Giving at Lake Forest College

Brayden Saunders ’24 is a biology major and environmental studies minor who interned at the Chicago Botanic Gardens during the spring 2023 semester. He worked on research investigating how climate change is impacting bumble bee populations, and this internship gave Brayden confirmation that he may want to pursue research after graduation. “I know that there's still a lot more to learn, but that's why I'm loving it, because I am learning so much more about research, and I think I'm falling in love with it. Going into my own career, this is something potentially that I would like to do.” 

Anna Palianichka ’26, a first-generation college student and a business major with a concentration in marketing, received the Presidential scholarship from Lake Forest College, which helped alleviate some of her financial stress. She has also been accepted into the Gummere Fellows program, is the VP of Membership of the College’s chapter of the American Marketing Association and aims to attend law school after graduation. “Growing up as a lower-income student has had its challenges, and being a first-generation college student has put a lot of pressure on me to do well in school to make my family proud. Lake Forest College has helped me so much to get academically and socially committed in a short amount of time.” 

Jorge Garcia ’24, a biochemistry and molecular biology major, spent this past summer conducting research relating to HIV/AIDS Drug Development and Testing with Human Kidney (HK-2) Cells with a professor at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science. The Summer Scholars Program is a 10-week paid fellowship in which students work directly under medical school faculty, aiding in innovative lab research. “This research experience is very important to me because this has helped me better determine that I want to pursue an MD/PhD program in the near future. I keep discovering that I love scientific research and I get excited about it. I am first-generation Latino student who had doubts about my future, but this experience helped me feel capable of pursuing my goals.”