Major: Chemistry
Minor: Mathematics
Why did you choose your major?
I have always had a love for numbers and hands-on work. So majoring in Chemistry, especially at a supportive small school like Cal Lutheran, would allow me to explore my passion for analytical chemistry. Majoring in Chemistry at CLU allows me to have the best of both worlds, tons of hands-on experience with direct and personal guidance, and collaborative quantitative work.
Would you recommend them to a future student? Why?
I would definitely recommend a chemistry major to any student who has dedication and ambition. Although chemistry is a challenging science to understand, I can say with complete confidence that all the professors in the chemistry department will go above and beyond to help reinforce any questions you might have.
As you immerse yourself in the science buildings, you will start to realize you have access to a wide range of instruments, a variety of research topics to explore, and extremely supportive professors. With such an inclusive and small group, you can turn a corner, and any professor in the chemistry department will be ecstatic to help you out and give you all the guidance you need. By making yourself acquainted with your professors and classmates, you could be setting yourself up to create the perfect group to do side-by-side research with.
What are your future plans?
My future plans include taking a gap year in preparation for a Ph.D. in analytical chemistry. Although my future plans are manageable in detail, the work I have done has set me up for success in the competitive atmosphere that lies ahead in either academia or industry.
Are there any particular experiences — in or out of the classroom — that have helped you identify that path?
By reaching out to earlier graduates and alumni, I could grasp a quicker sense of what courses to start with to stray towards a path in chemistry. In doing so I realized that most, if not all, of the professors teaching chemistry have a brilliant way of making such a complicated science, easier to understand. They are the ones who have guided me completely and kindled my profound love for chemistry.
Jocelin is a recipient of a 2023 John Stauffer Research Fellowship in the Chemical Sciences. With her faculty mentor, Robert Dull, PhD, she is working on a project titled, “A Methodology for efficient and accurate recovery of N-hydroxy-N-succinylcadaverine and desferrioxamine from assay conditions.”