Tell us about yourself. Where do you attend college, and what is your focus?

I went to Vanderbilt University for my bachelor's degree in chemical and biomolecular engineering and graduated magna cum laude last May. I’m currently attending the University of Chicago for graduate school as a Ph.D. candidate in their molecular engineering program. My thesis will focus on developing new methods of water purification to help drought-stricken areas.

Why did you choose your colleges?

I chose Vanderbilt for many reasons. One of the biggest reasons was that I was a Cornelius Vanderbilt Scholar, which is a full tuition scholarship. I felt like Vanderbilt provided me with a very well-rounded education in addition to the excellent engineering knowledge that I gained. Nashville was also an excellent location with a very fun culture with many events that are easily accessible to Vanderbilt students. Also, it was fairly close to Atlanta so that I could easily visit home when I wanted. Woodward also has an excellent relationship with Vanderbilt so I had many friends from Atlanta who were also going to Vanderbilt. It was a great experience and set me up very well to succeed. I chose to attend the University of Chicago to continue my education because of the unique opportunities at the Institute for Molecular Engineering. A program like this one has never existed in the United States. It approaches problems from an interdisciplinary angle. The program focuses on the largest problems that face our planet and then adapts the curriculum to provide each student with the specific skill set they will need to tackle whichever problem they hope to solve. This new approach has dissolved the borders between engineering departments, enabling insights from various perspectives. This philosophy has attracted some of the greatest minds in science to teach at this university. I chose the molecular engineering program so that I could learn from these incredible people.

“Woodward North gave me a very strong foundation of basic principles and the small class size allowed me to form extremely close bonds with people who are still some of my closest friends. I found my transition to college a lot easier due to my experience at Woodward.”

What are your plans for the future?

I hope to continue to research groundbreaking areas. I hope that through my research I will be able to develop novel water purification technology and bring it to market after I finish my Ph.D. This will be a continuation of the path that I started during my sophomore year at Woodward when I applied to the Independent Science Research (ISR) program. The unique opportunities that ISR provided me laid the foundation upon which I have built the rest of my career.

Looking back, do you feel that Woodward prepared you well for college and life?

Woodward North gave me a very strong foundation of basic principles and the small class size allowed me to form extremely close bonds with people who are still some of my closest friends. I found my transition to college a lot easier due to my experience at Woodward. Because classes at Woodward are spread out between various buildings, I was used to walking across campus to get to class on time and never missed class freshman year. I also found that Woodward prepared me for the difficulty of Vanderbilt's classes. I found that the workload was easily manageable with the skills that I had developed during AP classes at Woodward. The plethora of AP level classes at Woodward enabled me to get a strong start at Vanderbilt by allowing me to place out of many prerequisite classes. I was able to take electives that were of greater interest to me and was able to graduate with a minor in engineering management and a minor in nanotechnology and nanoscience. However, the most important aspect of Woodward's education, to me, was my experience in the Independent Science Research program. This program enabled me to begin research very early on through a collaboration with the Georgia Institute of Technology. I learned important skills about scientific communication that still serve me well to this day. My presentation skills improved immensely, and I am now one of the best presenters in my lab. The project that I finished during that time is still a proud point on my resume that helped get me into Vanderbilt as well as the University of Chicago. ISR was the beginning of my career in science.

Are there any special memories/teachers/friendships from your Woodward experience that you would like to share?

I have many wonderful memories from my time at Woodward from bonding with friends on the long bus rides down to Main Campus to the senior celebration of never having to wear a uniform again. One of the best of these memories was when I first got to use Woodward's electron microscope. After I finished my training on how to use it, I was told that I was now the second person in the school who knew how to use it. That was just an incredibly cool thing to me. Another of my favorite memories was when I won the Most Intelligent Senior superlative along with my good friend, Lachlan Busby. As part of the senior superlatives, each of the pairs had to do a photoshoot with the yearbook staff that was representative of the superlative we had won. For this shoot, Lachlan and I decided that we wanted to look like mad scientists. We talked to Mr. Dietz, who had been our 8th grade science teacher, to borrow his multicolored lab coats. Then, we borrowed glassware from our chemistry teacher and filled it with dry ice and food coloring to make our mad science solutions. Concocting all of that was a lot of fun.