Selamawit Yilma does not pretend that her schedule is easy.

At PennWest Clarion, Selam is pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Molecular Biology/Biotechnology and a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science. She balances two demanding academic paths while also contributing to campus through peer tutoring and undergraduate research. She is also highly engaged in campus life, serving as campus president of Model United Nations, vice president of the Black Student Union, vice president of the Clarion International Student Association, and treasurer of the Association of Information Technology Professionals. She is open about the challenge of managing it all.

“It’s not easy,” she said.

Even so, she has embraced the work because it aligns with the future she is building for herself.

One of the reasons she chose PennWest Clarion was the opportunity to get involved early in faculty-based research.

“Being able to work on things before I get to experience them in class and just get the bench hours in was very important to me,” she said.

That instinct led her into research with Dr. Craig Scott and two other students, focusing on how cells detect and remove damaged proteins.

“My research project with Dr. Craig Scott focuses on how cells detect and remove damaged proteins,” she said. “We use yeast cells as our model organism, and we investigate how cellular systems get rid of stress, specifically in the endoplasmic reticulum, or the ER.”

The science is complex, but what matters just as much is the mindset it has helped her develop.

“Research has taught me how to be patient and definitely problem solve and go back and see, OK, maybe we did this one wrong,” she said.

She has learned that even careful work does not always lead to predictable results.

“You could use the same protocol and do the same thing over and over again, but for some reason, you always get different results,” she said.

Instead of seeing that as failure, she has learned to go back, ask better questions, and look more carefully at what changed. That same habit of thought has carried into her coursework, especially in lab settings where persistence matters as much as preparation.

Selam also understands the broader structure that makes undergraduate research possible. “Strike a Spark is how we apply for funding for research,” she said. “Once we apply, we get funding for the research to start.”

She also sees the Celebration of Scholarship as the place where that work is shared. For her, research is not separate from college life. It is part of how she learns, contributes and prepares for what comes next.

“After I’m done with my undergrad, I want to either do med school or combine both my majors and do grad school in bioinformatics,” she said.