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Meet Rebecca Jones, one of four students currently featured in Clemson University’s Moments campaign. The senior from Anchorage, Alaska, is a genetics major and microbiology and psychology double minor. Watch her her video interview here.

As a senior at Clemson, I’ve had the opportunity to experience some pretty amazing things, like watching our football team win the 2016 National Championship. But I’ve also conducted world-class research that might help save lives.

I always knew I wanted to attend college in the South — I love the culture, the people and the hospitality. When I started applying to schools, Clemson rose to the top because of its undergraduate genetics degree program and the prestige of the university’s Honors College. As a member of the Honors College, I arrived on campus the summer before my freshman year to participate in a five-week program for incoming Honors students. We got a jump start on research, collaborated with faculty members and made lifelong friends before classes even started.

It was through EUREKA! that I met Dr. Jeremy Tzeng, who became my Creative Inquiry faculty mentor. Dr. Tzeng guided me to work with Maryam, one of his graduate students. From there, everything changed as I immersed myself in advanced discoveries centered on cancer research. Over the nextcouple semesters, I worked alongside Maryam, examining the effects of genes and their ability to cure cancer cells. This experience challenged me academically and prepared me to excel in the workplace. But what happened next will forever stand out as my defining moment at Clemson. Maryam included my name on her research papers, something I didn’t expect to accomplish until my own final thesis at the end of graduate school. Instead, I checked it off my bucket list in just three years as a college junior!

When the team behind Clemson Moments approached me about participating in the video campaign, I was excited to share my story. There are only four of us currently featured and it’s an honor to help show what it means to be a Tiger to fans across the country.

My undergraduate experience has confirmed that I want to become a genetic counselor, helping patients understand genetic test results. This is just one Clemson story, and I hope it can help inspire the next generation of students!

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