Emily’s Story

The combination of a scholarship and commuting from Chambersburg made Shippensburg a very attractive prospect for Emily Frieban, a pre-med biology major. During the fall of her freshman year, chemistry was Emily’s favorite subject. In fact, she excelled in the course. After a professor pointed out that she could still pursue medicine with a chemistry degree and participate in research, getting to work one-on-one with the professor, and receive hands-on training in advanced laboratory techniques that she would not otherwise learn, Emily became a chemistry major with a biochemistry concentration. It helped that her grandfather was a chemist with three patents to his name.
Emily conducted research with Dr. Frielle each semester and every summer after that, a project that evolved and changed direction over the years. “I enjoyed the nature of the project, Dr. Freille’s mentoring, the advanced laboratory skills used daily and, in particular, the higher-order thinking skills associated with the project,” Emily said. “My love of biochemistry and this research experience led me to change my pathway in life from originally wanting to be a doctor to now attending graduate school for a Ph.D. in pharmacology where I can combine my love of chemistry with my interests in medicine.”