Eva Zhu

BA in Health Sciences

With a passion for journalism, Eva continues to utilize her understanding of the social, behavioural, and biological determinants of health from her BA program.

Growing up, Eva Zhu’s goal was to become a scientist working in a research laboratory. However, she soon found out that she was incredibly intrigued by the policy side of health. With her decision to do a Bachelor of Arts in Health Sciences, she began to uncover her desire to broaden the scope of her knowledge. As she continuously challenged herself in the FHS BA program, she discovered a passion for writing.

“I think I was quite naïve at the beginning of my degree. I viewed the Canadian and global health sectors as these perfectly oiled systems that cater to everyone's best interests,” she explains. “I now want to be an investigative journalist because I don't want people to be fooled by the institutions that they believe to care for them.”

After benefiting from the versatile nature of the BA program in FHS, Zhu is continuing to apply her experience in her pursuit of a Master of Media in Journalism in Communication, while also contributing to Exclaim! Magazine. Throughout her time in FHS, she also learned how useful it was to step outside her comfort zone.

“I always thought the only career option for health students was writing or evaluating health policies for a health authority. I think future students should develop their interests outside of health sciences because they can usually apply the things they learn in the FHS BA program to those interests,” she advises. “If you want to do something—like join a club, student organization or pursue a passion project—but don't think you have the skills for it, do it anyways! Take classes that not only fulfill requirements, but also ones that you're truly interested in.”