Calvin News

When Hannah King was looking at colleges, she knew where she wasn’t going. Or so, she thought. 

“I wasn’t thinking Calvin at first,” said King, who graduated from Grand Rapids Christian High School. 

King, whose high school sits just three miles down the road from Calvin University, felt it was just too close. With an interest in the sciences, she also had a negative perception about Christian schools compared to public research institutes.  

“I was worried about the rigor…that I wouldn’t be able to go as in-depth into chemistry and the sciences,” said King. “I think it was a deep-rooted hesitancy.” 

Changing her mind 

But this hesitancy was ultimately uprooted when she realized the bottom line. “Calvin was significantly more affordable than the other schools I got accepted to,” said King. 

So, King decided to enroll at Calvin and soon discovered that her perceptions of Calvin didn’t match reality. 

“It’s been great, a lot better than I could have ever imagined,” said King. “The coursework is challenging—all of it. It’s very in depth. And my profs are respected and established in their fields.” 

Finding opportunities right away 

At Calvin, King found research opportunities right out of the gate.  

“[After my] first year of college, I applied to Calvin’s institutional research program, and I was so surprised I got in,” said King. 

She spent the first two summers at Calvin doing research alongside Professor Laura Westrate, which prepared her to compete for competitive internships across the country following her junior year. 

Working with Calvin’s Career Center, King applied for multiple internships and was accepted into four of them. Ultimately, she decided to take the internship with Ginkgo Bioworks, a biotech company in Boston, Massachusetts, which came with both moving and housing stipends.  

“They are a contract company,” said King. “If Merck or Moderna want something done but don’t have the resources to do it or if it’s cheaper for them to outsource, my company will do that project for them. Because of all the instruments and specialists we have, we can do a lot of projects. 

“Big pharma companies in early-stage vaccine development want us to help make vaccine components and test to see what’s in them,” said King. “My job is to see exactly what we are making, and what are the impurities.”

Equipped for success 

While King had never done this particular type of chemistry research before, she was drawing heavily on lessons she learned at Calvin—about how through failure you ultimately find success. 

“Because I had done research before at Calvin with Calvin profs, I knew that I was not going to be perfect, there would be mistakes, some experiments would fail, and I would have to troubleshoot and try again,” said King. “So, it was helpful to focus on using my mistakes to become better instead of considering it a wasted day. Calvin introduced that mindset [to me]...using my failures for learning.” 

King said her colleagues took notice of this skill: “I was complimented on that a lot by my colleagues,” said King. “Other people are starting to realize how well Calvin has equipped me.” 

And King is realizing that too. 

“I am glad I came here. I feel that Calvin has given me exactly what I was looking for and proved my pre-judgments wrong,” said King. 

King, a senior chemistry and French double major, is finishing up her time at Calvin. She’s in the midst of applying to PhD programs. 

“I want to keep learning and see where it takes me,” said King.