IMPACT Team Member: Katherine Foster
STATISTICS
Name: Katherine Foster
Major: Geology and Biology, minoring in Physics
Classification/Year: Senior
FAVORITES
Favorite hobbies: Astrophotography and hobbyist stargazing with a telescope; Hiking, quarrying, collecting, and classifying minerals; Going critter hunting in creeks – and taking pictures!
Favorite class or teacher: “Aqueous geochemistry. I have too many ‘favorite professors’ to count. The faculty here are widely talented and almost all are awesome to chat with. I’ll have favorites to consult with when I have a specific question, but overall, they’re all talented and hard-working people.”
What you enjoy most about your major: “The endless sense of discovery and overall versatility of both fields. There’s always something just around the corner waiting to be found that could potentially revolutionize our understanding of everyday topics – you just must ask the right questions! I have a hard time not trying to drift over into other fields out of curiosity. Geology and biology are such broad, critical sciences; they can be paired with almost any other discipline (astrobiology, biogeochemistry, and geophysics, to name a few) or be a perfectly viable option as a singular major.”
What you enjoy most about serving on the IMPACT Team: “Being able to give back to departments individually, and to ECU more broadly. Both ECU, and various faculty, have played a direct hand in my own success – even when I felt I had reached a dead-end (and believe me, there were many days that felt that way). More than anything, I’d love to ensure that the ‘ladder’ to success is still there (and in even better condition) for future students and faculty so that they can climb to even greater heights. Whether this is through volunteer work, discussing my own experience in my major, or addressing various potential problems with the help of my fellow IMPACT teammates, I know that I can lend a hand to those that may need it and promote an inclusive, ever-improving environment for everyone.”
MOTIVATION
Your words to live by: “Staying positive doesn’t mean that you must always be happy. It means that even on your hardest days, you believe that better ones are coming. Be kind, be communicative and keep going at your own pace.”