Kalliopi Podia

I grew up in a village called Kardamyla, on the island of Chios located in North Aegean, Greece. I realized that health is the most essential aspect in life through a tragic event. When I was a high school senior, my aunt, my mother’s sister, died from cancer. Going through those events, and seeing how my cousins’ lives have been affected has inspired me and made me realize that if I should focus my efforts for helping others in a certain field, that field should be healthcare.
In my third year at the University of Patra, in the Department of Biology, I worked on a project on nutrigenomics and the metabolic diseases. That, along with being an athlete all of my life, gave me the epiphany that I wanted to specialize in nutrition. I realized a balanced life between exercise and healthy diet is the key to a healthy life. I did my research, and I found out that I would get the training I wanted, in Nutrition at an American university; therefore, I decided that I should leave my country and my family in order to follow my dream.