Husband-and-wife Grove City College alumni Cody Work ’16 and Emily (Tharnish ‘17) Work returned to their alma mater on Feb. 21 to talk with Chemistry students about their research at the University of Notre Dame.
They both majored in Chemistry at the College and are now graduate students in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Notre Dame. They shared their work on state-of-the-art research in synthetic and computational chemistry and their experiences as they moved from Grove City College to an internationally renowned university.
The Works also talked about the day-to-day experience at graduate school, where they receive full tuition remittance, an annual stipend and health insurance while taking classes and serving as teaching assistants. In their first year, they choose a thesis advisor and begin their research in earnest the following summer.
“Seminars like these benefit current Grove City College students by providing a concrete picture of one possible path to take after college,” Dr. Michael F. Falcetta, professor of Chemistry said.
“As for transitioning from Grove City College, they stressed the importance of finding a local church to be the nucleus of your community outside of the laboratory,” Dr. Kevin L. Shaw, professor of Chemistry said.