Hi! My name is Brian and I am a sophomore studying Cell Biology & Public Health with a minor in creative writing. I grew up going to New Orleans, and I am as passionate about the resources and opportunities Tulane offers as I am about the culture and community of NOLA.

Hometown

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Major(s)

Cell & Molecular Biology, Public Health

Minor(s)

Creative Writing

Clubs, organizations & involvement

I am involved in the Tulane Peer Health Educators (TUPHE) as well as the Sexual Aggression Peer Hotline & Education (SAPHE). I hold a specialist position in TUPHE, leading the sexual violence prevention committee, and I am also part of a small research cohort focused on gender equity research called Newcomb Scholars.

Describe your college experience

I think for any college, the adjustment period during freshman year can be rough, because you’re going into a new environment (likely not knowing many people) and living on your own for the first time. Part of the reason that I joined my student orgs was because they helped me during my transition to college and offered resources to stay safe during a period of time when students’ support systems are their most fragile. I feel I have been very lucky in getting to fully engage with the resources and community offered at my college because I knew what organizations could help me and where I could find community within New Orleans, which helped me diversify my social circle.

Tip for future students

I would say give yourself time to get adjusted and make friends, and don’t feel pressure to overwhelm yourself with classes. At Tulane, there is a culture of needing to always be working and challenging yourself with your academic workload, but taking it easy your freshman year as you adjust is a good choice to make. I know a lot of people have the expectation that they’ll make their closest friends right away at orientation, but I would advise new students to not feel discouraged if that doesn’t happen. There are plenty of people and communities out there! It’s okay to not fit in right away.

Favorite class

I think two of my favorite classes thus far have been genetics and Gender Across Disciplines. In my genetics class, we not only learned fundamental biology, but also how to apply actual lab techniques and experimental thinking. On the tests, we would have a question asking us to design an experiment and actually apply the knowledge we’d learned of biology to inform our design. It really made me feel like I’d gained a deeper understanding of the subject material. Gender Across Disciplines was my Newcomb Scholars class, where we analyzed the impact of gender on higher education while we had guest speakers detail the ways in which gender informed and impacted their research in a variety of fields. It was so interesting to see elements of gender and the way we view it be a part of so many different pieces of research.

Career goals

I hope to go to grad school to get a masters degree in Infectious Disease Epidemiology. I intern at an Infectious Disease Lab at our downtown campus, and it’s fascinating to see how disease and transmission can be so complex and sophisticated. I want to be able to track these diseases at a large scale and determine the source of epidemics and develop plans for what we can do to prevent outbreaks of infection in the future.

Ideal way to spend a free night

My ideal night would be hanging out with my friends in one of our dorm rooms and working on something creative. A lot of my friends and I are STEM majors who like having a creative outlet, so it’s nice to get together and relax while we draw or write or make music. After that I would probably call my boyfriend who goes to college in California and watch something together, because I really value our relationship and the routine we’ve built together even though we’re long distance.

High school or secondary school

Baton Rouge Magnet High School