When I was asked to apply to the LSS program at UVM, I still wasn’t even sure where I was going to college. It was already April, and Decision Day was coming faster than I could make up my mind. I knew that choosing a college was not something to be taken lightly, but anyone who knows me knows that I’m indecisive when it comes to simple things—so this would be impossible. In the end, it was my application and acceptance to the Life Science Scholars program that made me commit to UVM—and it was the best decision I’ve ever made.
Being a part of the Liberal Arts Scholars Program meant getting to live in a suite—an exciting prospect for many reasons. The best thing about living in a suite, besides not having to share your bathroom with a whole floor of people, is the connections you make. I was incredibly nervous on move-in day, and it wasn’t just because I’d gotten lost in the building about four times before finally finding my room. I had anxieties about making friends, fitting in, finding my place, etc. as I’m sure many students do. But the girls living in the double next to my single became some of my best friends almost instantly. We made stuffed animals together, stood in line for free hydroflasks for about an hour before leaving empty-handed, and went on the coldest and most boring cruise ever—all before Week of Welcome was even over. We even adopted an honorary suite member, my future roommate Nicole, who we also met through the Life Science Scholars program. We went to Montreal, a rite of passage for UVM freshmen, cried about chemistry, played Mario Kart, watched the Hockey team lose, watched the Basketball team win and, of course, went skiing.
But besides the great friends and ridiculous memories I’ll always treasure, the LSS program gave me opportunities I could never find elsewhere. We spent our first semester taking a class about Nobel Prize Winners with Dr. Brian Ballif, where we learned about the methods behind prize-winning science, the results and implications of different experiments and most importantly, in my opinion, how to read and write in science. The class was informative, engrossing, and even entertaining. Because the class was a TAP class, Dr. Ballif was also our advisor, and helped me out more times than I can count this year. When it came time to register for classes for the spring semester, I was clueless. I went into his office with no idea what I was doing, and left with a full schedule, including the second half of the LSS Program—CURE. Dr. May-Collado, the program director, was also the course instructor for CURE, which stands for Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience. In the course, we got to do our own research analyzing marine soundscapes—my partner and I looked at toadfish ‘boops’—and then present that research at UVM’s Student Research Conference. Although the conference was a little unorthodox this year, I still had an amazing research experience with Dr. May-Collado, and I learned a lot about what it really means to be a scientist doing research. Despite what the media may have led you to believe, science is social, collaborative, and creative. The people I’ve met and the experiences I’ve had my first year at UVM are irreplaceable, and I wouldn’t trade them for the world.
Being a part of the Liberal Arts Scholars Program meant getting to live in a suite—an exciting prospect for many reasons. The best thing about living in a suite, besides not having to share your bathroom with a whole floor of people, is the connections you make. I was incredibly nervous on move-in day, and it wasn’t just because I’d gotten lost in the building about four times before finally finding my room. I had anxieties about making friends, fitting in, finding my place, etc. as I’m sure many students do. But the girls living in the double next to my single became some of my best friends almost instantly. We made stuffed animals together, stood in line for free hydroflasks for about an hour before leaving empty-handed, and went on the coldest and most boring cruise ever—all before Week of Welcome was even over. We even adopted an honorary suite member, my future roommate Nicole, who we also met through the Life Science Scholars program. We went to Montreal, a rite of passage for UVM freshmen, cried about chemistry, played Mario Kart, watched the Hockey team lose, watched the Basketball team win and, of course, went skiing.
But besides the great friends and ridiculous memories I’ll always treasure, the LSS program gave me opportunities I could never find elsewhere. We spent our first semester taking a class about Nobel Prize Winners with Dr. Brian Ballif, where we learned about the methods behind prize-winning science, the results and implications of different experiments and most importantly, in my opinion, how to read and write in science. The class was informative, engrossing, and even entertaining. Because the class was a TAP class, Dr. Ballif was also our advisor, and helped me out more times than I can count this year. When it came time to register for classes for the spring semester, I was clueless. I went into his office with no idea what I was doing, and left with a full schedule, including the second half of the LSS Program—CURE. Dr. May-Collado, the program director, was also the course instructor for CURE, which stands for Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience. In the course, we got to do our own research analyzing marine soundscapes—my partner and I looked at toadfish ‘boops’—and then present that research at UVM’s Student Research Conference. Although the conference was a little unorthodox this year, I still had an amazing research experience with Dr. May-Collado, and I learned a lot about what it really means to be a scientist doing research. Despite what the media may have led you to believe, science is social, collaborative, and creative. The people I’ve met and the experiences I’ve had my first year at UVM are irreplaceable, and I wouldn’t trade them for the world.