Next step: Ph.D. student in physical organic chemistry at Dartmouth College
After spending the fall semester of her sophomore year in a research lab, Jasmine Wolfgram changed her major from biochemistry—with plans to be a veterinarian—to chemistry.
“Just one semester in the lab, and I knew I wanted to spend my career there,” Wolfgram explained. “I loved the mystery inherent in organic synthesis and decided I had to pursue my Ph.D. in chemistry.”
After graduate school, the chemistry major plans to be a professor and a polymer chemist. “I care a lot about environmental chemistry and aspire to assist in making more bio-based polymers,” she notes.
Being involved in campus life while an ONU student was important to this aspiring chemist. Student Members of the American Chemical Society (SMACS), the Honors Program Student Advisory Board and Alpha Phi Omega-Service Fraternity are just three of the nine organizations that Wolfgram was involved with.
Her favorite was SMACS, she explained, because “it was committed to fostering a community around chemistry. I served as president for two years and worked hard to make it a more inclusive space. We quadrupled our original size and had members in different majors.”
She also spent an entire semester in France engaged in research on the effect of potassium impregnation on the thermal degradation of the surface and core of heat-treated wood.
“I took 18 credit hours at Ohio Northern long distance while also completing 45 hours of research a week,” she says. “It was difficult but worthwhile for sure!” Her ONU professors, she added, helped to make the experience positive with their flexibility and understanding.
“The chemistry department helped me evolve into the person I am today,” she says. “Being a tutor helped me grow in empathy, understanding and the ability to listen. I discovered a love for teaching, and research taught me how to be confident in my abilities as a chemist. Also, my mentors led me to trust my intuition in the lab.”