Grace Leeson wasn’t accustomed to being behind the pack.
But here she was in Puebla, Mexico — for a whole semester her junior year — and out of everyone in her cohort, she was the only one who was not either a Spanish major or a native speaker.
Most of her classes were entirely in Spanish, she was living with a Spanish-speaking host family, and she’d be shadowing Spanish-speaking doctors. Though she’d taken enough Spanish classes to meet her program’s prerequisites, Leeson wasn’t fluent.
“I was super stressed out, like, ‘Am I going to be able to do this? Is this OK?’” she said.
In her moment of doubt, she called her parents for advice, and they reminded her why she’d gone to Puebla: not to be the best in Spanish, but to learn — to trust the process and immerse herself.
So that’s what Leeson did. She chatted with her host family. She picked up Spanish medical terms from labmates. She even joined a local tennis club. By the end of the fall semester, Leeson was presenting medical research she’d translated from Spanish herself.
“Embracing that uncertainty and opportunity for learning and growth was the best thing I could’ve done for myself,” she said.
Puebla was one of many adventures for Leeson. In her time at the University of Notre Dame, the 2026 graduate — majoring in English and Arts & Letters pre-health with a minor in compassionate care in medicine — has traveled to several Latin American countries, taken up Latin dance, joined a cooking club, and performed pop-up concerts.
All of this has led to her eventual goals of becoming a doctor while keeping her passions at the forefront.
“I’ve had the opportunity to bounce around and do a bunch of different things and be in different places,” she said. “It’s just part of my nature to be adventurous.”
Bringing creativity to medicine
Leeson’s original college plan was more of a straight shot, with less room for bouncing.
She applied to Notre Dame as a biology major, thinking that would be the best way to prepare for medical school. But after some soul-searching, she switched to English, with Arts & Letters pre-health covering the MCAT prep and medical school prerequisites.
“An undergraduate education is a great opportunity to pursue the things you won’t get to later,” she said. “I’ll have plenty of science in medical school, so I wanted to study something I really enjoy.”
As an English major, Leeson dove into topics that pique her interest, like Afro-Latin American literature or wartime Ukrainian poetry. While her motivation for picking the major was primarily passion, she was also hopeful that becoming a better communicator will make her a better doctor. After all, even the smartest doctor can only do so much if they can’t communicate with their patients, she said.
“There’s no doubt that I’ve always loved the science aspect of medicine. But I’ve also always loved music and reading and English and dancing and sports, too, and I don’t have any regrets about sacrificing anything in any direction.”
Her minor helps put that idea into practice.
The compassionate care in medicine program is based on research showing that being a compassionate physician, one who engages with their patients personally and processes their emotions, is more rewarding for patients and the physicians. Leeson learned the details of that research and explored topics including cultural competency, patient advocacy, and strategies to combat physician burnout.
In her medical counseling class, she took her first steps in a doctor’s shoes. Each session, a different student took a turn being the doctor, reviewing simulated medical sheets, and talking to faux patients. Leeson practiced articulating medical information so any patient could process it, translating her English skills into medical ones.
She’s taken patient communication to the next level for her capstone project. But instead of English or Spanish, she used a universal language: art.
During a summer fellowship, Leeson learned to illustrate various anatomical structures and medical procedures, and for her capstone, she researched how live medical illustration can help bridge the knowledge gap between doctors and patients.
“When a physician draws for you, specifically, it’s more personalized than just an infographic they can pull up online,” she said.
Drawing for a patient on a tablet or a sticky note can help them understand their condition and ask better questions about it, she said. Leeson researched the role medical illustration already plays in medicine and how it could be incorporated into the medical curriculum, hoping future physicians can hone the technique to better educate their patients.
And, as she nears medical school, Leeson is glad to have a wide variety of skills and experiences in her toolbox.
“There’s no doubt that I’ve always loved the science aspect of medicine,” she said. “But I’ve also always loved music and reading and English and dancing and sports, too, and I don’t have any regrets about sacrificing anything in any direction.”
Dedicated to service
Leeson has wanted to be a physician for as long as she can remember. But on a Campus Ministry trip to Honduras during her first year, in which she served poor rural communities, completely changed her perspective — about her life and her future career.
“Why am I complaining about getting up for an 8:20 a.m. when some people don’t have water for half the day?” she said. “I felt like I should be doing more for others.”
The experience motivated Leeson to find more opportunities for service, especially abroad. She joined Notre Dame’s chapter of MEDLIFE — Medicine, Education, and Development for Low-Income Families Everywhere — a nonprofit organization that sends pre-health students on service-learning trips to low-income communities in Latin America and East Africa. The trip gives students hands-on medical experience while improving communities’ long-term access to healthcare, education, and safe housing. Students distribute medicine, restock medical supplies, and run education campaigns alongside physicians, often serving people who’ve never met doctors before.
When Leeson joined MEDLIFE, the club had been hit hard by the pandemic and international travel restrictions. As a result, there were only three members, and Leeson worked to grow the club's membership and planned trips to Ecuador, Costa Rica, Peru, and Guatemala. The club has also started serving the South Bend community, making blankets for Beacon Memorial Hospital patients and running a winter clothes drive.
Once Leeson completes her medical training, she doesn’t plan to take her skills abroad; she’s going home to South Texas.
“I’m going back to the place where I started, but I feel like there’s been so much growth between now and then,” she said. “I’ll be able to actually bring more back to my home state because of my experiences at Notre Dame.”
Leeson’s already had a few opportunities to give back to Texas during her summers at home by shadowing doctors and conducting research at hospitals. For one project, she researched the effects of food insecurity on Hispanic patients with diabetes, practicing her paper writing and Spanish skills.
Her desire to heal in Texas, home to millions of Spanish speakers, is a major reason Leeson chose to study and serve abroad. She’s hopeful that the language she worked so hard to learn will make her a more effective physician. And she’s especially enjoying one extra benefit of Spanish fluency — she can now talk to her Cuban grandmother in her native language.
While most future physicians take a gap year before medical school, Leeson is going full steam ahead — she’s already received a few acceptances from Texas medical schools. But no matter where she goes, Leeson knows her priorities.
“I can’t say for certain where I’ll end up after medical school,” she said, “but I want to go where people really need it.”
