The Catalyst ProjectGustavus science majors reflect on faith, science, and vocation.

Haley Pesik ‘19, Computer Science and Mathematics

Haley Pesik has been interested in math and science for most of her life. She says that “when I was little… math came very easily to me”. Haley’s dad is an aerospace engineer, and he “would always tell me about rockets, and just a lot about math”. She found what her dad was telling her […]

Ben Madigan ‘19, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Ben Madigan first became interested in science when he was in high school. He says that “we had a pretty strong program at my high school” that helped spark his interest in science, and thinks that “I just enjoyed it naturally from the start”. Ben is not sure what his exact future career will be, […]

Brendan Hermerding ‘19, Chemistry

Brendan Hermerding’s interest in science has been “a lifelong journey”. Throughout his time in school he enjoyed his science classes. Brendan’s interest in science became even more important in middle school, and in sixth grade his favorite class was physical science. Once he started high school, he took upper level science courses that “got me […]

Savannah Maynard ‘18, Biology

Savannah has always always been interested in science, and she has known that she wanted to go into medicine since she was little. She says that while others used to say “I want to be a ballerina,” or “I want to be a fairy,” she has always said “I want to be a doctor”. Savannah […]

Ben Rorem ‘19, Physics

Ben Rorem became interested in math and science for many different reasons. His father was also a Physics major at Gustavus, and went on to become an emergency room physician. From his interactions with and proximity to his dad, Ben developed an interest in science and math. His affinity for these subjects was supported in […]

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