{"id":37526,"date":"2025-04-23T09:52:28","date_gmt":"2025-04-23T13:52:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/?p=37526"},"modified":"2025-05-02T14:40:31","modified_gmt":"2025-05-02T18:40:31","slug":"magazine-now-jason-levitt-26-sees-the-furman-advantage-in-action","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/magazine-now-jason-levitt-26-sees-the-furman-advantage-in-action\/","title":{"rendered":"NOW: Jason Levitt ’26 sees The Furman Advantage in Action"},"content":{"rendered":"

As a junior public health major at Furman, I\u2019ve experienced firsthand how The Furman Advantage combines academic excellence, mentorship and hands-on learning. <\/strong>This unique blend has sparked my passion for community health and leadership, driving me to pursue medical school and work toward addressing health disparities and inequities within my community.<\/p>\n

One of the most meaningful parts of my Furman journey has been creating and leading a career exploration summer camp for youth in Spartanburg, South Carolina, public housing. Thanks to Furman\u2019s emphasis on engaged learning, I was able to apply what I\u2019ve learned in the classroom to real-world challenges. I designed a program to introduce underprivileged youth to a wide range of career paths with support from Furman\u2019s Summer Internship Fellowship Funding. This experience allowed me to collaborate with professionals from different fields, including medical school deans, nonprofit CEOs and judicial leaders. It was a perfect example of how Furman combines academic rigor with civic engagement, helping me build the leadership, networking and organizational skills that will shape my future in public health.<\/p>\n

Furman\u2019s commitment to personalized academic exploration also has been crucial to my development. Courses like Navajo: Body, Medicine and Health and Social Determinants of Health have expanded my understanding of health disparities and the cultural factors that influence wellness. These classes have given me invaluable insights, preparing me to be a culturally competent leader.<\/p>\n

In addition, as vice president of the Native American and Indigenous Peoples Association, I\u2019ve had the chance to organize events that highlight the intersection of culture and health care. One of the most impactful was Bridging Cultures: Indigenous Insights in Modern Medicine, where I had the opportunity to bring in Native American scholars from Yale and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill to discuss health care disparities in Native communities. Through this event, I was able to share Native culture, highlight the challenges faced by many Native communities and connect with other Native Americans who became mentors, instilling confidence in me and inspiring me to pursue my goals.<\/p>\n

While I\u2019ve had incredible opportunities to discover myself and create meaningful events, it\u2019s the bonds I\u2019ve formed with professors and friends that have truly defined my college experience.<\/p>\n

The support, guidance and kindness found at every corner of campus is the true Furman Advantage, and it\u2019s something I wouldn\u2019t trade for the world.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

About the Author<\/h3>\n

Jason Levitt \u201926 is a public health major at Furman and serves as the vice president of the Native American and Indigenous Peoples Association on campus. <\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Furman Advantage has sparked Jason Levitt ’26 and his passion for community health and leadership, driving him to pursue medical school and work toward addressing health disparities and inequities within his community.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":389,"featured_media":37613,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3343,1963,3342],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37526","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-around-the-lake-spring-2025","category-furman-magazine","category-spring-2025"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37526","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/389"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37526"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37526\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37909,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37526\/revisions\/37909"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}