Being in the Room

Molecular biology major Imani Rucker ’23 digs deeper into the sciences.

Date

Before committing to Kenyon, Imani Rucker ’23 sat in on a class taught by Assistant Professor of Biology Arianna Smith. “I remember being really blown away,” Smith recalled of Rucker. “She was just there to be engaged. She struck me as someone who was really prepared [for college], but more so, was hungry to be there.”

For Rucker, it was a chance to see her favorite subject taught at the collegiate level, and to take part in a conversation with her future classmates. Though her biology work in high school well acquainted her with conducting research in a lab setting, science at Kenyon was upping the intensity.

Majoring in science would challenge Rucker to explore different and oftentimes unfamiliar aspects of biology and other STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) courses. “I love science, but science is heavy,” Rucker said. “Everything is not going to come second nature, especially when you’re talking about thinking about things that our natural eyes don’t always lay on.”

“I love science, but science is heavy. Everything is not going to come second nature, especially when you’re talking about thinking about things that our natural eyes don’t always lay on.”"

Imani Rucker '23

After deciding on Kenyon, Rucker began diving into lab work, with plans of going to medical school after graduating. “She’s still really, really, really motivated,” noted Smith. “I don’t think that’s changed at all. I think that she has diversified what she’s interested in, and matured in the way she wants to think about science, and how she wants to tackle those things in her time beyond Kenyon.”

To further hone her research skills, Rucker spent this past summer as a Cascade Science Scholar, researching maternal stress alongside Smith. “The amount of trust I have in my research students to be a part of the idea generation and execution is very different than what I have for my students in the lab course,” said Smith. “The relationship between a research student and mentor is driven totally by where the science takes us.”

While biology remains her sweet spot, Rucker was surprised to find herself drawn to the material of courses outside her field. “I always said I was not a chem girl,” Rucker said. Nevertheless, she aced both semesters of organic chemistry, a class known to be particularly challenging among the pre-med cohort. 

“The amount of trust I have in my research students to be a part of the idea generation and execution is very different than what I have for my students in the lab course. The relationship between a research student and mentor is driven totally by where the science takes us.”

Assistant Professor of Biology Arianna Smith

“I’ve challenged myself a lot at Kenyon,” said Rucker. “As a Black woman and a STEM major, it was important to me that I garner a lot of confidence, because imposter syndrome is very real. Even when you feel like you’ve been in the rooms before, even when you feel like you know the material.”

Now studying abroad in Copenhagen in a program focused on medical practice and policy, Rucker will come back to campus in the fall for her senior year—and back to Smith’s lab. “I’ve seen myself grow in ways that I wasn’t prepared for and ways I had also hoped for,” she said about her Kenyon experience. In the meantime, Rucker is looking toward the summer with more than a few ideas about how to use that time, in and out of labs. “She just can see a problem and generate ideas,” Smith said. “Which is really fun to be in the same room with.”