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AVON PARK, Fla. – May 8, 2026 – Katiana Reyes-Negron has wanted to become a physician since she was in high school. On Tuesday, May 12, she will be the student speaker during South Florida State College’s (SFSC) 2 p.m. spring Commencement ceremony at the Alan Jay Wildstein Center for the Performing Arts on the Highlands Campus in Avon Park. Her dream of becoming a doctor comes closer to reality when she is conferred her Associate in Arts that afternoon.
Reyes-Negron came to the United States from Puerto Rico at age 9, when her mother was offered a job at Avon Park High School as a Spanish teacher. Reyes-Negron graduated from Avon Park High School.
She dreams of becoming an endocrinologist, a doctor that specializes in diagnosing and treating hormone imbalances and disorders of the endocrine system, such as diabetes and thyroid diseases.
“A lot of people in my family have diabetes,” she said. “That made me want to specialize in something that much of my family has struggled with for a while.”
Reyes-Negron’s mother, Maryangeliz Negron, was a particular inspiration for her desire to go into medicine. “My mother passed away with diabetes, was an amputee, and had kidney failure,” she said. “She meant everything to me. She was always there for me. When she passed away in spring 2019, something was missing. I was only 13 at the time and freshly going into high school. I felt a little lost and a little mad. There are so many bad people in this world, but it had to be my mother who was taken.”
Although Reyes-Negron told her mother that she wanted to go into medicine, she didn’t indicate her interest in particular specialization.
Reyes-Negron first learned about endocrinology when she was a child. “I was almost pre-diabetic. So, I went to an endocrinologist who worked with me on nutrition. After my mom passed away, I researched endocrinology.”
Upon graduating from SFSC, Reyes-Negron plans to work on a bachelor’s degree in Health Sciences. She’s already received acceptance communication from universities in Florida and is waiting to hear from others. “I want to get my bachelor’s degree, then take the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) to get into medical school and become a doctor.” Ideally, she’d love to go to medical school at the University of Florida.
Ultimately, Reyes-Negron would like to practice medicine at a hospital. “I want to work in pediatrics, because when I was struggling with pre-diabetes, I was a child,” she said. “I want kids to understand the urgency of living a health life.”
While a student at SFSC, Reyes-Negron had an opportunity to participate in undergraduate research. “Under Dr. Kate Calvin, my organic chemistry professor, my classes researched Pseudoziziphus celata and we presented the results of our studies at the Florida Academy of Sciences Annual Conference at the University of Tampa in March,” she said. Florida Ziziphus is one of the rarest and most endangered plants in Florida, and the woody shrub is endemic to Florida’s Highlands and Polk counties. It maintains a symbiotic relationship with the gopher tortoise.
“I would like to do research in the future that specifically relates to the endocrine system,” Reyes-Negron said.
In addition to being a student at SFSC, she has worked for Dr. Pankaj Patel’s gastroenterology and hepatology practice, scheduling procedures, since December 2025.
“As a student interested in medicine, it gives me more experience, not necessarily medically or hands on, but it gives me medical office experience. I know how to handle insurance and I’m able to schedule people for procedures. It’s a bit closer to what I want to do for a living than many other jobs, and it has been a great opportunity.”
Reyes-Negron encourages others to continue their education. “It’s important to at least have an associate degree,” she said. “If you continue on to a bachelor’s degree, all the better. It’s especially important in today’s economy. You always need to have a backup plan, and education definitely provides a productive one.”
