Mari’s journey through cancer to finding a passion for law and government  

How Marwah (Mari) Ismail’s passion for people and extreme determination led her beyond a battle with cancer to a bright future, but not the future she initially planned for. 

Mari Ismail knew early on that she wanted to be a doctor. When her family moved to Burnsville in 2016, she was ready to start high school and get involved. She dove into activities like academic and science quiz bowl, upward bound, and other extracurriculars, but it was the spark of knowing that she wanted to pursue a career in medicine that led her to start a chapter of HOSA at Burnsville High School (BHS) alongside Dr. Dempsey. Most everything she did was working towards and building on her dream of being a doctor. 

Taking part in courses offered in the Health Sciences & Human Services Pathway allowed her to grow her knowledge, explore other medical careers and participate in events at the state level with HOSA. Starting at a new school can be hard, but Mari had additional challenges as she dealt with a condition called glaucoma in her left eye, causing her to lose sight in the eye by the end of freshman year. She attributes her ability to complete the required work to her accommodating and patient teachers as well as a great relationship with the school nurse. 

She took a variety of classes at BHS and did well in all of them, but really loved  her medical classes the most as she learned more about the healthcare field. The more she learned, the more she found herself questioning if the goal of becoming a doctor was what she really wanted. 

“HOSA made me realize that maybe I didn’t want to be a doctor but opened up the world to other medical pathways and professions so I could think about other options,” said Mari. “I was so used to being known as Mari who was full of energy and all about being an emergency room doctor, but my horizons started broadening for sure.”

When she graduated from BHS in 2020, she had a plan. She was selected as a QuestBridge College Match Scholar and accepted a full scholarship to Emory University in Atlanta. She spent her first semester focused on her general education courses and found that something interesting was happening, she was enjoying her humanities classes much more than her science classes. 

“I found that I really enjoyed my religion courses so I kept taking them and by the end of my sophomore year I had almost completed the major,” said Mari. “I loved learning about different cultures and religions and as I continued, I knew that if I was going to commit to a graduate-level education that it had to be something that I found really interesting and STEM just wasn't for me. Starting over was a good thing!”

She changed her major to Religion with a minor in Italian after BHS ignited a passion for language with Spanish classes and switched from being pre-med to pre-law. She fully committed to her new goal and landed an internship after her first year of college back in Minnesota with Senator Amy Klobuchar’s office where she worked with constituents, especially Somali constituents on immigration cases. She enjoyed the work but learned that it was hard not to become deeply attached to some of the cases she was working on and that she was also interested in learning more about the legislative side of government. 

The following summer, she made her way to Washington D.C. where she interned for the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation. She was assigned to work for New York Representative and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries as he was transitioning from being the Leader of the House Democratic Caucus to the current House Minority Leader. 

“It was so amazing to see how Congress works especially during a very hectic time in its history and it really showed the good, bad and ugly,” said Mari. “I loved being able to connect with other people and other cultures. I had been used to being the only Somali student in my childhood, but coming to BHS changed that and I really built on that when I went to Emory and in these internships working with constituents.”

As Mari started getting more validation that she had made the right decision on the direction of her life, a challenge arose. After her internship, she fell ill and was diagnosed with a very rare eye cancer. She had always had issues with the eye growing up, but when doctor’s removed the eye, they found more tumors in her neck. She went back to Minnesota for treatment but refused to miss any time at school and worked hard to set up a plan to continue online classes at Emory.

At the end of 2022 after chemotherapy and just days after her last round of radiation, Mari was admitted to the Mayo Clinic ICU to be treated for a pulmonary embolism, a blood clot blockage as well as contracting COVID. Things were not looking good. 

“I was essentially on my deathbed,” said Mari. “One of the few things I remember from that time is jumping on a Zoom meeting with a professor to talk about her spring course and the Italian study abroad program. I was optimistic but maybe also a little delusional, but five days after being discharged from a three week hospital stay, I flew down to Atlanta to start my spring semester.”

It was a tough battle, but she was determined to keep going and optimistic that she could do it. Just a few months after being declared in remission, she was in Italy studying abroad and seeing the wonders of another country and culture. When graduation came in 2024, Mari was able to celebrate maybe a little more than the rest of her classmates knowing what she had overcome and what she had planned for the future. She ended up graduating from Emory summa cum laude (highest honors) with a 4.0 GPA.

Mari had applied to several law school options and received a full merit scholarship to Columbia Law School in New York. She knew it was a no brainer to accept and decided to take a one-year deferment to travel, visit home, and get ready for the intense law school experience. She is keeping her options open on what type of law she will eventually practice, learning from her past of being maybe too committed to one thing. As the first in her family to graduate high school, graduate from college and now to attend law school, she is excited to share her advice with others who may be looking for their purpose. 

“Always explore your passions and find what you are most interested in but don't close off new possibilities,” said Mari. “I like to stay in my comfort zone and that can take away the option to meet new people and find new things. I was focused on one thing but missed out on other ideas and opportunities that I was also curious about. Have a general life plan but don’t be too rigid because life surely doesn’t always go according to plan!”