Nishu Hosamane

When prospective M.D.-Ph.D. student Nishu Hosamane told her friends she was writing her admissions essay to the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine about Taylor Swift, she received resounding advice that she should choose another topic for her essay.

Hosamane grew up in Ellicott City, Maryland, attended the University of Maryland, College Park for her undergraduate degree, and now Iives in Washington DC. What drew her to the M.D.-Ph.D. program at Johns Hopkins was its phenomenal reputation and its fit with her research interest in neuroscience, particularly sleep. Johns Hopkins is one of the few institutions that has a robust research network of sleep researchers.

Hosamane has been interested in sleep from a young age. She recalled dozing off on road trips while listening to music and then going back through her playlist to see which song she remembered last and to determine how long it took her to fall asleep. In college, Hosamane has had the opportunity to intern and work at many labs focused on sleep research, including at the Polotsky Lab at Johns Hopkins. She would commute from College Park to Baltimore three times a week during the school year to assist with their research. She loves how pervasive sleep is throughout the body and the many ways sleep research can be applied to clinical medicine.

When given the unique School of Medicine essay prompt asking applicants to share a time when they experienced wonder outside of science or medicine, Hosamane knew she had to write it about the feelings of awe that she experienced during the Taylor Swift concert she attended on April 29 in Atlanta. Hosamane is a lifelong “Swiftie,” having grown up listening to Taylor Swift’s music. She admires the pop superstar because of her poetic lyrics. “She is able to put into words feelings that I have felt, but never been able to express. It’s a way to relate and realize that like I'm not the only person who's felt this way before,” she said.

“The first thing that came to mind for me when I read the prompt was the concert because of how in awe I was during the entirety of the show—from the lead up to her coming out on stage,” Hosamane said. “I experienced this feeling with 60,000 or 70,000 other people.”

The sense of community she felt was like no other—the night was full of concertgoers trading friendship bracelets and complimenting each other’s outfits. Hosamane said it was one of her favorite essays. It didn’t feel like work to her because she was so passionate about the topic and was able to incorporate Taylor Swift lyrics into her essay.

Once Hosamane was accepted to Johns Hopkins, she decided to visit the campus to see what the institution was like. When she arrived, she realized most of the buildings were locked so she called Andrea Cox, M.D., Ph.D., program director of the Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP), and within 15 minutes, Dr. Cox had gathered students to show Hosamane around campus, take her out for coffee, and answer questions she had. The fact that students would meet impromptu combined with seeing the strong community sold her on attending Johns Hopkins.

When asked about what she is looking forward to when she begins her program in August, she replied that she is excited to work with some principal investigators, including Dr. Mark Wu, who she has looked up to for many years. She is also excited to live in Baltimore and find ways to stay active in the city.