Morgan 'Raine' Foulkes

F rom: I’m from Macon, Georgia, but I live primarily in Milledgeville.

Major/minor: Premed and biology major with a minor in chemistry.

Why Georgia College: GCSU is a good fit for me for many reasons. Once I was accepted into GCSU and decided that I wanted to go to medical school, I picked biology, because I knew I could satisfy my premed requirements without a lot of extra classes.

Activities: I tutored chemistry at the Learning Center, and I absolutely loved it. My coworkers and the students who came in were genuinely fun to be around. Also, I am President of the Premed Club and lucky to be part of the premed mentorship with Dr. Ashok Hegde.

Study Abroad: I studied ecology in the Bahamas in May 2017 and had a great time. We spent a lot of time working with local agencies to increase the community's knowledge of reef ecology.

Best memory: One of my favorite memories from college is when I attended the National Conferences on Undergraduate Research with my lab group in Oklahoma City, and we visited the local botanical

Favorite professors: I have many favorite professors at Georgia College, including Dr. Hegde, Dr. Okoth, Dr. France and Dr. Ionta. But, this semester, I have really enjoyed taking Quantitative Analysis with Dr. Wathsala Medawala. She is a very interactive, kind and clear teacher. After graduation, my education will shift away from chemistry. So, I am relishing this class as one of my final experiences in the Chemistry Department.

How have you changed in college? Most of all, I have become more aware of the relationship that I have with myself. I'm the same person I have always been—but with greater clarity on what I want out of life.

How are you dealing with the coronavirus crisis? I am a very social and busy person, so my life has changed a lot since before the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Like many others, I spend a ton of time at home in my apartment in Milledgeville. In some respects, this has been a relatively easy adjustment since I was ready for a break before this. But some days are harder than others. Going to the grocery store is especially stressful. I wear swim goggles and a bandana around my nose and mouth in congested public places now. Luckily, my classes have translated well into the online format, and I know how to study. If I were a freshman, I can imagine school would be much more difficult—mainly due to the self-discipline and independence remote learning requires.

Advice for new students:

Future: In the next 3 months. I’ll apply to med school, and I hope to start at the Medical College of Georgia in August 2021. Until then, I have a job working as a medical scribe for a nurse practitioner at North Macon Family Healthcare. I plan on becoming certified to teach yoga in my gap year as well. I’m not sure what kind of doctor I want to be, but I’m thinking about a combination family medicine-psychiatry residency.