Q: What did it feel like to achieve that goal?
A: It was pretty exhilarating. I didn’t think I’d make it this season, but I did. During the race, I didn’t realize that I was actually running that fast. As I was coming down the finishing stretch, I saw the clock, and I couldn’t believe it. I said to myself, maybe you could speed up just a little bit more and actually break 26. It was an amazing feeling, crossing the finish line and realizing that I finally did it. I beat my personal best by almost 20 seconds.
Q: How long have you been running cross country?
A: I started my freshman year of high school. I was originally trying out for the basketball team. I did basketball camp the summer before freshman year. And my mom said, “You’re not really good at that. You should try something you’re good at, like running.” I didn’t want to do it, but she made me show up for the first varsity practice. I hated it for the first two weeks. Running for fun? What? That’s not fun! Then I had my first away race. We went as a team and stayed at a hotel. And then I thought, wow, this is fun. Go to a hotel and hang out with your team? I did fairly well in high school. We went from being the worst team in the district to being the best, and I was the number one runner my senior year. We actually raced out East in New York City my senior year at the Manhattan College Invitational. It was so cool coming out here and seeing different teams from all over the country.
Q: Where are you from?
A: Laguna Hills, California — about an hour and a half south of Los Angeles.
Q: How did you decide to come to Vassar?
A: I received information from Vassar and a bunch of other colleges, and I did some research, and Vassar just seemed like a good fit — academically, athletically, socially. I also applied to a bunch of California schools — UCLA, UC-Santa Barbara, and UC-Irvine — and Johns Hopkins. I remember going to visit those schools. I went to an intro bio lecture, and it was daunting. There were close to 300 people in the auditorium, whereas my intro bio class here had 20 people — less than that. The smallest class I’ve had here was my history course last semester — nine people. It was really nice, a lot of individual attention, a lot of participation.
Q: Did you come out to visit before you made the decision?
A: No, I didn’t have enough time. I had a lot of stuff to do my senior year, second semester especially, and I didn’t want to take the time to be away for a whole week.
Q: So what sealed the deal?
A: I talked to Coach McCowan on the phone. You know he’s a Vassar graduate, and probably one of the best cross country runners Vassar’s ever had — NCAA Division III All American and NCAA regional champion. He came back four years ago and started coaching, and he’s a tremendous coach — very, very dedicated. Talking to him on the phone, I just felt like I was already family, even though I was still on the fence about whether I wanted to come here.
Q: What was your first impression of Vassar?
A: I was taken aback. I drove through Main Gate, and I said, holy cow, this is amazing. It was really unlike any other campus I’d been to. It was breathtaking. And the whole area is beautiful. I like that within a two-hour drive of New York City, you can see so many different kinds of terrain. And the culture is different from the West Coast, which is also cool. I’m a Californian, and I expect eventually to practice medicine there, but I’m glad I’ve had this opportunity to see other parts of the country.
Q: How are the cross country trails at Vassar?
A: Fantastic! Especially in the woods here. I know the Vassar Farm like the back of my hand. I’ve been down every single trail, every nook and cranny — it’s just so beautiful, especially when fall starts to really kick in and the leaves are changing. I almost have to stop in the middle of the forest and just take a moment to appreciate it.
Q: Why did you decide to major in history?
A: In high school, I enjoyed history a lot, especially European history. I came into Vassar knowing that I was going to be pre-med, and everyone was telling me that I should major in one of the sciences. But freshman year, I went to the pre-med advising sessions, and I realized that that’s not true at all. You can get a real liberal arts education and still pursue medicine. I took my first history course second semester freshman year — Readings in Modern European History — and fell in love with it right away. So I just decided to go ahead and do it. This semester I’m taking Professor Hoehn’s Nazi Germany seminar, which is amazing. I’ve always been interested in the rise and fall of the Nazi regime, and this course really gets into the intricacies of how the Weimar democracy failed in Germany after World War I and how the Nazis used that failure to bring about the dictatorship.
Q: How will a major in history help you as a doctor?
A: First of all, the ability to read critically. In history more than in the sciences, there is a lot of reading and writing and analytical thinking. It’s important for scientists to be able to write well. I’m taking Animal Physiology with Erica Crespi right now — probably the best course I’ve taken so far — and we have three big research papers over the course of the semester. Reading and writing from a scientific perspective is different, of course, but those skills do translate.
Q: Tell me about your research on fullerenes with Chris Smart.
A: I’ve been working with Professor Smart since last semester. Fullerenes are basically big balls of carbon. I’m working with C-70, which is a specific type of fullerene. We do reactions on the surfaces of the fullerene and try to predict the dynamics of the reaction — what the products will be and how the products will interact with the unreacted mixtures. The long-term goal is to design molecules that may be useful in the manufacture of drugs that will attach to certain receptors in the body, but we’re a long way from that.
Q: Have you had the opportunity to do any internships?
A: Last summer I did a research internship in organic chemistry at UC-Irvine, and after that, I had an opportunity to shadow a cardiologist at the hospital where my grandfather spent most of his career. I got to observe a wide range of procedures — angioplasties, pacemaker checkups, stress tests, bronchcoscopies. My favorite was angioplasty. I got to watch the procedure from the observation deck, with the head cardiologist narrating what was going on. It was really cool.
Q: You’re also an EMT? And a lifeguard?
A: I took the EMT training a couple of summers ago because it allows me to do stuff in my lifeguarding job that I wouldn’t be able to do otherwise. I’m basically a mobile EMT, riding around the beach in the jeep in case there’s a serious trauma.
Q: Are you pretty cool-headed in an emergency?
A: I’d like to say so, but no — I’m not that weathered. It’s still very scary, especially when you have people around you asking you whether you’re sure you know what you’re doing. I just take a deep breath and try to remember that the calmer I am, the better I’ll be able to perform.
Q: Where have you lived on campus?
A: I lived in Noyes my first year, and then Lathrop, and now I’m living off campus with a bunch of cross country guys on College Avenue. It’s pretty cool. Luckily, two of my housemates are really good cooks and love cooking. My skills in the lab don’t carry over into the kitchen.
