Odin de los Reyes ’91: Get involved, make connections

One Course At A Time lured the Chicagoan Odin de los Reyes ’91 to Cornell where he majored in chemistry. As a podiatrist in Connecticut, Reyes reflects on how well the block plan prepared him for medical school. 

“It paid off in med school. We studied one system at a time, the integumentary, the respiratory, the digestive system,” he says. “And what made me stay was the relationships I had at Cornell, many friends that I’m still in touch with today.”

Reyes says he’d love to come back and see the new STEM spaces and to reunite with friends like the Beta Omicron group. 

“I always felt welcome at Cornell,” he says. “I don’t think people realize how welcoming it is. My parents were Filipino; their decision to come to the U.S. was the greatest gift to me.” 

His advice to marginalized students is to get involved. Reyes says it’s the same in any professional field. You’ll make connections. Reyes has fond memories of announcing basketball games and learning leadership skills as the intramurals director. 

Reyes ends our conversation by noting that his greatest accomplishments are his two daughters, one a nurse at the top of her class and the other a successful dentist. He works every day with his wife (the manager of his practice), bouncing ideas off of her, and he continues to learn lessons from his patients, who have taught him to embrace his love for his family.