Graduation Year: 2021

Hometown: Salt Lake City

Major: Biology, minors in English and Chemistry

Graduate or professional degree: not yet

Share your experience with the Honors College:

I decided to join the Honors College for the small class sizes and the unique courses and experiences. I really got all those things! It was refreshing to have a cohort of dedicated students that I interacted with regularly throughout my college career and professors that knew us and supported us along the way. I got to participate in a Praxis Lab (“Behaving Like Animals”) and loved the opportunity to direct and implement a tangible, community project that has informed innumerable experiences following. My honors thesis was a wild ride of learning about the mechanics research projects and the herculean (but well worth it) feat of writing a thesis paper. At the Honors College, my diverse interests in things like biology AND the English language were not seen as incompatible or strange, but celebrated and supported as interdisciplinary and informative. I felt like I was pushed and encouraged to be a well-rounded and critical-thinking student and community member. I am grateful for the unique perspectives and lifelong learning and friends that the Honors College gave me—and all the free food!

Tell us what you’ve been up to or future plans:

I have been working as a full-time substitute teacher for the Salt Lake City School District in K-12 education. I focus on getting youth engaged and excited about STEM. I completed a field season with the US Forest Service and UC Davis studying spotted owls in California. I look forward to tackling graduate school in the not-too-distant future!