In this honest and intimate episode, we celebrate 2025 Arthur Ashe Jr. Male Sports Scholar of the Year Jayo Adegboyo from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). His story highlights the power of networking, persistence, and interdisciplinary learning.

As a first-generation pre-med student, Jayo shares enthusiastically about the Meyerhoff Scholars program and its support for students like himself pursuing STEM careers. Jayo is a biochemistry major with a physics minor and a member of the track and field team specializing in 200m and 400m events.

Tune in as he shares his experience balancing academics and athletics, and his aspirations for neuroscience research (particularly in migraine studies), with Diverse host Ralph Newell. Their conversation also explores Jayo's approach to making lasting impacts in communities, fostering relationships with mentors, and advocating for patients with neurological disorders.

KEY POINTS:

- Jayo's background as a first-generation medical student at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC)

- His involvement in the Meyerhoff Scholars Program, which supports diversity in STEM fields

- His track and field specialization, influenced by his father's athletic background

- Jayo’s passion for migraine research inspired by his father's long-term struggle with migraines

- Jayo’s acceptance into an MD/PhD program

- Networking and building relationships with mentors who guide his research opportunities

- Jayo’s commitment to advocating for patients with neurological and psychiatric disorders

- Jayo’s strategic approach to managing time and priorities as a student-athlete

- Seeking to elevate and enrich communities, leaving them better than he found them

QUOTES:

“I want to not only flourish myself, but also leave whatever space I enter better than I found it.” – Jayo Adegboyo

“There's only 24 hours in a day, and you should allocate those hours in a way that whatever is the most pressing matter at that time you can focus on that.” – Jayo Adegboyo

“I'm someone who likes to think a lot, even during my races, I'll be thinking as I'm running.” – Jayo Adegboyo

“I'm interested in the future mostly… advocacy for people with neurological disorders and psychiatric disorders, just because there is a lot of negative stigma for people with those. Even for people with migraines, sometimes their neurologists either don't believe them in terms of what pain they're facing, or don't believe that they're actually taking the medication that was prescribed to them.” – Jayo Adegboyo

Resources:

Diverse’s Arthur Ashe, Jr. Sports Scholars program

Meyerhoff Scholars Program – UMBC

Academic Pipeline Programs for Underrepresented Students That Work | Diverse: Issues In Higher Education

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Closed captioning and live show transcription are available in the video for this episode.

In The Margins is produced by Diverse: Issues In Higher Education and edited by EPYC Media Network (visit at https://www.epyc.co/).