中央卡罗来纳社区学院的学生盖奇·林德利(Gage Lindley)是全州Samuel M. Taylor Memorial Life Sciences Scholarship.
桑福德——当盖奇·林德利(Gage Lindley)第一次听说有一项相当新的全州奖学金时, it didn't exactly rock his world.
On one hand, the Samuel M. 泰勒纪念生命科学奖学金确实反映了他一生的兴趣. As far back as he can remember, Gage always loved animals; in fact, 这是他在大学里第一次对生命科学感兴趣的原因. The money would certainly help, too; graduating debt-free was something he and his family considered during their college search.
On the other hand, 盖奇已经从家庭学校转入中央卡罗莱纳社区大学，申请需要一篇论文, which seemed like more work at a fairly challenging time. Besides, what are the chances he could land a statewide award?
But he did. And how quickly things can change.
虽然只有第二年，山姆泰勒奖学金已经成为一个相当大的交易. 上学期，北卡罗来纳州社区大学的五名学生获得了五份奖学金，这些学生参加了大约六个生命科学项目, each winner receiving $3,000 per year to cover tuition, fees and books. Gage was one of the five; the others were studying at Durham Technical Community College, Johnston Community College, Pitt Community College, and the College of the Albemarle.
The awards ceremony was a pretty big deal as well, 在北卡罗来纳生物科学组织的年度会议期间举行, a bioscience trade association where the scholarship's namesake, Sam Taylor, 他曾担任总统多年，两年前因胰腺癌去世.
Before he even left the meeting, 盖奇与生命科学行业有影响力的人建立了联系，甚至还得到了一份工作. It happened quickly and in an odd sequence of events. "As they were announcing the winners, I stood up and dropped my phone,盖奇在一次关于奖学金的电话交谈中回忆道. "When I sat down, someone behind me picked up the phone, handed it to me and said she was a rep from FujiFilm. 她给了我一张名片，并说如果我对某份工作感兴趣，他们愿意接受我的申请."
Since then, life seems to have detoured onto the fast track. Not long ago, Gage participated in a virtual career fair. 有人联系了他，看他是否想聊聊职业在盖奇下线之前, he was offered an entry-level job in biotechnology. 他说:“当时我觉得自己真的对这个行业了解不多. "I really didn't expect to get the scholarship. 当我到达北卡罗来纳生物技术中心(年会的举办地)时，我才意识到这是一件多么重要的事情."
Not The Typical Student
家庭学校比以前更普遍了，但对对科学感兴趣的学生来说可能不那么普遍了. Gage did a lot of at-home experiments, 这让他对他最终追求的生物工艺技术领域产生了初步的兴趣, 虽然他的学术方向直到盖奇开始通过查塔姆县承诺作为一名家庭学生参加大学课程时才得到关注, 这是中国建建与当地政府之间的一项协议，最终为公立高中毕业的县居民提供最多两年的免费学费, private school and homeschool. 去年五月，当盖奇从家庭学校毕业时，他已经在上大学了.
“我不知道我要在哪里降落，也不知道我要做什么，”他回忆道. "I didn't know what options I had. I was going to do a general science degree so I had flexibility, 但我绝对想在实验室或生物学研究方面做点什么."
As Gage's college advisor got to know him better, 她意识到他是多么喜欢生命科学，于是向他推荐了生物工艺技术领域. He went to discuss the idea with Dr. Lisa Smelser是推荐正规买球平台生物技术项目的负责人，她决定报名参加课程. "And," as he says, "it's snowballed from there."
One of his foundational classes was BioWork, where students learn basic processes used in biotechnology, pharmaceutical and chemical manufacturing companies. When Gage walked in the door and scanned the room, 他发现自己周围都是在职业生涯中期做出改变的老年人. It wasn't what Gage expected, and it definitely isn't the typical college freshman experience, but he dug in -- and thrived. "It was definitely a surprise when I got to class," he recalls. "I was not expecting that, but I was comfortable with it. The person beside me, someone I did a lot of labs with, was older; he was already in a career and coming back to class. It actually was a great experience. We were able to share life experiences."
His BioWork instructor, Dr. Brenda Grubb, remembers how well Gage worked with his lab partner, a machinist with 16 years of work experience, and she was impressed. Sometimes, 在这门课上，年纪较小的学生可能会落后，她经常需要“拔牙”," as she puts it, to keep them on pace. Gage was different.
Dr. 格拉布说，她的一些学生已经工作了15年，他们来这里是为了改善生活和改变职业. "But the few students who were 19-ish, 他们是新手，想弄清楚自己想做什么. 盖奇是一个真正的超级明星，能在那个班级里表现得这么好，”她说.
A Look Into the Future
在山姆·泰勒奖学金的大力支持下，盖奇完全专注于他的学业. 他现在是一个两年制课程的第二年，攻读应用科学副学士学位. Oh, and he has a 4.0 GPA. But that doesn't mean he's not looking at what's ahead.
At the moment, 盖奇希望转到东卡罗莱纳大学攻读工业技术理学学士学位，主修生物工艺制造, 一个与社区大学课程紧密结合的转学项目. 他甚至知道自己想从事什么职业:“上游”," essentially a process that isolates, 培养和生长的细胞可以用于从发酵啤酒到开发药物和医疗疗法的制造过程.
It may not seem like there's a tight connection, 但正是对动物的终身热爱点燃了他的兴趣. 盖奇说:“这只是一个事实，你正在与生物一起工作。. "Cells, bacteria and cultivating them. 它是如此广泛，以至于我甚至不知道我毕业后会在哪里找工作, but I'm hoping I will be in the lab cultivating cells."
对于刚进入大学三个学期的人来说，这是一个相当具体的计划. 进入技术科学领域的人有着不典型的背景, a general interest in animals and, to be honest, no idea where to go or what to expect. 这就是为什么盖奇希望其他有类似背景的人意识到，可能有比他们想象的更多的选择. "For people my age, 当你不知道自己需要什么样的学位，或者不知道自己在一份特定的工作中是什么时候，进入大学真的会让人望而生畏," he says. “但是人们会帮助你，让你走上你想要的职业道路."
Because, as he's learned, things can quickly change.
有关中央卡罗来纳社区学院的更多信息-该学院致力于为实现梦想提供途径, visit z8il.thebetterlife.net.
中央卡罗来纳社区学院的学生盖奇·林德利(Gage Lindley)是全州Samuel M. Taylor Memorial Life Sciences Scholarship.
