Kimberly Payne(2001 TA:2004)

College/Degrees

State, B.S. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, currently at
University of Pittsburgh for Ph.D. in Integrated Molecular Biology
and teaching minor

Employer/Job Title

University of Pittsburgh graduate student

Accomplishments

Testimonial

Cemented my future in science, exposed me to a variety of areas within science but different from my own, helped my communication and cooperation skills by encouraging working in groups to solve problems with people from different backgrounds and different perspectives, formed lifelong friendships (and future networking contacts), demanded more than I could achieve on my own, and as such encouraged working with others, was much more stimulating than any experience from my small-town school, introduced me to people from a variety of backgrounds and cultures, provided the opportunity for someone from a small school with little money and even less concern for the arts and sciences in the curriculum, exposed me to real research and lab environments (much better than borrowing the vocational-tech class’s chick incubator for our experiment growing bacteria), inspired in me a desire to mentor others in science both in the classroomthrough my teaching minor and in the lab with outreach programs, and finally, it was the only time in my life where I could live up to my full potential and realize just how much I could accomplish.