Uriel Garcia ’17 virtually visits Hackley’s IRP Students

The Independent Research program was excited to host Uriel Garcia ’17 in our Guest Speaker Series. The students were fascinated by all of the organic chemistry projects Uriel worked on, such as synthesizing an organic compound that can irreversibly block pain receptors, and how this love of Chemistry stemmed from his Organic Chemistry class at Hackley.

Aside from the technical work that he has done, Uriel also shared many lessons he has learned along the way, such as persevering through disappointing experimental results by redesigning your hypothesis, or how he changed research groups and topics.  

One student remarked “My biggest takeaway from the speaker was how he emphasized that it is okay to change your interest. He started out wanting to be premed but now is pursuing organic chemistry.”  Another student found it inspiring to hear about “how he coordinates projects with his mentor and how he gradually gained more influence in a laboratory setting and conducted his own experiments.”  Uriel also gave us insight on what it is like to pursue a research project on top of his normal major studies.  

One student commented that they “enjoyed learning about the life of a college student and ways to balance time effectively when in college while also working in a lab conducting high-level research. I hope to do something similar.”  Thank you Uriel for coming to visit and providing such wonderful advice for the students.

All alumni/parents with present or past experiences in scientific research have a standing invitation to come back and visit the Independent Research Program. Our future scientists love hearing your stories, and these talks are formative to their careers. If you are interested, please reach out to Dr. Andrew Ying (aying@hackleyschool.org).
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