I am Centdrika Dates, a daughter, mother, sister, and a friend from a small city in the Mississippi Delta known as Greenwood.  I am currently a 2nd year postdoctoral scholar at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.  I attended Greenwood High School and graduated valedictorian in 2004.  I received a B.S. in Biology from Alcorn State University in 2008, M.S. in Biology from Jackson State University in 2010 and Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in 2015.  

 

My initial mentors in life were family members- grandmother, aunts, and cousins, but as I matriculated through school, I met teachers, counselors, and coaches that also served as excellent mentors.  Needless to say, I value teachers and mentors and aspire to encompass all of the traits, if possible, and more to be the total teacher-mentor package for those that I will encounter.  I have a passion to help underrepresented groups in any field of study, especially science to increase their interests and success in their chosen field.  I believe that seeing is believing and that the more one is exposed to, the more one desires to achieve.