{"530531":{"#nid":"530531","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Center Stage: Kristy S. Syhapanha Puts a Foot in the Door of Her Dream Career","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EKristy Southysa Syhapanha never thought of studying at Georgia Tech. She didn\u2019t think she would qualify, so she didn\u2019t bother \u2013 at first. Thanks to friends who insisted that she should try, she submitted her application at the very last minute. She got in.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBecause of Tech\u2019s strength in engineering, Kristy first majored in biomedical engineering (BME). But the first BME course she took wasn\u2019t a good fit, whereas she really enjoyed her first laboratory class \u2013 in chemistry. She switched majors.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOn May 7, Syhapanha will receive a B.S. in Chemistry, completing a roller-coaster ride that has taken her from the highs of undergraduate research to the lows of depression. She credits her success in great part to the superb mentoring of \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/devwp.kubanek.biology.gatech.edu\/remington-poulin\/\u0022\u003ERemington Poulin\u003C\/a\u003E (Remy), a PhD student in the lab of \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.biology.gatech.edu\/people\/julia-kubanek\u0022\u003EJulia Kubanek\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESyhapanha\u2019s parents arrived in the US as refugees from the Vietnam War, which had spread to Laos by the late 1960s. Unable to get higher education, both parents continue to work as laborers, even though \u201cmy dad wanted to be a doctor, and he was smart enough to be one,\u201d Syhapanha says. \u201cMy parents instilled in me and my five sisters the importance of education as the way out of poverty into a better life,\u201d she recalls.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWith an impressive undergraduate research portfolio built from working in the Kubanek lab for nine semesters, Syhapanha is ready for the world. In June, she will start an \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/orise.orau.gov\/science-education\/internships-scholarships-fellowships\/\u0022\u003EORISE (Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education) fellowship\u003C\/a\u003E at the Tobacco and Volatiles Branch of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). She plans to work for a few years before going back to school for a medical degree. Ultimately, she wants to be a field epidemiologist for the CDC.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHow did you get into undergraduate research?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERemy was looking for students to help him with his project on crabs. I was afraid of live crabs \u2013 they run fast and are nasty \u2013 and I thought this work will help me get over that fear. At first I just took care of them. Later I was collecting crab urine and separating the components by liquid chromatography. That\u2019s how I got started working in the Kubanek lab.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUndergraduate research had become such an integral part of my life at Tech. It is one of my most valuable experiences, helping me grow and mature as a scientist and as a person. Dr. Julia Kubanek is one of the greatest advisors I have had. Working in her lab facilitated my learning the most. I had a great time over the past few years.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EI am saddest to be leaving my lab, which has become a lot like my second home.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat experiences in Georgia Tech have left a lasting impression on you?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDefinitely meeting my mentor, Remy. He\u2019s one of my greatest allies now, one of my best friends. If I never met him in my first semester, I probably would not have switched to chemistry.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHe was the first teaching assistant I really liked. He\u2019s very helpful. I could tell that he really wanted us to learn. He is patient and straightforward, sets clear expectations. He pushed me to seek answers myself. He taught me a lot of new methods. He was my mentor for everything chemistry.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EI will always remember one blunder in the synthesis lab. We were supposed to wash the product with acetone. Instead I used acetic acid. I didn\u2019t pay attention to the label on the bottle. That was a hard day. I had stayed up two nights in a row, and I had a test before the lab. I was not in my top form. I\u2019ll never make that mistake again of working in the lab without enough sleep and rest.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EI also went through a period of depression, midway in my junior year. I was falling behind in my work in a class that I really loved. I was becoming reclusive. I didn\u2019t recognize that it was depression. But Remy noticed. One day I just started crying uncontrollably. Remy walked me to the counseling center. I was apparently a high-risk case and I was seen immediately.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhy do you want to work at the CDC?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor my AP Biology class in 10\u003Csup\u003Eth\u003C\/sup\u003E grade, I read \u201cThe Hot Zone.\u201d Reading about the search for the Ebola virus, I thought this is what I want to do: I\u2019m going to work for the CDC and I\u2019m going to find a cure for Ebola. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESo I\u2019m really excited that I\u2019m starting to work in CDC. When I realized that I would be analyzing flavor compounds in tobacco products, I told myself, \u2018I\u2019ve done this type of work in Georgia Tech. Thank you \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.chemistry.gatech.edu\/people\/bottomley\/lawrence\u0022\u003EDr. Larry Bottomley\u003C\/a\u003E! That\u2019s my analytical chem professor.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EI want to do this work for two years and then get a master\u2019s degree in public health, and then go to medical school, and eventually work for the CDC as a field epidemiologist. I want to study disease outbreaks, but also be able to help people medically in the affected areas. This is all pretty much from remembering \u201cThe Hot Zone.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat has surprised you about Georgia Tech?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe first thing that comes to mind is the resilience of students. We\u2019re all working hard, and all of us have our own struggles. Everyone here is pushed to the limits. And no matter what they throw at us, we still make it through.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe institute as a whole seems to be more worried about its image and not as focused on the well-being of students. I was disappointed for example in the institute\u2019s sexual harassment training, which I had to take because I was employed as a lab technician. In pointing out the negative effects of sexual harassment, the training\u2019s first item was the institute\u2019s image, before students\u2019 well-being. It\u2019s sad, but I see it a lot.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EI would have liked to see more collaboration among the professors and departments. Each professor seems to think that their class is the most important and so they\u2019re going to give you the most amount of work. I had to decide which assignments to do first and which ones I\u2019ll turn in late. It was tough to make decisions like that daily.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EI also wish we had more access to and awareness of help that\u2019s available in dealing with mental health problems. There\u2019s no course that tells you how to manage stress or recognize warning signs of depression.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWould you recommend Georgia Tech to others?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EYes. It\u2019s such a great school. We\u2019re pushed so hard here that no matter what the real world throws at us we will be able to take it. But I would caution the people coming here that they\u2019re going to have to work hard. I would advise them to learn how to manage their stress. I myself know now to take a break when I feel stressed, to do something that makes me happy, like play Frisbee, and hang out with my friends.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech roller-coaster ride takes the chemistry major, daughter of Laotian refugees, to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."}],"uid":"30678","created_gmt":"2016-04-27 16:23:30","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:21:32","author":"A. Maureen Rouhi","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2016-04-29T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2016-04-29T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"530521":{"id":"530521","type":"image","title":"Kristy Syhapanha","body":null,"created":"1461963600","gmt_created":"2016-04-29 21:00:00","changed":"1475895310","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:55:10","alt":"Kristy Syhapanha","file":{"fid":"88948","name":"img_0754.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/img_0754_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/img_0754_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2874087,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/img_0754_0.jpg?itok=sNIe60vV"}}},"media_ids":["530521"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"}],"categories":[{"id":"8862","name":"Student Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"4896","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"9024","name":"depression"},{"id":"4647","name":"Julia Kubanek"},{"id":"170198","name":"Kristy Syhapanha"},{"id":"171982","name":"Remington Poulin"},{"id":"166928","name":"School of Chemistry and Biochemistry"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA. Maureen Rouhi (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maureen.rouhi@cos.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaureen.rouhi@cos.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E)\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDirector of Communications, College of Sciences\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E404.385.5207\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["maureen.rouhi@cos.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}