A summer of opportunity

Seven Wofford students interned with Oncocyte, a molecular diagnostics company, and made valuable contributions and an impression through their assistance in research involving large genomic datasets.

Wofford Trustee Ronnie Andrews ’81, Oncocyte’s president and CEO, has made it a priority to provide internships for Terriers since 2006. Usually, it’s two or three. This was his largest group of “T-Dawgs,” as he calls them around the office.

“If you can’t support students financially, supporting them with an internship is a way to prepare them for the world they’re entering,” Andrews says. “Give it a shot, and let one or two of these young men and women intern for the summer and give them a chance to impress you.”

Carrie Metts ’23, a mathematics and studio art double major from Charleston, S.C., interned in data analytics, and wrote in “R” code, an analytical bioinformatics program that supported a company researcher’s work with large genomic datasets, RNAs (molecules similar to DNA) that correlate to immune therapy resistance.

Catie Cronister ’20 was a recent Oncocyte intern, and she was offered a job after earning a master’s degree over the summer.

Ten Wofford College students spent part of their summer gaining experience for future careers in medicine with South Carolina’s largest health system. Nine interned through Prisma Health’s MedEx Academy, and one was part of the Finding Your Future program.

Marisa Barrera ’22, Brendan McNeal ’22 and Jeff Woodward ’22 participated in Tier IV of Prisma Health’s Medical Experience Academy (MedEx) in Greenville, S.C., which is geared toward college students preparing for medical school.

“Having some familiar faces from Wofford helped me connect more with other people and showed me that when I return to campus, I know I have a support system I can count on,” Barrera says. “It was interesting getting to see people I’ve known for years grow over the seven weeks we spent in MedEx.”

Sophia Washburn ’22, a biology and psychology major from Lexington, S.C., spent four weeks in the Finding Your Future program in Columbia, S.C., and met Dr. Elizabeth Nodelman ’12 during an OB/GYN shadowing rotation.

“I think it opened my eyes to the future and what my life could potentially be like,” says Washburn of meeting someone who shared similar experiences with her. “She is a very successful and busy woman, so I really appreciated her taking time out of her schedule to answer my questions and to bond over our shared experience of Wofford and Theta. I also had the privilege of watching her perform multiple surgeries.”

Six Wofford students participated in Tiers II and III of MedEx Academy.

Kenzie Syiem ’23 watched Netflix’s award-winning documentary “Short, Period. End of Sentence” and immediately felt moved to email students, faculty and staff at her high school in Virginia to stress the need for menstrual products in the school’s restrooms.

She again championed the cause shortly after arriving at Wofford College in 2019 and made requests to the Campus Union campaign Instagram account for Destiny Shippy ’22 last spring.

“Menstrual products should be freely available,” says Syiem, an English and Spanish major from Shillong, Meghalaya, India. “It’s as necessary as toilet paper.”

She and Shippy met and partnered with Sera Guerry ’22 and Woods Wooten ’23 to have conversations with the college’s administration. Six restrooms across campus received dispensers for menstrual products over the summer.