{"id":155,"date":"2020-04-14T16:40:39","date_gmt":"2020-04-14T16:40:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/commons.ggc.edu\/chemistry\/?page_id=155"},"modified":"2020-04-16T17:02:12","modified_gmt":"2020-04-16T17:02:12","slug":"alumni-updates","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/commons.ggc.edu\/chemistry\/alumni-updates\/","title":{"rendered":"Alumni Updates"},"content":{"rendered":"

Below are some updates on some of our Chemistry alumni.\u00a0 If you would like to be included, please email Dr. Rebecca Kalman at rkalman@ggc.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Thien Vu (2018) taking some free time to enjoy life.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Thien Vu – Biochemistry, Spring 2018<\/strong><\/p>\n

How what I learned at GGC helped me in pharmacy school<\/em><\/p>\n

I graduated summa cum laude from GGC in the Spring of 2018 with a Biochemistry major, I am continuing my science journey in a pharmacy program at Mercer University, College of Pharmacy. The biggest difference between studying at GGC and the pharmacy school is the number of lectures and assignments. One semester in a pharmacy school often includes 18 credits. Exams happen frequently every Monday and assignments are due almost everyday. The amount of works is similar to what you may deal with if taking 2-3 full summer semesters at GGC in a row.<\/p>\n

Luckily, during my four years as an undergraduate at GGC, I was equipped with essential skills to manage time more effectively and make my current life easier. One skill I gained at GGC was to become familiar with a model of flipped classroom, in which students prepare to study the lecture in advance at home. Professors come to class with a condensed presentation of important points and focus on activities. I\u00a0 also learned that taking notes in class is also a very important skill, especially when time for studying and reviewing lectures is extremely limited. Since more than 10% of questions on the exams are from in-class lectures, taking good notes might increase you one letter grade from a B to an A. Last but not least, I obtained some solid fundamental knowledge from my favorite GGC professors in my science classes, including in\u00a0Chem 1212, Chem 2212, Chem 3000, Biol 2252, Biol 3200, and Biol 3400.\u00a0 This fundamental knowledge probably gave me some advantages in absorbing new information faster and more efficiently in the pharmacy school, especially the mechanism of actions based on drug structures on human physiology and pathophysiology.<\/p>\n

I believe GGC students are very competitive and can be successful in any graduate school or healthcare school after graduation.\u00a0 We have obtained the necessary skills, preparation, knowledge from the GGC curriculum, and advice from GGC professors.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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Drasti Patel enjoying Boston and life after GGC.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Drasti Patel – Biochemistry, Summer 2017<\/strong><\/p>\n

From GGC to Graduate School – Comparing my Thoughts and Experiences<\/em><\/p>\n

As an undergrad at GGC, I wouldn\u2019t have imagined ending up where I am now. I\u2019ve always been a person conflicted about what she wants to do in her life. My interests are wide and varied in biology, chemistry, and technology, but I\u2019m unsure how to combine all of those together or choose one or the other. Luckily, I have been able to get experience in each of these areas with some overlap at GGC and afterwards. I was able to explore my interest in neuroscience as a coop student in a neurobiology lab at Harvard Medical and am currently finishing my master\u2019s in bioinformatics at Northeastern University. There are many new things I\u2019ve learned which I both like and don’t like. I\u2019ve learned about a field called connectomics at the lab and developed my programming skills through classes in the bioinformatics program. Connectomics seeks to map and understand the connections in an organism\u2019s nervous system. Mostly, my role in the lab was to generate training data for the neural network to learn to automatically reconstruct neurons from electron microscope images. The data set I worked on was of the mouse cerebellum. It\u2019s amazing how much technology can aid and accelerate scientific research. Through my experiences so far, I\u2019ve learned what I do like and what I don\u2019t and have been able to shape my goals more clearly and finely.<\/p>\n

The closer I get to finishing another chapter of my life, I compare it to how I felt as I was finishing up at GGC. Did I put in my best efforts? Did I find myself to be wiser? Am I better prepared to deal with life after school? I still don\u2019t have definite answers to these questions but I\u2019m sure I\u2019ll figure it out. What I\u2019d like to say to new and current students is that I hope they\u2019ll always try to put in as much of their best efforts in something they\u2019re interested in as they can. Although I lack confidence and feel lost quite often, with a vague idea of what I want, I just keep trying to make my own opportunities and exploring as many of my interests as I can. Whatever curve balls life throws, we just have to keep going forward.<\/p>\n

