When Elisabeth Roadcap came to UVM it was in the middle of the worst health disaster in modern memory.  So, starting in the Microbiology and Molecular Genetics department had a unique urgency.  It was with the Covid pandemic as a backdrop that she entered this unique program, which is housed in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS), with courses taught by faculty from both CALS and the Robert Larner, M.D. College of Medicine.  Elisabeth summarizes what having the MMG program in both colleges meant for her education, “Just being able to have those really helpful and smart people from both of those environments work with me, both in the classroom and advising me about my interests, has been really helpful. They're extremely knowledgeable, so it's inspiring to hear what they're passionate about, but they also have been such great resources for helping me find what I want to do and what I love about research.”

Elisabeth graduated at the top of her class from high school and describes herself as being “very academically driven.” Still, she was nervous about how competitive the culture of MMG might be.  Many students choose the MMG department because they plan to apply to medical school, and so she wondered if those ambitions would create a competitive vibe.  She need not have worried because she found her classmates to be both diverse in interests and mutually supportive, “Everyone had different end goals, and even if ultimately several of my classmates wanted to go to Med school, it wasn't that we were all directly competing with each other, because all of our paths were going to look different. So, it was more that we were all learning the same things but to get to different endpoints.”

In fact, she found that some of her most valuable learnings came from other students, “I think a lot of my learning has taken place outside the classroom with other students. The relationships that I've made, as well as learning about who I am as a person. There's a lot of self-development that goes on while you're in college. I think being open to that and really exploring other people's perspectives and helping each other is most beneficial.  I’d suggest not coming into college with a competitive mindset, even if that's what you're used to from your high school experience.”

She also felt a connection with her faculty, some of whom also served as her academic advisors and all of whom she considered career mentors. “I think MMG's advising is unmatched at UVM from what I've heard from some of my friends across the university. It's been really personalized, and my professors really seemed invested in me and to care what I was interested in -- and all the students really --trying to understand what we wanted to learn. It was so nice to have advisors who were also our professors over multiple classes and to feel like they recognized us, that they actually knew us, as people.”

For all of her remarkable academic achievements Elisabeth summarizes her UVM experience by other criteria, “It’s just been such a fun time.  I can’t believe it’s ending. So many good memories of the past four years!”