He did not want to join Greek Life, plain and simple. When Ajay Bezawada first stepped foot on Arizona State University’s (ASU) campus, he, like so many others, had a negative view on fraternities and the whole Greek Life system. He chose to double major in biological science and neuroscience, so his time was scarce to begin with.
But then as he entered his sophomore year, Bezawada witnessed his core group of friends flourish within Lambda Chi Alpha.
“I saw these group of men, and I could see past their letters to who they truly were, and they were people I really saw as role models…and it really just drove me to want to be better, and these group of guys could push me to do things that I wouldn’t be able to do on my own,” said Bezawada.
Currently a junior, Bezawada has accomplished feats far beyond his years, all with the constant support of his brothers. What Bezawada is most proud of, though, is his time spent between three very different labs.
The first lab where he conducts research works to further understand tissue regeneration. With the faculty lead, Bezawada spends hours upon hours conducting tests on fruit flies, of all creatures. As Bezawada explained, fruit flies only have three chromosomes, which are easily manipulated and have many genes which are applicable to humans.
With his research in this lab, Bezawada says the ultimate goal would be regenerating organs eventually. Until then, Bezawada continues to damage tissue to see how to manipulate it to regenerate.
In addition to tissue regeneration, Bezawada just began a second lab with a Nobel Prize- winning professor where they study sensory perception.
“Science research is so vast, but there is so little known about how our actual basic senses work,” said Bezawada. “They are obviously the most integral parts of who we are.”
Though the work becomes challenging at times, Bezawada diligently pours himself into understanding peripheral vision and how it impacts our every day life. Because his work just started this semester with peripheral vision, Bezawada is still developing research ideas.
But Bezawada’s biggest accomplishment, by far, remains his top-secret work in ASU’s Luminosity Lab. Similar to Google’s innovation lab, Bezawada’s work revolves around pushing forward health care and artificial intelligence, to name a few things. The lab is purely student run, helping fuel his ability to create and revolutionize ideas. As a pre-med student, Bezawada realizes that his career will soon revolve around the application of skills, more so than the memorization of facts.
“Something that I think is very vital to becoming not even just a good doctor, but progressing science has to be research, because research is where every new discovery is essentially made,” said Bezawada.
With all that Bezawada has accomplished, he admits, with a laugh, that sometimes it is hard to believe how far he has come.
“Looking back, if I told my freshman-year self I could have done all this, I would not have bought it,” said Bezawada. “But I believe in the saying, ‘If you want to do something, you will find time to do it.'”.
Though his days are consumed with various research and preparation for becoming the best doctor he can be, Bezawada continues to fall back on the support system of Lambda Chi Alpha.
“I grew tremendously the first year in the fraternity, just learning more about myself and really starting to form this bond with people who I could have throughout all times,” said Bezawada. “Once I got past the moral development, the personal development, and the time management, which I thought was all crucial, from there on it has been about support.”
As Bezawada moves into the final phases of his undergraduate life, he is eager to stay connected with the fraternity, but more so, start a lifetime of service.
“It’s not that I need to be the one person who is the face of change, but I want to be someone who can inspire 100 other people to make their own change.”
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