I would like to say thanks to the professors that made a big difference in my life. I really appreciated them listening to me, encouraging me, and guiding me even after I had graduated. I especially feel grateful towards Drs. Huang, Zimmermann, and Anfuso. Thank you!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Below are some updates on some of our Chemistry alumni.\u00a0 If you would like to be included, please email Dr. Rebecca Kalman at rkalman@ggc.edu. Thien Vu – Biochemistry, Spring 2018 How what I learned at GGC helped me in pharmacy school I graduated summa cum laude from GGC in the Spring of 2018 with a Biochemistry major, I am continuing my science journey in a pharmacy program at Mercer University, College of Pharmacy. The biggest difference between studying at GGC…<\/p>\n

Read More Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-155","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","user-has-not-earned"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/PcrxoI-2v","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":20,"url":"https:\/\/commons.ggc.edu\/chemistry\/research\/","url_meta":{"origin":155,"position":0},"title":"Research","author":"amallia","date":"March 20, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Chemistry faculty at GGC conduct research across a wide range of chemistry subdisciplines. This includes independent faculty research, research with GGC undergraduate students via STEC 4500 projects, and research with high school students both during the school year through local partnerships and during the summer via the ACS Project SEED\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":158,"url":"https:\/\/commons.ggc.edu\/chemistry\/remembering-dr-tom-gluick\/","url_meta":{"origin":155,"position":1},"title":"Remembering Dr. Tom Gluick","author":"rkalman","date":"April 14, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"The GGC community was both stunned and saddened by the recent death of Dr. Thomas Gluick. Tom was critically injured in a hit-and-run accident on 12\/31\/2019 in Baltimore, MD, while visiting family and friends during the holiday break. He suffered eight broken ribs, a broken arm and leg, and multiple\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/commons.ggc.edu\/chemistry\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/301\/2020\/04\/gluick-1-e1586885397653.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":371,"url":"https:\/\/commons.ggc.edu\/chemistry\/madison-preston-acs-environmental-chemistry-award\/","url_meta":{"origin":155,"position":2},"title":"Madison Preston – ACS Environmental Chemistry Award","author":"rkalman","date":"November 3, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Congratulations to GGC Chemistry major Madison Preston who received the American Chemical Society\u2019s 2020 Undergraduate Student Award in Environmental Chemistry.\u00a0She conducted productive research under the supervision of Dr. Seungjin Lee, assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry, with outcomes influential in synthesis and application of hydrogels for nutrients recycling from human\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/commons.ggc.edu\/chemistry\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/301\/2020\/11\/Madison-Preston_2_pyramid.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":482,"url":"https:\/\/commons.ggc.edu\/chemistry\/faculty-2\/chemistry-discipline-awards-recognition\/","url_meta":{"origin":155,"position":3},"title":"Chemistry Discipline Awards & Recognition","author":"rkalman","date":"April 9, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"2020 AWARDS ACS Fellow: Mallia GGC Scholarship and Creative Activities Award: Zimmermann GGC Annual Outstanding Part-Time Faculty Teaching Award: Sublett-Breeden GGC ACS Student Chapter Awards: ChemLuminary Award ACS Environmental Division, Undergraduate Student Award in Environmental Chemistry: Undergraduate student ACS Organic Chemistry Division, Undergraduate Student Award in Organic Chemistry: Undergraduate student\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":25,"url":"https:\/\/commons.ggc.edu\/chemistry\/news\/","url_meta":{"origin":155,"position":4},"title":"News","author":"amallia","date":"March 20, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Chemistry Faculty Recognition and Awards Several chemistry faculty were recently acknowledged at the GGC Fall 2020 Recognition Ceremony. Continue reading below to learn more about our faculty and their achievements. Dr. Kathryn Zimmermann was the recipient of the GGC Scholarship & Creative Activities Award in recognition of her excellent scholarly\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/commons.ggc.edu\/chemistry\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/301\/2020\/09\/kzimmermann.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":10,"url":"https:\/\/commons.ggc.edu\/chemistry\/","url_meta":{"origin":155,"position":5},"title":"Home Page","author":"amallia","date":"March 20, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Welcome to GGC Chemistry Friends of GGC Chemistry: Welcome to the GGC Chemistry Discipline\u2019s Academic Commons, the place to learn more about our growing Chemistry Program of study, our faculty and our students. With input from regional chemical industry leaders, Chemistry Discipline faculty members designed and established the GGC Chemistry\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.ggc.edu\/chemistry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.ggc.edu\/chemistry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.ggc.edu\/chemistry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commons.ggc.edu\/chemistry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/83"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commons.ggc.edu\/chemistry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=155"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/commons.ggc.edu\/chemistry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/155\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.ggc.edu\/chemistry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}