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George Walters-Marrah 麻豆精品 S�20 has a little down time. He could binge One Piece 麻豆精品 S� he 麻豆精品 S檚 on a second go-round of all 929 episodes of the Japanese animated series. But no, today he 麻豆精品 S檚 in his apartment teaching himself math. Calculus and linear algebra, to be exact. He doesn 麻豆精品 S檛 have to do this.

麻豆精品 S淥nce I put my mind to something, I 麻豆精品 S檒l do whatever it takes to master it, 麻豆精品 S� he says.

And that explains how he came to UCF as a first-generation university student, how he discovered something once-mysterious to him called research and has become so enamored with it that he 麻豆精品 S檚 worked alongside Ivy Leaguers and world-respected scientists en route to a degree in molecular microbiology. This fall, he 麻豆精品 S檒l start work on his doctorate at Stanford.

麻豆精品 S淥nce I put my mind to something, I 麻豆精品 S檒l do whatever it takes to master it. 麻豆精品 S� 麻豆精品 S� George Walters-Marrah 麻豆精品 S�20

This is the same young man who didn 麻豆精品 S檛 even know what a GPA was until his senior year of high school.

麻豆精品 S淢y mother and grandmother stressed the importance of college, 麻豆精品 S� says Walters-Marrah, who grew up with an older sister, Rachel, and younger brother, Aaron, in Miami. 麻豆精品 S淢y mom just wasn 麻豆精品 S檛 sure where she 麻豆精品 S檇 get the resources to send us all to college. 麻豆精品 S�

Walters-Marrah had a scholarship offer to play soccer in the Northeast, but he didn 麻豆精品 S檛 sense a good fit. Then a PE teacher pointed out his GPA, explained what it meant, and said, 麻豆精品 S淵ou have opportunities, George. 麻豆精品 S�

That was all he needed to hear. Completing a four-year degree with limited debt became his new obsession.

One Day in a Dark Room

Walters-Marrah can 麻豆精品 S檛 tell you why he kept bothering his mother, Althea, for a microscope and telescope as a child. Despite limited finances, she gave in.

麻豆精品 S淒o what interests you, 麻豆精品 S� she would say.

Although young Walters-Marrah couldn 麻豆精品 S檛 see living cells or distant planets with the toy scopes, they did open his imagination. He also heard of these people called scientists.

麻豆精品 S淚 didn 麻豆精品 S檛 know where they worked or if they were even real. To me, scientists were myths. 麻豆精品 S� He might never have known the truth had he not visited UCF with a high-school friend. Walters-Marrah liked what he saw and heard.

麻豆精品 S淲hen he gets to that point there 麻豆精品 S檚 no denying him, 麻豆精品 S� says his mother. Some of Walters-Marrah 麻豆精品 S檚 drive comes from his mother, who grew up on a farm in Jamaica, became a track star, and was the first member of her family to move to the United States. She put her own college aspirations aside while raising three kids, but would not let them put theirs aside (Rachel earned an associate degree from Miami Dade College and Aaron is currently enrolled there).

麻豆精品 S淢om said I could go to UCF, but I 麻豆精品 S檇 have to find ways to fund it, 麻豆精品 S� Walters-Marrah says.

That 麻豆精品 S檚 all she had to say. First, Walters-Marrah earned a Silver Pegasus Scholarship as an incoming freshman. He had to grind through his first few weeks at UCF, listening intently to lectures and making note cards after class, whatever it took to keep his grades up. Then he walked into a lab for the first time. There, in the dark, he saw an object glowing and crawling under a microscope. Bacteria. He looked around and thought:

This is research. These are scientists. They aren 麻豆精品 S檛 myths. They 麻豆精品 S檙e real.

麻豆精品 S淚 decided right then, 麻豆精品 S楾his is what I want to do, 麻豆精品 S� 麻豆精品 S� he says.

麻豆精品 S淔rom my first interactions with George, it was clear that he had ambitious goals. 麻豆精品 S� – Kyle Rohde, UCF associate professor

He didn 麻豆精品 S檛 have to wait long to discover research opportunities, thanks to mentors such as Kimberly Schneider, director of . 麻豆精品 S淕eorge applied for programs, scholarships and internships that eventually built out an incredible resume, 麻豆精品 S� says Schneider. 麻豆精品 S淗e became a role model. 麻豆精品 S�

The Learning Environment and Academic Research Network provided him exposure to research projects. He participated in the , summer work studies, and mentored other students from underserved communities. He heard about Associate Professor Kyle Rohde 麻豆精品 S檚 research on bacteria and diseases, so he emailed and called to ask if he could be a part of it.

麻豆精品 S淔rom my first interactions with George, it was clear that he had ambitious goals, 麻豆精品 S� says Rohde. 麻豆精品 S淩ather than passively hoping his dreams would come true, he used initiative and grit to take full advantage of opportunities. 麻豆精品 S�

Persistence Pays Off

There was this time when a scientist from MIT came to speak at UCF. She asked how many students in the room knew the cell cycle. How about what transcribes DNA? Walters-Marrah raised his hand to both questions.

麻豆精品 S淲ho knows how to code? 麻豆精品 S� she asked.

Walters-Marrah didn 麻豆精品 S檛 know coding. So he went back to his apartment and started teaching it to himself. Shortly after mastering it, he earned a prestigious Goldwater Scholarship. He used some of the money to do research at Cornell University, not for credit but simply to join a bacteria research project. During the research, he used his new coding knowledge to help his team analyze data more efficiently. The researchers at Cornell were impressed.

During his four years at UCF, he 麻豆精品 S檚 also conducted research at the University of Pennsylvania and, through the National Science Foundation, at the University of Chicago. The 40-hour weeks in the lab didn 麻豆精品 S檛 seem like work, so he went in on weekends, too.

麻豆精品 S淚 couldn 麻豆精品 S檛 get enough of it, 麻豆精品 S� he says.

麻豆精品 S淚 want to help underserved students learn about the accessibility of higher education. 麻豆精品 S� – George Walters-Marrah 麻豆精品 S�20

His mom always told him: Do what you love. And so his research isn 麻豆精品 S檛 going to end any time soon. In September, he 麻豆精品 S檒l turn a new page at Stanford University, diving deep into the tricky relationship between bacteria and immune systems 麻豆精品 S� with barely any debt. After that he might become a research professor or do industry-based research.

麻豆精品 S淥ne thing is for sure, 麻豆精品 S� he says, 麻豆精品 S淚 want to help underserved students learn about the accessibility of higher education. 麻豆精品 S�

Michael Aldarondo-Jeffries, director of the McNair Scholars Program, has watched Walters-Marrah almost from Day 1. 麻豆精品 S淪ince his arrival at UCF, 麻豆精品 S� says Aldarondo-Jeffries, 麻豆精品 S淕eorge has made it his mission to make a difference for others. I cannot think of another student who better embodies UCF and its creed. 麻豆精品 S�

The incoming freshman who thought science resided next to fiction is leaving as a scientist. His message: If you want it badly enough, you can master anything. Even those concepts you might think are myths.