Frederick Hurt

I most recently graduated with a major in Biochemistry at Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL. I graduated Cum Laude on May 14, 2022. I grew up in the St. Louis Metropolitan Area. I began my early childhood education in the City of East St. Louis, IL. I attended elementary school, middle school, and high school in the Belleville, Illinois School District and graduated from the Belleville East High School, Belleville, IL. I was on the honor role from grades 1-12. My parents and my grandmother have always been the anchors in my life. My parents always stressed the importance of education to me. Education was the primary focus in our home since my grandmother was a teacher. My favorite subjects in school were science and mathematics. I have always been fascinated with science. As a young child, I had a passion for building models and constructing projects in order to find out the results. Northern Illinois University has given me the opportunity to fulfill my dreams and educational goals by allowing me to learn all I could in the field of chemistry. I read a lot and listened to the news about all the new technology being developed in the world and I would like to be a part of this new technological experience. In fact, the reason I wanted to become a chemist in the first place was because I performed amazing experiments as a kid. For example, putting baking soda and vinegar in a plastic bag and watching a reaction occur. I watched soda shoot up like a geyser because of Mentos being added to Coca-Cola. These amazing experiments that I performed made me want to major in chemistry. My mother bought me many science books and science kits to perform my experiments. Additionally, the reason I wanted to get a degree in chemistry was because of the many jobs and careers in the field of chemistry.