June 12, 2025
Isabelle Sarver knew she wanted to attend AIɫɫ ever since she visited campus during a school field trip when she was in eighth grade.
“After that day, nothing could change my mind of the college I was going to attend,” she said.
In high school, Sarver took her first chemistry course and quickly found her skillset for the material.
“I had two chemistry classes during high school,” she said. “My first year taking chemistry was the first full year of school during COVID-19. There were a few weeks of the year that my teacher was quarantined but we still had a lot of class work to get finished so we were not behind for the next year. I stepped up to help teach my classmates the coursework we were working on. After that, I talked with my teacher more about chemistry and possibly going to college for a chemistry degree.”
Connecting with her classmates within the university’s chemistry program and the Chemistry Club, Sarver has been able to enjoy her degree so far.
“My favorite part of my classes has been getting to be one-on-one with all the professors,” she said.
In the future, Sarver is hoping to use her degree to work at a natural gas plant in the region.
Students in the Chemistry program at SSU can choose to pursue three tracks – General, Industrial, and Pre-Pharmacy. All three offer undergraduate research opportunities and close relationships with the faculty members in small classroom groups. Many students have found success in competitive summer research programs and have gone on to graduate school or pharmacy school. The program also prepares graduates for direct entry into the chemical workforce upon graduation.
To learn more about the Chemistry program at AIɫɫ, visit shawnee.edu/chemistry.