Amanda Penichet first learned the power of reading aloud from her grandmother, Mimi, who came to Los Angeles from Cuba on a visa to care for her and her older brother.
As Penichet’s parents, both Cuban physicians who immigrated to Los Angeles in 1995, worked to rebuild their medical careers in a new country, Mimi nurtured the children, passing on life lessons, culture, art and Cuban cuisine.
“In my earliest memories of poetry and medicine, I’m sitting at my abuela’s kitchen counter,” said Penichet, who is graduating from UCLA with a degree in psychobiology. “She would read me Cuban poetry, especially the verses of José Martí, while slicing plantains and stirring black beans.”
Those early experiences led to a lifelong love of reading for the trilingual Penichet, which sparked a volunteer passion project she would go on to develop at UCLA: the “Inspiration Station,” a bilingual (English-Spanish) bedside reading program. During her time as a Bruin, Penichet launched the project for pediatric patients at UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center.
“The hospital can be intimidating and isolating for patients of any age, but for some pediatric patients, language barriers make it even harder to feel comfortable or cared for in a place that already feels unfamiliar,” she said.
Establishing the “Inspiration Station,” the first program of its kind at a UCLA hospital, wasn’t easy. Penichet faced numerous logistical and institutional challenges — from navigating COVID-19-era safety protocols to spearheading fundraising efforts — all within her first few months as an undergraduate Bruin.
Choosing the books to be featured, however, was simple. Penichet curated a collection that included a range of reading levels, books in multiple languages and — most meaningfully — poetry collections that Mimi once read to her.
“Many of the kids I work with don’t know how to communicate what they’re feeling, or they might not feel comfortable doing so,” Penichet said. “My goal is to take them places through storytelling and to remind them they can always return to the books we read whenever they need a break from reality.”
Penichet's “Inspiration Station” has earned her some of UCLA’s highest student honors, including a 2022 Charles E. Young Humanitarian Award, the 2024 True Bruin Distinguished Senior Award, and the 2025 UCLA Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Student Leadership Award. She has also taken on leadership roles as president of Spanish In Healthcare and co-president of Hablamos Juntos, two student organizations focused on supporting Spanish-speaking communities through medical outreach and early childhood language development.
Since completing her academic studies a quarter early, Penichet has also been working in the pediatric intensive care unit at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and at Helen Evans Home, a long-term care facility that provides care for children with developmental disabilities. Next, she plans to apply to medical school, including at — you guessed it — UCLA.
After all, it’s the place that helped Penichet chart her own path and fully understand the profound responsibility of caring for others, as well as being able to draw on her own unique journey to provide patients with comfort and respect.
“Respect all ties back to delivering culturally competent care,” she said. “My use of Spanish has not only been a tool for me to communicate with the Latinx community in my capacities as a student and now as a health care professional, but it’s also a way to connect with my culture, my identity and Mimi. She set me on this path, and it’s led me to discover what I want to do with my life.”
