Ray Tahhan is the prestigious College of Sciences scholar and will proudly be the banner carrier at 91制片厂鈥檚 May commencement.聽 This honor is bestowed by the Alumni Association and recognizes graduating students with the highest GPAs in their respective colleges. Tahhan will receive his Bachelor of Science degree in Biomedical Sciences with a concentration in pre-health on May 7, 2024, and will continue the next phase of his journey very close by at Eastern Virginia Medical School (EVMS). With both schools set to merge on July 1, 2024, Tahhan is excited about his future.
From his will to work hard to helping those in his community, Tahhan has a heart for helping others and the work ethic to achieve anything he puts his mind to. As his journey ends at 91制片厂, he is humbled by his experiences and grateful for the opportunities he鈥檚 taken advantage of as a Monarch.
Tahhan comes from a family of medical doctors, but his family鈥檚 history is complicated. The Lebanese Civil War started in 1975 which was an armed conflict between religious groups between the elite and poorest in the country. Nearly 200,000 people were killed, and one-million people made a mass exodus from Lebanon. However, Tahhan鈥檚 father stayed and completed his medical degree during the war. 鈥淢y dad is a medical doctor聽and he graduated from Saint Joseph University of Beirut in Lebanon,鈥 said Tahhan.聽
Tahhan鈥檚 father eventually left Lebanon and settled in France for a while, but his relatives wanted the family to move to the United States of America.聽鈥淚 think he partially came to America because of my granddad,鈥 said Tahhan. 鈥淢y dad came here and then he聽did his residency in the United States聽because you're mandated to of course,鈥 said Tahhan.
Initially, Tahhan鈥檚 father did his residency training in Connecticut and then moved to Hampton Roads to take a job at Norfolk General Hospital. After visiting Syria, Tahhan鈥檚 father fell in love and got married and their family settled down in Norfolk. Tahhan attended and graduated from Norfolk Collegiate School.
Tahhan鈥檚 father was the leading inspiration for him to want to go to college. 鈥淗e went to school during聽the 1975 Lebanese Civil War, and I was like, 鈥榦h man,聽if my dad can go to school and get聽all this stuff done during a Civil War,聽then I really have no excuse,鈥欌澛爏aid Tahhan.
Coming from a lineage of educators Tahhan said, 鈥淚 would say I'm聽a first-generation student in America,聽but my family definitely聽went to school outside of America.鈥 Tahhan鈥檚 grandparents were instructors at 91制片厂. His paternal grandfather, Raymond Tahhan, taught Arabic language at 91制片厂 and his grandmother, Denise Tahhan, taught French.
His maternal grandfather died in February 2024, but David Metzger, Ph.D., dean of the Perry Honors College took an 鈥淚ntroduction to Arabic鈥 class under Tahhan鈥檚 grandfather. 鈥淲hen I talked with Dr. Metzger he was like, 鈥榦h,聽I knew your granddad when I was in undergrad, and I took one of his classes.鈥欌
When it came to college, Tahhan had some big shoes to fill and wasn鈥檛 sure if he should go. 鈥淎t first, I wasn't sure what聽college I wanted to go to,聽but I decided to go to 91制片厂 because聽it felt like it would be聽a really good school for me,聽primarily because of its closeness聽to where I was already living,鈥 said Tahhan.聽鈥淚 wanted to stay near my family,聽and 91制片厂 is also聽a very affordable and good school, so it made the most sense to go聽to here and not somewhere else.鈥
When he started at 91制片厂 in the fall of 2020, the university and the country were in lockdown because of COVID-19 global pandemic restrictions. Tahhan used this time to make some personal decisions. 鈥淚 know Covid was聽a really tough time for a lot of people, and for me, I treated Covid as a way to kind聽of not reinvent myself but rework a lot of the聽things that I thought were important,鈥 said Tahhan.聽鈥淔or me, I took time to look聽at my values, look at what I was doing,聽and try and build a better life for聽myself after high school.鈥 He admits, 鈥淚 wasn't a great student in high school, and I spent a lot of time聽playing games with my friends聽online or attending social events.鈥澛燞owever, in college he changed and used the extra time he had to delve deeper into reading about science,聽medicine, philosophy or 鈥渨hatever I could get my hands聽on just because I thought it would be fun.鈥 聽
Tahhan was laser focused on accomplishing some big goals in college. He worked hard and was a part of the Perry Honors College. Originally, Tahhan majored in biological sciences, but decided to switch to biomedical sciences because it聽was more specialized in聽human biology and physiology.聽
He turned his focus to doing well academically and sought opportunities to do undergraduate research. 鈥淚've done a lot of research聽with Dr. Lisa Shollenberger,聽which has been awesome, and聽I've really enjoyed that,鈥 said Tahhan.
