My time at Agnes Scott College has certainly been an educational one.
I started my undergraduate career at the height of the COVID pandemic in 2020 and 2021. I was so sure that I wanted to become a veterinarian when I graduated, I almost blinded myself to other paths. That is, until I took a marine biology course with a trusted professor. We traveled to Roatan to study coral reefs. I fell in love with the ocean and decided to change my career course to marine biology.
After many experiences I decided to apply to many graduate schools in marine conservation. While I am still waiting on the results, it is important to take time to reflect back on my undergraduate experience.
Throughout the many classes I’ve taken, my favorites were always the classes that dealt with the environment or the inter-workings of organisms. In this picture, I am holding a human brain that was presented to me in my Foundations of Neuroscience course. This was extremely educational in learning about the specific functions of each part of the brain. Having information on the form and function of the brain was useful once I started the research portion of this class involving crayfish. We looked at heat stress and aggression within crayfish. The class I took in fall of 2023 was a counterpart to a medical and behavioral neuroscience course I took the semester beforehand in spring 2023. In the previous course, we worked with ASD model mice in order to find out if the probiotic L. reuteri had an effect on autistic behavior. Our results were inconclusive.
One of the reasons I attended Agnes Scott College was because of their focus on hands-on learning and small class sizes. In the picture below I am working on fertilizing Ciona robusta in order to finish the genetic research on the DCLK gene in spring semester 2023. In the second photo, I am working with my colleagues on tracking the bird biodiversity in the Atlanta forests. These research experiences were part of two different labs which focused on undergraduate recruitment. Both of these had a classroom element attached as well so these experiences counted for class credit.
While these experiences in the lab and field were beneficial to my career development, none was more influential than the marine biology class I took in the spring semester of 2022.
The marine biology course introduced me to the many types of subfields in marine biology. Topic like marine diseases involving corals to marine conservation and coastal development were discussed in the classroom before we all packed up and headed to both the Georgia coast and Honduras to observe these phenomenons. With this experience, I found my current path on investigating marine diseases which I plan on pursuing into graduate school.
I am glad my college provided me with all these wonderful experiences. During my graduation ceremony I had mixed feelings about leaving my alma mater. I had underclassmen take over my ongoing project on bird biodiversity through the Kovacs lab and I made sure any lose ends were tied in before I left, but I will sorely miss being a part of undergraduate research. My experiences through Agnes Scott College were priceless, and the connections I made will help me throughout my entire life.
I am proud to be a graduate of the December class of 2023. On to bigger and brighter horizons!
