Meet MPH Candidate Adren Warling: A Story of Perseverance
Published March 4, 2023 By Darlene Muguiro UTEP College of Health Sciences
This spring, Adren Warling will become the first person in his extended family to receive a postgraduate degree. But the Master of Public Health (MPH) candidate’s academic journey was not easy.
Adren arrived at UTEP eager to begin his undergraduate degree in engineering. While neither of his parents had completed college, they had encouraged him and his twin brother to pursue higher education and supported Adren’s enrollment in an engineering magnet program in high school and involvement in tennis and debate.
Shortly after beginning his engineering coursework, Adren realized that it wasn’t a good fit, and he switched to anthropology and music, a combination that would lead to a career as an ethnomusicologist. However, an unexpected diagnosis of arthritis in both of his hands ended his budding music career, and Adren dropped out of school for two years.
“It was very world-shattering at the moment, and nobody really understood that. I couldn’t be a musician anymore,” he said. “I was completely lost and didn’t know what I was going to do. Additionally, my parents didn’t understand why I had to drop certain classes; they didn’t know that this was a normal part of the college experience.”
The hiatus from school gave Adren much-needed time to consider his next steps, including employment. When he returned to complete his anthropology degree, he began working full-time and also assumed a part-time position with the Women’s Studies Program, where he was involved in projects focusing on intimate partner violence. The topic grew into a passion that ultimately led him to pursue a master's degree in public health. Adren’s decision to continue his education surprised his parents, who were initially skeptical, but ultimately supportive.
“I’m pretty sure my dad was joking, but he said ‘When are you going to get out of school and start working?’” he said. “But even though they didn’t completely understand why, they bought my books. And my dad’s very proud that I’m completing my MPH…he just has a very off-beat sense of humor.”
Adren began the MPH program in Fall 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, at the same time that his extended family was experiencing multiple losses and major illnesses. At that point, dealing with the personal trauma while balancing his coursework and virtual employment as both a teaching assistant and congressional intern was overwhelming. However, he says that faculty were extremely supportive, offering alternatives when necessary so that he didn’t have to stop the program.
“I wanted to have the in-person experience, but I couldn’t, and I lived alone, so I was completely isolated,” he said. “But the MPH faculty were so supportive of me and my peers, and showed so much care for us – not just about our grades, but for us as people.”
Following graduation, Adren will continue working for the Tobacco Control Network, where he first began as an intern helping with policy around tobacco cessation. He also plans to continue his education, and recently applied for a doctoral program in health equity sciences at NMSU, where he plans to do a comparative study of harm reduction policies in the United States and Spain. Ultimately, he sees himself working for the United Nations as a human rights officer and eventually returning to academia to continue researching and teaching.
“I really value diverse experiences and want to help members of underserved communities achieve what they deserve to have as their basic human rights,” he said. “Also, I would love to be able to return to academia to provide the same kinds of opportunities to future students that the MPH faculty gave to me.”
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Go Miners!
For more information about the Master of Public Health Program, please visit: https://www.utep.edu/chs/phs/academic-programs/graduate/master-in-public-health.html
