Feb. 17, 2026 — Growing up in Cameroon and the first in her family to pursue a career in medicine, Arielle Ayotte had to forge her own path, aiming to care for populations who lacked medical resources.

“I was raised by missionary parents and saw how they dedicated their lives to service,” Ayotte said. “From a young age, I knew I wanted to provide health care to those who need it most.”

She also grew up in a community centered around a culture of generosity — one where people share what little they have with those around them. Contributing to these traditions, Ayotte went on global health trips, tutored low-income students interested in medicine and worked with a friend to create a nonprofit that fundraised over $15,000 to send more than 20 orphans to school.

“Growing up in disadvantaged areas made me feel grateful for the opportunities I had and inspired me to use my knowledge and skills to help others,” she said. “Even though we had removed a huge barrier for these children receiving an education, if they were not healthy, nothing else mattered. This confirmed for me how important health care is.”

Now a fourth-year medical student at the University of Florida College of Medicine, Ayotte is the first recipient of the Dr. Richard T. Smith and Jean W. Smith Scholarship, the College of Medicine’s largest merit-based scholarship endowment, awarded annually to a rising third-year medical student. The scholarship served as confirmation to Ayotte that her dedication had not gone unnoticed.

“When the ward is full and the morning is busy, Dr. Lynch still takes time to speak with each patient,” she said. “He sits beside them with a hand on their shoulder and gets to know them as a person.”

During her preclinical years, Ayotte learned how to distinguish different skin conditions and treatment options for various cancers. She quickly realized practicing medicine with a humane perspective meant recognizing how a patient feels walking around with a skin condition — or how it feels to receive a cancer diagnosis at a young age.

“The humane perspective looks past the medicine and looks at the person,” Ayotte said. “It leads the physician to ask about who the patient is outside of the hospital — what they do, what they care about — and then treat them the way we would treat a loved one.”

With the aid of the Smith Scholarship, Ayotte found a sense of encouragement and financial freedom to focus on what matters most to her: learning everything she can to care for her future patients.

“Every time I meet members of the Smith family, I am touched by their support and generosity,” Ayotte said. “I am so thankful for their donation and honored I was selected to receive this scholarship.”