Medicine, microorganisms and Mexico
Believe it or not, there was a time when MIT’s newest Rhodes Scholar, Stephanie Lin, didn’t excel academically.“In fourth grade, I was a pretty bad student,” she says. “Sort of distractible, not very motivated.“I guess I got over that,” Lin laughs. The senior biology major, who was among 32 American students to win the Rhodes in November, is poised to pursue a career in medicine after four years at MIT packed with classes, research and extracurricular activities.Growing up, Lin says, she leaned more toward the humanities than the sciences, considering myriad professions — librarian, lawyer, poet — throughout middle and high school. It wasn’t until a summer research experience at Michigan State University before her senior year of high school that Lin found herself drawn to the puzzles of the natural world, and the dynamic environment of the research lab.Arriving at MIT as a freshman, Lin thought she wanted to...