By Katie Chung
Growing up in Athens, Greece, Ariadni Xydia knew two things: she was passionate about medicine and wanted an education in the United States. Despite never having been, conversations with high school classmates and her school counselor brought 17-year-old Xydia to Baltimore, Maryland, where she began her undergraduate journey studying neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University.
“It was definitely a surreal experience because I had never visited the country before,” she said. “I just thought that anything that had to do with the brain was fascinating.”
Further inspired by her high school experiences working alongside healthcare professionals for a refugee camp in Athens, Xydia’s undergraduate experiences were shaped by her passion for connecting with people. From working in a lab culturing neurons studying Alzheimer’s disease to being a teaching assistant for neuroscience courses to a post-grad research job studying neurodegenerative diseases, she discovered her true passion for community health. By the end of her first gap year, Xydia had decided to go back to Johns Hopkins, this time for a master’s in Mental and Social Health Services and Allied Professions.
“The master’s program was related to my neuroscience degree but also gave me a great perspective on public health,” she explained. “I earned a certificate in Health Disparities and Health Inequalities, which deepened my interest in serving the patient population in Baltimore and the United States.”
After graduating with her master’s, Xydia returned to Johns Hopkins, this time on the health system side, where she served as a clinical research coordinator for two years. There, she studied the neurological impact of people living with HIV and multiple comorbidities in vulnerable populations in Baltimore, conducting clinical interviews and assisting with neuropsychiatric testing. Alongside researching complex pathologies, from molecular biomarkers to cognition, she discovered just how important connection was in healthcare.
“I was able to work with so many participants and build meaningful relationships with them,” she said. “It taught me to look through both a scientific perspective and medical treatment perspective, and emphasized the importance of truly listening and advocating for patients.”
Whether that was bonding over a shared love for a football team or going the extra mile to make sure participants could be involved in
research studies, Xydia had a reinforced outlook on medicine—the value of connecting with others. Deeply impacted by the population in Baltimore, Xydia knew medical school was the next step. After eight years in Baltimore, Xydia made the move to the “Athens of the South” to pursue her dream of becoming a doctor at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.
“I’ve always loved Nashville as a city. I knew that Vanderbilt was the place I wanted to be—I love the community here and just how personable everybody is.”
No stranger to adapting to a new place, Xydia considers Vanderbilt and Nashville as a brand new chapter: not just an educational milestone, but a new home. From meeting professors to the first anatomy lab to building friendships with her new classmates, Xydia describes every experience so far as life changing.
“Working with people in a location and demographic that is so different from where I grew up made a significant impact on me,” she said. “In the same way that I’ve truly learned about the Baltimore community, I’m very excited to work with the community here in Nashville and more broadly in Tennessee.”
Looking back on her journey, Xydia looks forward to approaching medical school with the same value that has remained all these years—connecting with people, gaining perspective through experiences, and being eager to learn.“As an international student, I’ve taken a very non-traditional route—and I’m beyond grateful for Vanderbilt and excited to continue growing and learning.”
