Sarah
They/Them | She/Her
I am non-binary and pansexual and I am a graduate student.//
I am a PhD graduate student at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and I study B cells in mice – specifically how they mature and make immune response decisions. I didn’t start to come out as pansexual until a few months before I moved to Alabama for graduate school. I found many queer peers and loved going to my first Pride celebration. As I was growing and maturing as a scientist, I grew as a human and realized I had gender feelings that I couldn’t escape or repress anymore. I had never heard the words non-binary or genderqueer before I started graduate school. I bought clothes that I actually wanted to wear and grew so much more confident. One of my proudest accomplishments has been restarting a graduate student LGBTQ+ organization with my fellow students. I look up to the older queer people in my program who led the way. Having the opportunity to meet other students who were going through the process of figuring out their identity has been invaluable and brings me joy. I want to teach college students one day, and I hope I can engender an environment where students can build their learning toolbox and boost their confidence in problem-solving. When I am not working, I enjoy hiking, biking, reading, and visiting my very supportive family in Texas.