Rachel Rubin
Fall 2024 Dean’s Excellence Merit Scholarship Recipient
M.S. in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
The year goes by in a blink. It can be tempting to hole up in the library and focus only on performing highly on every exam, but you’ll need your extracurriculars in order to be a whole person.
About Rachel
Rachel is from Gainesville, Florida. Before coming to Georgetown Biomedical Graduate Education, she earned a Bachelor of Arts in international relations from American University.
How do you hope your graduate studies will build on what you learned as an undergraduate?
I came from a bit of a unique undergraduate background – I studied international relations, so making the transition to a STEM degree, particularly at the graduate level, has come with a steep learning curve. But international relations is a discipline that stresses the importance of communicating big ideas simply, sharing ideas with other disciplines, de-centering U.S. perspectives from the literature, and respecting differences in background – all tools which are critical to any scientific field. Armed with a cross-disciplinary education, I can bring a new perspective to the classroom and to the professional field in which I ultimately end up working.
In a world where discussions of climate change, chemical warfare, and other science-based issues are intimately intertwined with discussions about global security, having a knowledge base in world history, ideologies, and institutions will help provide additional context to the scientific concepts learned and practiced in the lab.
What led you to pursue graduate studies?
In 2020, at the height of the COVID pandemic, I was living at home with not much to do. I was seeking a challenge, so I decided to try out some of the graduate science classes, and was surprised at how much I loved them. They permitted me to be competitive with myself and my peers in a way that the humanities doesn’t really like – in fact, they actively discourage. And the material was right at the edge of my ability – that is to say, it required every ounce of intellectual horsepower that I could possibly muster – and that was exhilarating. I knew from the first few weeks that I couldn’t get enough of the material, and the challenge, so I resolved to attend graduate school.
Why did you choose Georgetown for your graduate studies?
Georgetown’s focus on preparing students for the industry was very attractive to me! For other programs I was considering, they sent a majority of their students on to Ph.D. programs, and while many of my classmates at Georgetown do plan to further their studies, I knew a Ph.D. wasn’t for me, and I wanted to be able to dive into work immediately after completing the master’s program.
Additionally, the small size of the program reassured me that we’d be a tight-knit class with individualized attention from the professors and program directors.
I also have been in D.C. for years, and I know that I want to live and work here afterwards – no school beats Georgetown for local connections.
What advice would you give to future BGE students?
The year goes by in a blink. It can be tempting to hole up in the library and focus only on performing highly on every exam, but you’ll need your extracurriculars in order to be a whole person. It’s important to have goals and hobbies that have nothing to do with school (see headshot above). Take care of your sleep and your exercise – you’ll be better for it!