Several seniors will be majoring in STEM in college, among them being Rosalie Wessels, Emmett Smith, Akash Kumar, Vincent Chen, Logan Thompson, Seika Oelschig, Sally King,  Ayana Jassal, Andrew Wang, and Seika Oelschig.

Jassal will be attending University of California Berkeley as a pre-med student majoring in molecular cell biology.

“When I was researching Berkeley majors, I knew this was the one I really wanted to do, as it encapsulated all the topics I’m interested in like biochemistry and cellular biology,” Jassal said.

Jassal took AP Chemistry and Honors Biology 2, which inspired her to pursue a career in medicine. As a pre-med student, Jassal hopes to dive into the world of bio-chem and genetic-based research in addition to medicine.

“Watching [Jassal’s] excitement as she discovered some new ideas or connection in biology has fed my teacher’s soul for the past two years. Her joy is why I love my job,” Honors Biology 2 teacher Kimberly Hudson said.

An aspiring doctor, Wang plans on doing a double major in biology and social sciences at the liberal arts school in Maine, Colby College. Hudson played a significant role in Wang’s passion, as she taught and explained subjects with enthusiasm.

“Andrew’s focus and drive to learn inspires me to always step up my own game as a teacher,” Hudson said. “One day I hope to tag along to the pediatrician’s office with my future grandkid, and I hope it’s Andrew who we find there. He’s going to make a wonderful doctor.”

Similar to Wang, Oelschig will be going to Colby College for their renowned computer science program. Oelschig intends on majoring in computer science with a possibility of double majoring in science and technology. Oelschig’s curiosity for technology and the Pinewood Tech Club made her fall in love with software.

“Learning and growing with each iteration of products sparked my interest … how do these devices work? How are they getting smarter/ How are they getting smarter than us?’” Oelschig said.

She would like to pursue a career as a website developer, eventually becoming a project manager while programming and creating websites.However, Oelschig’s enthusiasm for computer science is dampened by pragmatism.

“One of the concerns I have is [that] technology revolves around the future…it’s really hard to tell what direction the world is going to go in,” Oelschig said.