Class of 2016
Christina Freeman
Christina Freeman, from Hatboro, Pennsylvania, attended Upper Moreland High School having distinguished herself academically throughout her four years. She was included on the school’s Distinguished Honor Roll and named an AP Scholar. Christina also achieved recognition as a member of the National Honor Society graduating within the top tier of her class.
In addition to excelling academically, Christina also was involved with several music programs throughout her high school years. She was a member of the Marching Band, the Concert Band, and the Jazz Band. Her love of music carried over to her volunteer work at her church where she served as a musician. Her interest and enthusiasm for German is evident from her involvement in the German-American Partnership Program, the German Club where she held the office of Vice President, and being named to the German National Honor Society.
Christina’s love of the sciences leans to the field of biology. Her favorite moments in science class have occurred during labs – whether is be dissecting sheep brains or conducting eating experiments with a lab rat or measuring friction on a surface. The excitement of discovery and the pride that comes following hours of lab work brings Christina a true sense of accomplishment. With so many interesting topics in biology to investigate Christina’s goal is to learn something meaningful to contribute to the scientific community while working with her lab colleagues. It may be the field of botany, computational biology, or biophysics; for the present Christina remains open to any field that increases her understanding of how the universe works.
Christina is beginning her academic program here at Saint Joseph’s University as a declared biology major with Dr. Karen Snetselaar as her McNulty Scholars Program mentor.
Heidi Kurn
Outside of the classroom Heidi continued to have an impact. Actively involved in her high school’s eight musical productions she was promoted to Lead Sound Engineer being responsible for training, scheduling, and supervision of her 13-member team. Heidi became adept at learning sound technology, understanding sound wave frequency, and accounting for environmental issues that affected sound quality.
Additionally, her passions extended to the 4-H Club. As a volunteer for seven years with 4-H, Heidi learned not only how to raise, shear, and market sheep, but also how to manage and lead the local club. She held officer positions and served as mentor to new members and their families.
Working within the community translated into Heidi successfully developing a top ten review site of Michigan web hosts, dedicated servers, and virtual private servers. Heidi believed that hosting your Michigan business website in Michigan not only helps build the local economy, but also provides increased website performance for your site.
As a declared chemistry major Heidi hopes to explore the many options available to her in the field of medicine. Wanting to have a positive impact on the world Heidi hopes to combine her talents and future work in Hispanic countries. Heidi, as a McNulty Scholar, will be mentored by Dr. Jean Smolen.
Outside of high school Kathleen was a volunteer at Divine Providence Village, a home for mentally challenged women. Her first hand experience with these women and her particular interest in how the brain works opened Kathleen’s eyes to the many possibilities that scientific advances in the area of neuroscience might hold for these women and others like them. Kathleen’s desire is to make a real and lasting difference in people’s lives through science. Her goal is to pursue a major in biology and then continue her education in a graduate M.D./PhD. program.
Kathleen is committed to the pursuit of scientific research. As a declared biology major, her love of biology inspires her learning. Being a visionary, Kathleen can imagine how science can impact the world. She wants to combine this learning and this vision with the desired outcome of impacting the world. Dr. Clint Springer will mentor Kathleen as a McNulty Scholar.