“My liberal arts education provided me with the opportunity to gain other skills outside of scientific labs and scientific writing… .”
Lives in: Durham, NC
Major: Biochemistry
What work looks like: “I work for a medical technology company that is a leader in healthcare. In the Early Research and Development Center, we help identify unmet needs and conduct early-stage research on new healthcare technologies before they are moved into product development. I am currently working on a cancer diagnostic test.”
What she loves about it: “I love the people I work with and having the ability to contribute to new technologies that can help people. Working at a large medical technology company allows me to see the true impact we are making in terms of helping health care workers provide better care and helping patients get better care.”
What she gained from a liberal arts education: “My liberal arts education provided me with the opportunity to gain other skills outside of scientific labs and scientific writing, like the ability to communicate my thoughts, ideas, and findings. In my writing classes, I had to learn how to express myself and my thoughts in a creative, compelling way, something that has helped me be able to talk at professional conferences and give seminars. In an acting class I took, I had to get comfortable with public speaking, which helped me gain confidence to give talks to large audiences. And by taking economics, philosophy, Honors College, and many other types of classes, I was able to practice communicating topics I was not so familiar with.”