In spite of being at the top of her class in high school, Caitlin Thireault lacked confidence. When she started college, she had abandoned her original dream of becoming a doctor, and instead “settled” for training to be a high school teacher. But at OSU, things immediately changed.
Cait says: “Professors I met during my first term at OSU made me realize that there was no reason to give up before I even tried. So I did try. The BRR program gave me everything I needed to prepare myself for grad school, and Jeff Chang was a wonderful mentor. When I filled out grad school applications I wasn't worried about whether I was good enough, or smart enough, because I was prepared.
“One thing I know for sure, I'm glad of the choice I made. If someone were to come up to me when I was 18 and tell me that by the time I graduated from OSU I would have over 3 years research experience, a publication, a thesis, graduate magna cum laude, and have a grad school offer from an ivy league school, I would have laughed in their face.”
Caitlin is currently in a Ph.D. program at Michigan State, where she has a two-year fellowship from the Plant Research Laboratory.