Welcome to UGA! My name is West. I am a Third-Year Honors Pre Med student attending the finest school in the land! I am currently majoring in Biological Sciences within the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES), and I would love to give you a tour of South Campus so you can get a feel for the facilities, development opportunities, and hands-on learning experiences UGA offers students of the sciences. Not a STEM Student? No problem. I also have my share of experiences with North Campus, as well as universal tips for all students. On top of that, I'm a voice minor who also plays saxophone. If you have any questions about the school of music, I'd be happy to answer and point you in the right direction too. Looking forward to hearing from you! GOOOO DAWGS!

Hometown

Fayetteville​/​Peachtree City Georgia

Major(s)

Biological Science

Minor(s)

Voice

Clubs, organizations & involvement

Men's Glee Club (Choir) - President UGA Concert Band - First Chair Alto Saxophone Project FOCUS - Volunteer Student Teacher Avian Surgical Techniques - Lab TA UGArden - Volunteer Harvester

Describe your college experience

I got the full freshman experience at UGA: Dorm living, making a big friend group that eventually split into smaller ones (as they usually do), and of course, football games! The music college has made me feel so welcome, and most of my professors have been approachable and extremely intelligent. The worst thing has honestly been parking. Stay on the deadlines for that!

Tip for future students

- Triple check when leases​/​dorm assignments open: Finding housing around here can feel cut throat. Many places require you to sign up for​/​renew a lease in August. - Get Involved: Take every opportunity to get out of your dorm and meet new people. The shift to college can be incredibly isolating if you don't take a little initiative and put yourself out there. Once you do, though, you'll find your place! - Apply for the Honors Program: If there's even a small chance you could qualify for honors, do it. Priority registration and small classes are a godsend in a school this big. It's not a whole lot more work, and the benefits greatly outweigh the perceived costs. - Rate My Professor: Use this website every time you register for classes. You don't always have to listen to your advisor--if the only good professor for chemistry only teaches in the spring, then take a different class and do chemistry in the spring (that's a hypothetical, I don't know who's teaching Chem now, but hopefully you get the point).

Favorite class

Avian Surgical Techniques: This is a poultry science class that teaches you introductory surgical and anesthesia techniques. You do surgery on live laying hens. Not only does this provide invaluable hands-on experience before you go to med​/​PA​/​vet school, but also the actual course content was largely not focused on chickens! Instead, it mainly focused on teaching you general concepts about medicine and how they relate to surgery.

Career goals

Go to med school to eventually study pediatrics.

Ideal way to spend a free night

70% of the time: Sip a warm drink, pet my dog, and play a chill video game with a podcast playing. 25% of the time: Hang with my friends in one of our apartments. 5% of the time: Go downtown.

High school or secondary school

Whitewater High School. Fayetteville, GA