Irvin has already been accepted by Harvard, Yale, Cornell and other medical schools and is weighing his options. He is a member of African Americans United in Science, serving as president for two years, and is on the university's Rhodes Scholar Team, which grooms students for the program. For two years he volunteered with SOAR, working with disadvantaged youth in the community. Irvin also served as a Bio-Med peer mentor to ease the adjustment into the medical science program.
Dedicated and hardworking are the two words his teammate and roommate for three years, Brandon Jacobs, chooses to describe Irvin.
"When he makes up his mind, he's the type of person who never fails," Jacobs says, adding Irvin has always been "a regular guy" and a team player.
Last year, during the conference championship, a UCR runner was injured and couldn't compete in the 4x400-meter relay.
"We weren't going to be able to compete at all. Normally Nate doesn't run that relay but out of nowhere he comes up and says, ‘Hey man, I'll run it,' " Brandon recalls. "He ran the third position and when I handed him the baton he got one of our faster times. He didn't have to do it. I think this showed a sacrifice for the team."
For that and other reasons, Jacobs thinks highly of Irvin.
"Without getting too mushy here, Nate has inspired me. He has been a big brother," Jacobs says. "I'm glad to have him as friend."
© Copyright 2005 by DiverseEducation.com
