The John and Rochelle Gray scholarship was created by Dr. John Gray and Rochelle Gray to support Honors College students at the University of Nevada, Reno who aspire to attend medical school. Recipients are selected through the University's general scholarship application process and eligible students are considered by the Honors College Scholarship Committee. With a focus on Nevada residents, first-generation students and those with financial need, the scholarship aims to address Nevada’s physician shortage.

The John and Rochelle Gray Scholarship was introduced as a way to repay an act of kindness that once helped shape UNR Med alumnus and Reno physician Dr. John Gray's path to medicine. Inspired by a mentor who saw potential in him decades ago, the scholarship encourages the same kind of determination and resilience in students that Gray had to develop.

Scholarship recipients Jessica Gonzalez and Angela Wang reflect the same sense of perseverance that once shaped Gray's own path.

When Gray reflected on his journey to medical school, he described it as “very improbable.” Gray entered college as a first-generation student. He started his career earning a degree in business administration at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, before realizing he wasn’t fulfilled.

“I decided to try medicine,” he said. He never knew that one day he would become a physician — let alone establish a scholarship to help others follow the same path.

This year’s recipients, Gonzalez and Wang, embody that vision in different but equally powerful ways.

Gonzalez grew up in Lovelock, Nevada, in a family of Mexican immigrants. Neither of her parents graduated from high school, but from an early age, Gonzalez felt drawn to medicine.

“I really just feel like I was born to be a doctor,” she said. “I feel it in my heart.”

Her motivation is both personal and communal. Aware of the underrepresentation of Latinos in healthcare, she hopes to become a physician and an inspiration. “I want to not only be a part of that percentage, but be a reason for it to grow.”

Her journey hasn’t been linear. During high school, her family faced challenges that deeply impacted her focus.

“There’s a lot of fear that comes with being an immigrant family,” she said.

At one point, the weight of her circumstances made Gonzalez question her direction. But her teacher Thomas Brook’s advice stayed with her: don’t let what you can’t control destroy what you can.

“Life is going to throw hardships at you regardless,” Gonzalez said. “If you let one hardship end your dream, you won’t make it.” She chose to keep going.

For Gonzalez, success isn’t defined by income or prestige. “If I could even inspire one more person to not give up on their dreams, that would be success to me,” she said.

Wang’s introduction to healthcare, however, began in a clinic waiting room rather than a classroom.

“When I was maybe five years old, my mom was holding a translator up to the doctor,” she recalled. “She was panicking.” 

As the child of immigrant parents in Las Vegas, Wang often translated medical information for her family. “I’m eight years old,” she said. “Why am I translating medications for my parents? This is not okay.”

Rather than turning away from frustration, she leaned into it. “I was never the type to run away from something that I felt was bad,” she said. “It was more like, why not fix it?”

At the University, Wang quickly immersed herself in research and now plans to pursue an MD-Ph.D., hoping to influence both patient care and scientific discovery.

“I don’t just want to sit in an office,” she said. “I want to be scientifically involved.”

Her resilience was tested during her freshman year when her mother was hospitalized unexpectedly. Wang couldn’t fly home and considered leaving school.

“I remember waking up some mornings thinking, I’m going to drop out,” she said.

But during a phone call, her father told her, “Get your good grades. Go to school. Stop worrying about this.” Even in crisis, her parents’ priority was her education.

“That just completely touched me,” she said. “Their biggest worry was my success.”

She stayed, and she preserved.

For Wang, success is simple: “If I grow up and can sit at a table with people I love and have a good life — that's success,” she said.

Here, the John and Rochelle Gray Scholarship is more than financial support. It is an investment in students whose paths may feel improbable, but whose determination makes them inevitable.

Thanks to Gonzalez and Wang, that belief is already taking shape.