Margeaux Stapleton ’26 is saying yes.
Before her time abroad this summer and fall as Wofford’s 2025-26 Presidential International Scholar, Stapleton promised herself that she would dive headfirst into new experiences, even if they scared her.
“You can’t be a better person if you stay inside your comfort box. Sometimes the best lessons come from being present,” says Stapleton, a biology and Spanish double major on the pre-med track from Leesville, South Carolina.
Stapleton is researching how cultural practices and traditions around birth impact outcomes for preterm babies and special needs children across three continents. She has known that she wanted to be a neonatologist since childhood.
“I grew up on a farm. I remember taking care of tiny barn kittens that were born with different conditions,” she says. “I have always been attracted to little ones who needed extra love.” Stapleton’s work with Wofford Companions, a student organization that hosts monthly events for community members with special needs, also shaped her research interests for this project.
So far, Stapleton has been to India and Thailand and is currently living in the Dominican Republic. In each country, she shadows neonatal units and conducts interviews with doctors, nurses, psychologists, teachers and legal guardians of premature babies and children with special needs. All her interviews in the Dominican Republic have been in Spanish, giving her a chance to practice her language proficiency. She also has had chances to speak Haitian Creole, which she learned at young age to communicate with her younger sister who was adopted from Haiti.
Stapleton says that transitioning between different cultures is not without its challenges.
“There is an aspect of sadness every time I leave a country,” she says. “During week one in a new place, you have to learn how to say hello again, how the transportation system works. You want to jump right in and be productive, but you just have to be. My biggest advice to other study abroad students is to be OK with sadness and lean into those feelings as they come.”
One of the most intriguing things Stapleton says she has noticed in her research is how cultural norms and behaviors impact medical protocols. She found that neonatal units in India and the Dominican Republic prescribe less medication to premature infants, and she says that Thai culture values “saving face” and enduring through difficult situations.
“I have seen women labor for hours with less medication than they might prescribe in the United States,” she says. “One patient was in labor for a long time, past the time when they would typically perform a C-section in the U.S., but she delivered the baby.”
Stapleton says that her favorite moments during her travels are when feels she is making a difference. Her internship in India — where she built relationships with the neonatal unit staff despite a language barrier — ended with a celebratory dinner where the doctors and nurses gave speeches in English about how much they enjoyed working with her. They also signed Stapleton’s copy of “Oh, the Places You’ll Go” by Dr. Seuss, a gift from her aunt for her trip. Her latest interviews in the Dominican Republic were motivating, with mothers and grandmothers of special needs children telling her that research like hers is needed.
“I didn’t come here to change the world,” she says. “I just want to give these parents and guardians a platform to share their experiences.”
Stapleton’s final stop will be Ghana in December. She will live with her host family from a previous study abroad experience. “It is like my home away from home. Ghanian culture makes my heart beat,” she says.
Ultimately, Stapleton wants her research to guide how she approaches medical school and, eventually, how she practices once she becomes a physician.
“I hope this research will shine light on the fact that quality medical care is important for everyone, that every patient is human and has certain beliefs and that’s OK,” she says. “When I go to medical school, I will be aware of that now, and I’m so grateful to Wofford for the experience.”
Stapleton has documented her journey on her Instagram page, where she shares highlights from her time in each country.
To learn more about past Presidential International Scholars, click here.