CareerTech background made college "easy" for this biology student.
THEN: Auditing a biotechnology class at Southern Technology Center as a high school sophomore. When the instructor invited Delaney Medcalf to participate in the lab portion of class that day, she knew instantly she was in the right place.
“I had never had that kind of hands-on science experience,” the Lone Grove High School graduate said.
Medcalf enrolled in the two-year biotech program at Southern Tech, where she learned
- How to properly use lab equipment and perform sterile technique.
- How to culture microbes.
- How to think critically and to express or explain those thoughts.
She also gained numerous life skills. Medcalf said the program gave her self-confidence and improved her communication skills, as well as teaching her patience, teamwork and the importance of building connections with professors.
“Most importantly,” she said, “the biotech program reinforced my love and passion for science.”
Medcalf passed the Biotechnician Assistant Certification Exam and completed the biotech CAPSTONE program at the Noble Research Institute, her contributions for which were published in a New Zealand paper. Because of her new skills and achievements, she was chosen as a 2019 Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation Fleming Scholar in her senior year, which included a paid internship after high school.
In college, Medcalf said, she breezed through her courses because of the foundation she got from Southern Tech.
“The biotech program gave me such high standards that honestly, college labs have been a big disappointment,” she said.
NOW: A student at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma in Chickasha, Oklahoma, pursuing a bachelor’s degree in biology with a triple minor in liberal arts, psychology and chemistry. After graduation, Medcalf plans to get her master’s degree, go to medical school and get her Ph.D. She would like to be a dietitian or emergency medicine doctor.
