You’ve done a lot in your time at Emory & Henry in a relatively short time.  What would you say has enabled you to be successful?

I try to work hard in everything that I do, but I am mostly thankful for my friends that remind me that balance is a good thing, the support the professors have shown me in my career goals, and the opportunities E&H has afforded me. Ultimately, once I realized that I had a home here where I could just “nerd out” about science and a supportive community about me, things just sort of fell into place.

What advice would you give those who are thinking about majoring in chemistry?

I honestly wasn’t going to pursue chemistry my first year but ended up enjoying the challenge it presented. Chemistry is an enlightening major with fantastic professors and students.

My advice: Chemistry is a difficult subject but possible to understand with practice, a touch of dedication, and a pinch of patience (especially in lab). 

 Can you tell us a little about your summer experiences while at Emory?

Over the summer of 2018,  Madison Jackson, and I completed a 10 week astrophysics research project creating a galactic rotation curve for and plotting neutral hydrogen in the Milky Way at Virginia Tech. It was nothing less than a challenge, as we had only taken elementary physics and neither of us had taken astronomy; I had, additionally, never laid eyes on a radio telescope before, but I am nothing less than thankful for the opportunity. I experienced a different viewpoint in studying natural phenomena and gained an understanding and appreciation for collaborative research and learning. It was a steep learning curve, but I got to be a physicist for a summer, gained a brilliant friend, and overcoming that challenge was the most rewarding feeling ever.

This summer I will take part in the Massachusetts General Hospital for Children’s Digestive Disease Summer Research Program in Boston and am looking forward to shifting my efforts toward subject areas in medicine that I hope to work with in the future.