Formative Years
I was born on December 3, 1985 in the small town of Hazlehurst, Mississippi, and was raised in the nearby town of Brookhaven, Mississippi. In keeping with the "it takes a village to raise a child" mentality, I was raised by a team of strong women: my mother, grandmother, and three aunts. I was a curious child who read voraciously and adored telling long, involved, tangent-filled stories.
In school I quickly found two loves: public speaking and science. I began speaking in public as early as the second grade with a lead role in the school play and a speaker's part in the graduation ceremony. Between those two applause-filled events, I was hooked. When I wasn't speaking for a crowd, I was putting my linguistic chops to use convincing my teachers to let me bring my most recently discovered (read: swiped from Beakman's World or Mister Wizard's World) "experiment" to show the class. I did quite well in school, finding most of my classes (with the notable exception of the gifted program we called Quest) a bit boring.
Around junior high I picked up a few hobbies that have stuck with me ever since: web design (sadly not a lot of progress has been made there), computer buildilng, and being a "foodie." I have the wonderful team of my aunt Charlotte and uncle Buddy to thank for that last one, as they were always eager to show me new and exotic foods. I also picked up one of my more peculiar quirks in 7th grade when, after simultaneously reading Michio Kaku's Hyperspace for pleasure and Willie Morris's My Dog Skip for class, I stopped voluntarily reading fiction books. I haven't looked back since.
High School Years
My high school career saw the continuation and expansion of the loves from my formative years. The vast majority of my time outside of class was devoted to public speaking in the forms of National Forensic League and Mock Trial competitions. I qualified for national speaking competitions the last three years of high school, travelling to Charlotte, North Carolina; Atlanta, Georgia; and Salt Lake City, Utah respectively.
What little remained of my free time was evenly divided between state and international Hugh O'Brian Youth (HOBY) Leadership Conferences, Scholars Bowl, Science Olympiad, National Science Bowl, and becoming an Eagle Scout with Boy Scout Troop 911. I graduated as Valedictorian of Brookhaven High School in May of 2004. I wore my geek badge with pride.
Undergraduate Years
In the fall of 2004 I enrolled at the University of Mississippi as a member of the nationally recognized Sally McDonnel Barksdale Honors College. With four years of success in debate and mock trial under my belt, I began my undergraduate career as a double major in political science and biochemistry, with the intention of going to law school and becoming a public health policy analyst/lobbyist/consultant. However, I quickly realized that I hated going to my political science classes and loved going to my chemistry classes, so I changed to a biochemistry/pre-med major. That lasted about a month before I was honest with myself and admitted that I didn't want to be a doctor, at which point I changed my major to chemistry and stuck with it.
I quickly developed a love for organic chemistry, and continue to nurture that love to this day. As a freshman I began research in the organic chemistry laboratory of Dr. Daniell Mattern, working on perylene bisimide donor-sigma-acceptor compounds. I continued this work through my sophomore year, when a summer research experience (NSF REU program) in MIT's Department of Biological Engineering helped me discover (or rediscover, some would say) my love of biology. While at MIT, I worked in Dr. Peter Dedon's laboratory studying the effects of nitric oxide on human colon cells. This fascinating project produced a poster that was shown at the 2007 Biomedical Engineering Society Fall Conference, and formed the basis of my senior honors thesis, both of which can be found in my portfolio.
During my junior year I received a number of accolades, including being inducted into Phi Kappa Phi and Phi Beta Kappa, and winning a Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship. For my senior research project, I returned to organic chemistry in the laboratory of Dr. Keith Hollis, studying the nanostructure properties of simple organic and organometallic compounds. This research also resulted in a poster and a senior chemistry thesis, both of which can be found in my portfolio.
When it came time to choose a grad school, I applied to and was accepted at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor (Pharmacology), Harvard University (Chemistry), and MIT (Biological Engineering). While I loved the people at Michigan and the research at Harvard, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to attend my dream school, and I became a member of the MIT BE Class of 2013.
Whenever I wasn't studying or doing research, I could usually be found cooking or inventing recipes, playing Magic: the Gathering or (later) Wii, or travelling to New York City with the University of Mississippi Model United Nations Team.
Summer 2008
This relatively short period of time gets its own section becase of its density of events. On the happy side, this was the time when I created this website and began the long and difficult task of preparing myself and my posessions for the move from small town Mississippi to big city Massachusetts.
On a significantly more somber note, this is when my mother was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer after doctors discovered two medium-sized tumors in her brain and one large tumor in her lungs. Part of the reason I created this website was to provide a forum to write about experiences and share my journey through this difficult time.
Despite this depressing news, I'm largely an optimist, and I close this chapter of my life with high hopes and bright dreams for the future.