Hailey Olberding

Why you chose your major
I have always known that I wanted to go into medicine, but in high school, I didn't necessarily know what major would best supplement that pre-professional track. My junior and senior year of high school, I took an IB chemistry class, and fell in love with it. Thus, I knew that Biochemistry would be a good major for me to meet all the pre-health requirements while also taking classes I was interested in. I chose a Spanish minor because I took lots of Spanish in high school, and wanted to continue that in college to be able to communicate with a more diverse group of people within my profession.

Favorite and/or most impactful course
Human Physiology has had the biggest impact on me because it was the first class I've taken at UNL that is all about the human body, which is something I am extremely interested in. Previously, in classes, I learned about things that could have been applied to the human body, but this class was very eye-opening, extremely interesting, and ensured that healthcare was something that I was very passionate about and wanted to go into. It was a very rigorous class, which challenged me, but I found myself still able to enjoy it because I was truly just so interested in the material, and the professor was amazing as well. Physiology will probably remain my favorite class that I have taken at UNL, and although it was a challenge, I was able to learn foundational knowledge that will benefit me as I go on to medical school.

Research or internship experience
My sophomore year, I was an undergraduate research assistant for Dr. Roston's Lab in the Biochemistry Department. Within this lab, I assisted with various projects for graduate students and post-doc students, including collecting biomass, making agar plates, planting seeds, harvesting seeds, preparing stock solutions, doing PCRs, and extracting DNA. Additionally, I attended weekly lab meetings with the full lab and with my specific research group, who was focusing on the effect of antioxidants on plant growth. Within this focus group, I contributed to much of the data that was collected, helped review the paper, and was listed in the acknowledgements of the published paper. Overall, working in the lab was a great way for me to learn how to be more organized and detail-oriented, learn how to work well independently and with a full group, and learn how to ask meaningful questions and connect what I learned to larger topics. Although research is not something that I want to do as my career, I am glad I was able to have the experience. 

Other involvement
I am an Honors Peer Mentor Leader and serve as our Treasurer and Logistics Chair. I am an NHRI mentor and will be a staff advisor and Interviewer for the 24-25 school year. I am a member of Gamma Phi Beta, ODK, and Pickleball Club. I am a family representative for Dance Marathon. 

Why you chose Nebraska
I have lived in Lincoln all of my life, and grew up loving being a Husker. I knew that I didn't want to go far from home for college, and Nebraska offered great scholarships, had all of the academic-related things that I wanted, and a great atmosphere (sports and just campus in general). Thus, I knew that attending Nebraska was a no-brainer.

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