While she excelled academically to earn her BS in Public Health, Precious Craig found time to support youth through regional organizations and research projects and also worked at the UArizona vaccine distribution POD.
Precious Craig
BS in Public Health
Precious Craig graduates this Spring with a bachelor’s degree in Public Health with an emphasis in health promotion, and a minor in Biochemistry. She is completing her Honors Thesis on Opportunity Youth and the Influence of Socioeconomic Status. Precious moved to Phoenix from Lagos, Nigeria when she was three years old. As a first-generation Nigerian immigrant, she has always valued the importance of education and is dedicated to serving others and giving back to her community. After graduation, Precious will be pursuing a PharmD in pharmacy at UArizona!
As a testament to her commitment to community service, Precious volunteers for the METRO Goodwill Youth Program, which serves youth and young adults without employment or education opportunities. She also serves on the United Way of Southern Arizona Youth Leadership Council, where she works on youth advocacy projects. Through the Council, Precious participated in a youth voter mobilization project that successfully registered over 31,000 voters all across Arizona.
As part of her public health education, Precious served as a youth liaison for an applied-practice research study called Project Slate, under the supervision of Robert Clark, DrPH(c), MPH and Douglas Taren, PhD. The aim of the Project Slate study is to amplify the voices of disadvantaged youth ages 16 to 24 and engage them in conversations that utilize and construct participatory action research. In her role on the project, Precious coordinated focus groups to assist in increasing positive communication and interactions between youth and adults in service agencies.
Precious also served as a preceptor in Zuckerman College of Public Health and has worked at the UArizona COVID-19 vaccine point of distribution as a pharmacy technician and dispensing runner, assisting in the preparation and distribution of vaccine, experience she considers a valuable part of her education and another opportunity to give back to the community.
Precious’s desire to make the world a better place is what motivates her participation in projects and volunteering. Her pastor back home once said that “We should no longer ask our children what they want to be when they grow up, but rather what are they going to do to make an impact in the world around us”. This sentiment inspired Precious to make an impact in the Tucson community and serve as a role model to underrepresented students overcoming racial barriers to reach success.
This spring 2021, Precious received the UArizona’s Robie Gold Medal award, which “honors those who demonstrate personal integrity, initiative, cooperation, enthusiasm, willingness to give more than required, and a love of God and country”. In addition, she has received several other awards including the Wildcat Excellence Award, a NAACP Tucson Scholarship, Dean's List, Laura and Arch Brown Scholarship, Richard Garcia Memorial Scholarship, and Victoria Foundation/George Dean Scholarship.
“My education and experience as a public health student has truly impacted my path moving forward and my decision to pursue pharmacy,” said Precious, “In the Nigerian culture, education is very important which is part of what motivated me to set myself apart and make an impact in my community. I always remember where I came from, and I am humbled to have achieved so much success at the university level.”
