“This scholarship has lifted a tremendous weight off of my family’s shoulders and has opened up so many fantastic opportunities for me.”
How have you been enjoying your major? Are there any professors whose classes have changed or challenged you?
Neuroscience excites me more and more with every class I take. I particularly loved the Fundamentals of Neuroscience sequence I took as a second-year, where we were given a thorough introduction to systems and cellular neuroscience. This sequence gave me a great foundation for future neuroscience classes in undergraduate and, hopefully, medical school.
What activities are you involved with outside the classroom? Have you had any leadership roles in your extracurriculars?
I’m involved in the Neuroscience Education, University Research, and Outreach (NEURO) Club where I help teach introductory neuroscience courses and lead sheep brain dissections for high schoolers in the Hyde Park area. I wish that I had the opportunity to learn neuroscience when I was in high school, so I really love seeing the students’ excitement for the material and hearing their great questions. I also work in the Awh-Vogel neuroelectrophysiology lab on campus, where I help conduct EEG experiments to research attention and working memory. Last summer I used my Metcalf internship to work in this lab and was able to produce an entire project to completion working with a post-doc, and present my data to my peers in the program. In terms of nonscience activities, I am a performer in the UChicago Wind Ensemble where I enjoy playing the flute and piccolo.
How do you expect to spend your last summer as a UChicago student?
I’m hoping to do some neuroscience research this summer, either through the Awh-Vogel lab where I work on campus, or with another research facility elsewhere in the world. I’m currently applying for scholarships at facilities in Paris, Belgium and Nigeria and hope to hear back soon.
If you could speak directly to the person whose gift supported your scholarship, what would you say?
I want to extend my profound thanks for making the opportunity to study at an incredible institution like UChicago possible for me and other students in difficult financial situations. Without scholarships like this, I wouldn’t have been able to attend college and pursue my dream of becoming a neurologist to help eradicate neurodegenerative diseases. This scholarship has lifted a tremendous weight off of my family’s shoulders, and has opened up so many fantastic opportunities for me, which I plan to make the absolute most of during my time here. Thank you so much!
