Meet Julianne Vesce
This fall, Julianne Vesce ‘23 is a recipient of the Jonathan Robertozzi Memorial Scholarship fund. The fund, established in 1997 in memory of seven-year-old Jonathan Robertozzi, provides scholarships to enhance or supplement the educational endeavors of two 3rd year students at Temple each year.
Hailing from Mahwah, NJ, Julianne and her brother Anthony grew up watching their father and mother work for a living, the former working as a crane mechanic and the latter owning her own business. “They had very little when they got married besides a work ethic that has surpassed anyone’s I’ve ever met. You do what you gotta do...that’s what I grew up seeing,” Vesce said. They’re her rock, and she credits them with this scholarship as much as herself.
While she’s certainly been nurtured in a driven environment, Julianne’s nature is just as deserving of this award. While studying at Roger Williams University, she majored in Biology with minors in Chemistry, Anthropology and Sociology. This is doing a bit more than what she had to do, and despite the wealth of knowledge gained from an undergraduate education like this, Julianne’s primary career interest was piqued back in highschool. Back then, Julianne walked away from a podiatrist visit with an opportunity to shadow him. She took him up on the opportunity for about seven or eight years after researching podiatry and coming to recognize it as a “hidden gem” within the medical field. After undergrad, Julianne entered TUSPM and her podiatry career was off and running.
Now in her third year at TUSPM, Julianne describes her experience here as a time of immense growth. She recognizes the way a difficult program like this pushes the boundaries of what you think you can handle, teaching you about yourself along the way. However, Julianne herself perhaps pushed the boundaries of what it means to be a student here as well. Recognizing her fellow students’ lack of hands-on experience due to Covid, Julianne and a few other students organized a Punch Biopsy workshop this month. With the help of McClain labs, Julianne and her team brought this hands-on experience into the building and watched as sign ups exceeded target goals, so much so that signups were cut off due to space availability.
To her fellow students and anyone considering a career in podiatry, Julianne maintains that if you want it for the right reasons, you will be provided with all the tools to be immensely successful. “You have to want it, and you need the self discipline to get it,” she relates. As for the future of what Julianne wants, she’s preparing for externships and hoping to find herself at a residency program equipped to mold her into the best surgeon possible. If past is prologue, she’ll both find the right fit and thrive in her place there. Congratulations Julianne.