Simone Stalling
Chemical Engineering
Simone Stalling is inspired by the idea that she might have a hand in developing "medicine or vaccines that could have an effect on someone else's life," she says.
Stalling, a freshman chemical engineering major and a Meyerhoff Scholar,
wants a career as a researcher in the pharmaceutical industry and is
committed to the idea of pursuing a Ph.D. in chemical engineering. Given
her family's background--her father is a physician and her mother is a
medical marketing consultant--the choice may not seem surprising. But
Stalling did not discover her love of science until she was well into
high school.
"I became really interested when we had classes that were more intense and covered more advanced ideas," she says. "And, I liked lab work. That got me oriented toward hands-on experience in science, especially chemistry. That's where I could see myself wo
rking."
While still a student at the Friends School of Baltimore, where she graduated cum laude, she worked the summer before her junior year as a chemist assistant at Clark Atlanta University,conducting research on the chemical reactions of biodegradable surfact
ant. And just prior to her high school graduation, she worked at The Johns Hopkins University as a lab assistant, researching and understanding immunology.
"I like the possibility of discovery," she says.
Stalling was drawn to UMBC because it would enable her early on in her academic career to continue working in the lab, having hands-on experience. Now here, she is impressed by "the intensity and love for science" that exists at the institution.
"There are those people who look here and say, 'This isn't Harvard or Yale. How can you possibly get a good education?' But I totally disagree," continues Stalling, who was also accepted at the University of Virginia, Emory University, the University of P
ennsylvania, and the University of Maryland, College Park.
"I will be very well-prepared through the Meyerhoff Program and through my research experience here at UMBC."
This summer, she has an internship at Corning Inc., learning about industrial chemical engineering.
A member of UMBC's Honors College, the National Society of Black Engineers, and the women's varsity lacrosse team, Stalling is excited by the prospect of graduating at the turn of a new century. "It's more than just graduating," she says. "It's becoming a
part of the Class of 2000 and a generation which will be making choices and helping decide the future."
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