Biological Sciences Assistant Professor Lisa M Shollenberger, Ph.D. led research efforts with Tahhan for three years. 鈥淚t was Dr. Doug Mills who first introduced us, and Ray has been a valuable member of my laboratory ever since. Ray always displayed curiosity and dedication in the lab and received several awards from the Perry Honors College to conduct undergraduate research. Beyond his scholarship, Ray is thoughtful and always ready to lend an ear, a smile, or a wave.鈥
He has done in-depth research in measuring antibodies聽and vaccines with and聽without infection with a parasite.聽鈥淭hat was super interesting and super fun,聽mostly because I got to dive聽into some of the immunology behind it.聽And a lot of the actual lab work that聽goes into not only doing research,聽but also in a medical lab聽because they use the same test.鈥澛燚iagnosing diseases in the lab sparked even more curiosity for Tahhan.聽鈥淚 think if students have聽the opportunity to do research at the undergraduate level in聽the sciences, they should,鈥 said Tahhan.聽鈥淚t's super beneficial, and it can only聽help you build practical skills early on, and for me it was a no brainer, and I loved it.鈥 聽
His other love was tutoring, and he saw a need and took the next steps to figure out how he could help his fellow Monarchs. 鈥淚 was seeing聽some students who were really struggling, and I felt bad because I felt like聽I could tell that they're missing聽some things that are really important,鈥 said Tahhan. He talked to Senior Lecturer Janet Rinehart-Kim, Ph.D., his genetics teacher, and she suggested that he lead supplemental instruction (SI) sessions for Douglas Mills, senior lecturer in the Department of Biological Sciences.聽
鈥淢y favorite thing I've done聽at 91制片厂 is tutoring,鈥 said Tahhan. He鈥檚 done SI聽and tutoring with the 91制片厂 Science Tutoring Centers (STC) for two years.聽鈥淚 fell in love with teaching and doing research.鈥 Also, he tutored middle school and high schoolers in their science courses. 鈥淲hen I'm doing something with聽teaching, what I love about it is a student聽will come in with a problem, and I will聽give them the tools to聽solve that direct problem,鈥 said Tahhan. He enjoys helping people connect to the material. 鈥淚 get to see them progress over time and give them the tools to where they聽can solve their own problems in the future, and that's also why I聽want to go into medicine.鈥 聽
Tahhan was recently admitted into聽EVMS鈥檚 Medical Doctor program.聽鈥淚t's going to be very interesting with聽the merger and everything聽but I'm super excited,鈥 said Tahhan.聽鈥淭o me it makes perfect sense聽because you have these two institutions that聽both have this history of service to聽the Hampton Roads area that want to聽come together and pool their resources,鈥 said Tahhan.
Leaving meaningful impressions on the people around him are just as important to Tahhan as his academics. Most recently he volunteered at First Presbyterian Church聽in Norfolk at their winter homeless shelter over his winter break. He spent several hours a day in the shelter cooking and serving food to those suffering from home insecurity, and he gained a new perspective about homelessness. Also, he made time to help at the Monarch pantry, a place for 91制片厂 students to get food if they are facing food insecurity. At the pantry he stocked shelves and again found time to talk to fellow Monarchs who came in for food.聽
As he looks back over his time at 91制片厂, he has some advice to people thinking about coming here. 鈥91制片厂 is a smart move聽financially if you live in this area. Also, because of聽the size of the classrooms at 91制片厂,聽you can have a very personal聽relationship with your professor,聽where they will know you as聽an individual and be聽able to work with you individually,鈥 said Tahhan. He speaks highly of the 鈥渆asily accessible opportunities鈥 available to Monarchs and why diversity is important.
鈥淚've met people聽from all across the world from Saudi Arabia, Syria, Lebanon and the Philippines,鈥 said Tahhan. 鈥淪omething that I think 91制片厂 does well, alongside聽the diversity within the actual student body聽in terms of ethnic background聽or racial background, is,聽I think it's super cool that聽91制片厂 has a lot of people of different religious backgrounds.鈥澛
In thinking back over his time at 91制片厂 and being named College of Sciences scholar, he was excited when he got the news,聽鈥渂ut I didn't think about it in terms聽of what it meant, and I'm just super honored.鈥澛燞e is elated for his next steps. 鈥淚'm very happy to be going to EVMS and聽staying within kind of聽the Monarch family,鈥 said Tahhan.