Daniel del Portal '00

Daniel del Portal ’00 In sub-Saharan Africa, in a place called the Impenetrable Forest, there is a Batwa Pygmy named after Newman alumnus Daniel del Portal. Daniel, Class of 2000, volunteered two summers ago (2004) in a small village clinic in southwest Uganda. Working with Dr. Scott Kellerman ’63 and his wife, Carol, who have been living in Uganda since 2001, Daniel learned how to examine patients and diagnose and treat common diseases like malaria. But most exciting was the day he got to deliver a baby, who was then named in his honor. He also learned a little of the Rukiga vernacular, hiked the famous forest, camped with hippos and rafted the Nile. “The Kellermans have become role models for me,” Daniel says, “and the experience has shaped my dream of someday practicing medicine in the developing world.” At Newman, Daniel was involved in lots of extracurricular activities – the Newman Players, Executive Committee, The Pioneer, etc. “I didn’t always know I wanted to be a doctor, but I remember loving my A.P. Biology class with Mrs. (Jane) Meneray,” Daniel says. He went on to major in “Zell Biology” (cell biology, so nicknamed for Newman teacher Randy Zell) at the University of Georgia. “My college biology classes were a breeze after Newman,” he says. He owes a lot to Newman, he says, because the School allows students “to explore their passions, no matter how numerous.” After graduating from UGA in December, Daniel worked for a law firm in Washington, D.C. and then traveled through Central America with friends. He is currently in medical school at the University of Pennsylvania and is already making plans for a return trip to Uganda. “The people, like my young friend Amon in Uganda, are the reason I’m studying medicine in the first place,” he says. “I thrive on the one-on-one interaction.”