What is your current occupation?
Dual PhD student (Physics and Quantitative Biology with a concentration in molecular biophysics) at Michigan State University
What led you to your current occupation?
I took an interest in science early, and by the time I got to Concordia I had done a bit of biology research at IU through a summer program, and had a vested interest in becoming a research scientist. Around the time I graduated from Concordia I shadowed a local doctor who recommended I go to school for engineering or physics, then transition during grad school. This partially led to me enrolling in a dual degree program between Colgate and Columbia universities for physics and engineering (specifically bioengineering). At Colgate I developed an interest in physics, deciding to stay the full 4 years there, and ultimately worked on 2 biophysics research projects which would become my theses (one of which was just accepted for publication). My senior year at Colgate, I applied to a number of universities who had labs that interested me in the field of biophysics, and that’s how I ended up at the Comstock Lab at Michigan State University.
What was your education after Concordia?
I got a degree majoring in Physics and minoring in Philosophy at Colgate University (2017-2021 spring), and I started my PhD in the fall of 2021 at MSU.
What did you love most about CLHS?
At Concordia, I felt a strong sense of unity. I had transferred from Snider at the beginning of my junior year in the fall of 2015, and the thing I needed most when I did transfer was community -- a place to belong. I feel like I found a strong community at Concordia, people who cared about me and who I cared about.
What advice would you pass along to students?
Never think you aren’t enough. Fight to better yourself every day, in whatever way you can.