Why was the School of Engineering the right place for you?
I had hands-on experience working in a biology lab in high school, and I loved it. I even got in trouble once, because I skipped one of my lectures to go to the lab. I just loved building things-design, physics, and mechanics-and it seemed like biomedical engineering would be a good path for me.
Tufts has been great because of the opportunities I’ve had here. For example, during the spring of my first year, I reached out to Madeleine Oudin to see if she’d be willing to take on an undergrad in her lab. I’d heard that some professors don’t invite first-years into their labs, but she was open and encouraging. That was in 2020, so, because of the pandemic, I ended up not joining in person, but I was invited to many virtual events the lab was holding: meetings, thesis defenses, talks by grad students.
The following summer, when I started working in the lab full-time, I already had the background I needed and I knew the people involved, so it was an easy integration for me. The whole experience helped me get comfortable with higher-level research. I was lucky to be able to learn the basics without the stress of having to be perfect the first time. I got to ease my way into advanced college research and eventually make significant contributions to the lab’s research, and I’m not sure if that’s an opportunity I would have had anywhere else.
What accomplishment at Tufts are you most proud of?
I’m a TA in the physics department, and for the past three years I’ve held my own office hours. I’m proud of the one-on-one interactions I’ve had with other students-but most proud of the times I’ve successfully gotten them to enjoy physics! Not many people like physics, but I love it, and it makes me happy when a student I’m teaching realizes that they get what’s going on, or when there’s a student who never speaks at the start of the semester but then toward the end feels comfortable sharing their ideas. I’m always proud of myself-and of my students!-when I help people enjoy the subject.
What’s your superpower?
I’m really good at cranking things out when I need to. I can stay up for 48 hours if I need to, to get everything done.
