拉娜Frankle
Stanbridge Class of 2013, currently pursuing a Ph.D. 在神经科学 at Kent State |
Lana Frankle is a Class of 2011 Stanbridge graduate. She attended UC 圣克鲁斯 where she graduated in 2015年成绩为B.S. 在神经科学中,but her academic career didn't end there. Driven by her self-professed "curiosity about the world," Lana was accepted to Kent State University's doctoral program 在神经科学, where she is currently pursuing her Ph.D.
Below is an interview with Lana from 2017. 在这, Lana talks about the early struggles she encountered in adjusting to college life, how she overcame her social challenges on campus, and why being a "real adult" doesn't mean that you don't need a little outside help now 和n. 给校友拉娜·弗兰克尔, Stanbridge Class of 2011, the transition to college was difficult, perhaps made more so by her desire to pay her own tuition to the University of California, 圣克鲁斯. “I think I wanted to feel independent and like a "real adult,’" said Lana. “...so I took a night-shift job—3:00 p.m. to midnight—which didn't conflict with my school schedule.”
While she managed to do this for her freshman and sophomore years—in part by working at Bay Photo Lab in 圣克鲁斯—she eventually realized that she couldn’t do it without her parents’ help. “那是一份好工作, but it was too stressful for me to work full-time while going to school full-time, and it took a toll on me academically and psychologically,拉娜说. “Everybody needs help sometimes and everyone has their own struggles to overcome.” In addition to help from her parents, Lana also received services from the University. “在加州, there's a Disability Resource Center that coordinates extra time, note-takers for those who need them, and extra tutoring for free,拉娜说. “Having extra time really helped cut the pressure for science and math exams. Some tests I didn’t need my extra time, but it was nice to have anyway.” Lana says some of her biggest challenges post-Stanbridge though were not academic but more social in nature. “I’ve had trouble socializing normally my whole life. Unfortunately, this issue didn’t disappear in college. Sometimes I felt like everyone else was busy with all their friends and parties and I didn’t see how I could obtain that for myself,拉娜说. “I joined a sorority my senior year. It was a little awkward to join so late in my academic tenure, but overall it was a good experience. I wish I'd done it sooner.” Although Lana had to take a medical leave the first quarter of her sophomore year, and took a reduced course load for many of the quarters following, she still finished her degree in four years and one quarter by taking summer classes from De Anza College and UCLA. Lana graduated in the fall of 2015年成绩为B.S. 在神经科学. In spring of 2015, Lana was accepted to Kent State University’s doctoral program 在神经科学. “I want to become a researcher, because I have a lot of curiosity about the world,拉娜说. “Specifically, I want to probe neuropsychiatric disorders. This may be partly because I understand what it's like to see the world differently due to my ASD.” 目前, Lana is taking some extra time to decide which of the three rotations she will make her permanent home for research at Kent. Because she is interested in neuropsychiatric disorders, she hopes to find a way to apply that interest to the lab of her choice. When asked if she had any advice for recent Stanbridge graduates, 拉娜说, “It’s cliche but it’s true: find something you’re really interested in, 然后继续追求.” In her free time, Lana is also an accomplished author; her short story collection titled 拆除 was published through the Canadian publisher Gnome on Pig Productions. |