Bailey McLernon '16

Chemistry

Bailey McLernon

I did not have a very well thought out decision-making process for going to college. My reasoning for coming to FSU was that it was affordable and it had a chemistry program. I was not even interested in having the "college experience." I simply wanted to get my chemistry degree in four years and move on. However, life has a way of turning our plans and ideas upside down. The spring semester of my sophomore year was the most challenging semester I experienced. Yet through that semester, I learned that I was capable of more than I could have imagined; I just needed to be challenged. In the subsequent years, I thrived on the challenges that came my way. Don't get me wrong, of course there were weeks when I wanted to crawl under my bed covers and cry, or days when I was so stressed I couldn't form coherent sentences, or times when all the caffeine I had consumed could barely keep me awake to finish a lab report. But if it had not been for these experiences, I would not have known how far I could push myself.

All of this would not have been possible if it had not been for the incredible faculty in the chemistry department. I have benefited from hours upon hours of their instruction. Some of my favorite memories of college are the conversations I would have with my professors about science, philosophy, ethics, art, beauty, society, and so much more. It was in these conversations that I was most challenged to think about the world through a broader lens of observation.

I am forever grateful for the four years of experience that FSU has given me. I would not trade the trials and triumphs, the challenges and discussion, for anything in the world.