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For some College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS) students, summertime presents opportunities to continue learning outside of the regular academic year. Whether it be interesting internships, innovative research, or unique travel experiences, summer break offers students numerous experiential learning options.

Here’s a look at how four LAS students spent their summer, learning and growing in their academic areas.

Lawyer in the making

This summer, some students may have sharpened their fascination with legal dramas by binging “Law and Order” or “The Lincoln Lawyer.” But Kyra Lucas (’24 psychology, criminal justice) witnessed real-life legal dramas up close and personal while interning at the Polk County (Iowa) Attorney’s Office.

Lucas worked as a clerical office assistant in the collections department, but that doesn’t mean she wasn’t in the thick of complex court cases.

“What surprised me most about this internship is the complex cases that the office handles daily,” she said. “During my first week I sat through a case involving a teenager accused of molesting [a child], which was emotionally taxing. It was a sobering experience that has given me a newfound respect for the gravity of the legal system.”

Despite her involvement with difficult cases, Lucas values the interactions she had with the attorneys.

“One of the aspects I enjoyed most about this internship was the opportunity to interact with lawyers and observe them in action during trials and case work,” Lucas said. “I also appreciated the flexibility to shadow attorneys and learn about different aspects of the criminal justice system. Through this experience, I gained a deeper understanding of the legal process, including the differences between various charges and the procedures involved in criminal cases.”

Exposure to how the court system functions is paramount to Lucas’ future career as a lawyer.

“I believe this experience is crucial for my future career goals because it provides me with early exposure to the legal field, allowing me to gain valuable insight into the profession,” Lucas said.
“It also enables me to build my resume and expand my professional network, which will be beneficial when applying to law school and seeking employment after graduation.”

In his element

Bradyn Weaver (’25 chemistry) had the adventure of a lifetime this summer at the University of Łódź in Poland where he conducted physical organic chemistry research with the Organic Materials Research Group. Here, he was the first person to synthesize certain compounds, quite an accomplishment for an undergraduate researcher.

Weaver’s research centered around the synthesis and characterization of novel stable organic (Blatter-type) radicals with potential for application in organic electronics.

“This opportunity not only gave me another experience in chemistry preparing organic materials, but it’s also provided me with the opportunity to work more independently as a researcher,” Weaver said.

In addition to expanding his knowledge of organic chemistry, Weaver also spent his summer navigating a new country and culture.

“I have been presented with a lot of new challenges, like handling flights, booking train tickets and taking the train to travel in Europe, dealing with a language barrier, and adapting to differences in European versus American culture,” Weaver said. “Ultimately, I have grown considerably from this experience, and I’m so happy I took advantage of the opportunity.”

While Weaver enjoyed broadening his worldview while in Poland, some experiences surprised him.

“For one thing, air conditioning is not as common in Europe compared to the U.S.,” he said. “Also, Europe’s transportation infrastructure is much more developed than back in America. Also, Europe, of course, is so much older than the U.S., so the history of the buildings in these cities is truly remarkable.”

Despite experiencing some challenges while in Poland, Weaver is glad he stepped out of his comfort zone this summer to gain valuable experience as he applies for a Ph.D. in chemistry/materials chemistry this fall.

“Growing up I never had the chance to travel much, and so this has expanded my worldview tremendously,” Weaver said.

Archaeological adventures in Ireland

A summer studying archaeology at an Irish castle? Sign us up.

Rachel Hellman (’25 anthropology, Spanish) spent six weeks this summer at the Galway Archaeological Field School in Ireland to gain field experience for her dream career.

“I’ve loved studying archaeology at Iowa State and have always planned to pursue it after I graduate, but without field experience, I was nervous I was in over my head,” she said. “I absolutely loved my field school, and now I feel confident continuing to pursue archaeology in graduate school and beyond.”

Hellman learned about the fieldwork opportunity in Ireland through the Archaeological Institute of America’s website. Once she decided to pursue it, Iowa State helped her make it happen.

“The ISU and LAS study abroad staff, especially Kate Crow and Ben McKelfresh, helped me coordinate school credit transfer, apply for scholarships, and arrange my international health insurance,” she said.

During her time at Isert Kelly Castle, a 15th-century tower house in Loughrea, Ireland, Hellman learned the basics of archaeological excavation at an active dig site. She gained skills such as troweling techniques, technical drawing, and how to wash and catalog finds. She also spent time touring the Irish countryside, visiting historic sites, and learning about medieval Irish architecture.

“I loved getting to learn about Irish culture as well as archaeology,” she said. “Our professor and field school director Dr. Rory Sherlock, as well as our site supervisors, were great about answering our questions about Irish culture, and even took us to a hurling match, one of Ireland’s national sports.”

Hellman’s key to a great summer experience was embracing a beginner’s mindset.

“I decided that any time I had a question, I was going to ask it, even if it made me feel silly,” she said. “Working up the courage to ask my questions ensured that I got the most out of my experience and learned as much as I could.”

Living a dream in the lab

Liya Mooradian (’25 genetics) has had the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard on her radar since high school. Each year, the prestigious organization runs a summer program for undergraduates interested in biomedical research careers. Funded by the National Human Genome Research Institute, the program has long been a dream internship for Mooradian.

This year, she decided to apply and was selected for the competitive opportunity. Less than 4% of Broad Summer Research Program applicants are accepted, Mooradian noted.

Mooradian interned in the lab of world-renowned scientist Eric Lander, the founding director of the institute and the principal leader of the international Human Genome Project. Mooradian’s research project titled “Base Editing Approach for eQTL Validation” looked at genetic variants in non-coding regions of the genome.

“We hope to use this approach to interpret the function of many more variants in the genome, thus accelerating the understanding of the functional role of disease-associated variants,” Mooradian said.

Her internship included working on planned experiments and also attending programs to help her prepare for graduate school and beyond. She’s currently interested in working in personalized medicine, immunology, and pharmacology.

“I am loving the process of gaining critical wet lab experience necessary for my future career, such as cell culture with human induced pluripotent stem cells, and getting to use scientific creativity and curiosity to do experiments,” she said. “It’s also been so lovely to spend time with other students from across the nation who have similar interests and passions, both within the Broad and outside.”

One of Mooradian’s biggest lessons this summer was observing how success and failure often go hand-in-hand.

“What has been most challenging about this experience has been the sheer amount of troubleshooting we’ve done,” she said. “Doing research science has lots of ups and downs – it’s characterized by lots of failure with little success. And while this sounds dreadful, those successes actually have a huge impact in contributing to the general pool of knowledge and informing clinical choices related to disease. So, my mentor and I were troubleshooting a new problem every week, if not every day.”

Mooradian also was a spring 2024 recipient of the LAS Dean’s Undergraduate Research Award. She’ll begin applying to graduate schools this fall, with support from Iowa State’s McNair Program, and her robust research experiences are sure to help her stand out.

She emphasized that there are plenty of opportunities for Cyclones interested in research if they’re willing to take the leap.

“Get outside of your comfort zone or frequented spheres of influence and try new things,” she said.