediatric patients in need; three-time volunteer in Haiti with Santé Totale, Doctors for Global Health; and much more.
“It was in Haiti that I have had my best days in caring for people, the days when you truly feel like you have made a difference in someone"s life,” Marx says. “It was in Haiti that I fell in love with pediatrics.”
Next, Marx heads to Children"s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C., for his pediatrics residency, toward a career in pediatric critical care. He also wants to continue working in developing countries.
“I aspire to find a niche in my career in which I can work in a pediatric intensive care unit and still devote my spare time to working in developing countries.”—Matthew Marx, School of Medicine class of 2015
“To me, access to health care truly is a right that all people in the world should be afforded,” he says.
His “definite plan” is to return to his home base of New Orleans, where his family lives. “It has been such a special experience for me to go through this part of my life so close to family here in New Orleans.”
