

Onward




Driving Innovation
Elliot Thorp ’23, mechanical engineering
Next step > Body design engineer for Toyota
I feel extremely fortunate to start my journey at Toyota, a company that is focused on creating safe cars using sustainable engineering principles. In my role, I’ll be designing features such as body panels, seats, lights and airbags for newly manufactured vehicles and also building prototypes and testing the safety of new vehicle components.
The design experiences I acquired at Bucknell prepared me well. I spent two semesters designing sheet metal body shields for Professor Craig Beal ’08’s [mechanical engineering] electric vehicle research project. For my senior design project, I competed in Baja SAE, an undergraduate design challenge in which teams design and manufacture an off-road vehicle that they then race in a multiday competition. My role entailed designing, optimizing, manufacturing and testing the vehicle’s rear suspension system. Overseeing a project from start to finish and working as part of a team was extremely valuable and enhanced my educational experience.



Advancing Discovery
April Hurlock ’23, chemistry
Next step > Research assistant at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP)
The research integrates neurology with physics and engineering and will prepare me for my ultimate goal of becoming a physician-scientist with a pediatric speciality; I think there is a real opportunity for me to make a difference.
At Bucknell, I didn’t have to wait to get research experience. I was accepted into the STEM Scholars program, which lets incoming first-year students start working in a lab the summer before their first semester. I was paired with Professor Douglas Collins [chemistry], who encouraged me to launch an investigation to study the chemical makeup of thirdhand smoke — pollutants left on surfaces following exposure to a cigarette. The research was daunting at first, but it became my focus for the next four years and taught me how to be a scientist.



Transforming Lives
Christian Melgar ’23, English — literary studies and education
Next step > Harvard Graduate School of Education
An influential high school teacher told me that success is not defined by others but by ourselves. I took that to heart. It inspired me to step up academically and to pursue a degree that would enable me to influence lives as part of the public education system.
Bucknell’s secondary certification teacher preparation program enabled me to gain classroom experience right away as a first-year student. And Bucknell’s supportive faculty helped me connect with opportunities to dive deeper into my passion for equity in curriculum.
As a student-teacher, I learned patience, responsibility, and that while you can’t change your past, you have the power to shape your future. I’ll carry that into my own teaching.



Influencing Behavior
Jamie Tsao ’23, markets, innovation & design (MIDE)
Next step > Personal bank and wealth management analyst at Citi



Bringing Truth to Light
Jaxon White ’23, political science and English — creative writing
Next step > Statehouse reporter for LancasterOnline
As my interest in journalism grew, Bucknell’s Center for Career Advancement helped me find an internship with the Center for Media Innovation at Point Park University in Pittsburgh, which kickstarted my career. That led to another internship with the Pennsylvania Legislative Correspondents’ Association. I remember working on a story about legislative pay raises and was initially worried about it. I was facing a bit of imposter syndrome. But I listened to my editors, learned from other reporters, and when it was time to pull the story together, what I learned on the job — plus the toolkit I had from Bucknell — helped me be successful.
