By Jakob Strohl ‘26, staff writer
Abriana Ferrari arrived on campus at the tail end of the COVID-19 pandemic, choosing to become a Dutchman after spending much of her early education in a homeschool co-op.
“I was lucky enough to be offered a scholarship that has made my education here very affordable,” she said. “[It’s] granted me amazing opportunities outside of the classroom.”
Ever humble, Ferrari made no initial mention of being just one of four in the class of 2026 to receive the John Bowman Allwein Scholarship and its accompanying full academic ride. Yet her record speaks for itself.
Four years later, she’s fought for a 3.96 GPA in biochemistry, two highly-selective Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REUs) at R1 universities and two research assistantships at LVC. She has also logged hundreds of hours in tutoring and recitation leadership, making it fair to ask whether it was mere “luck” on the part of Ferrari or just the school betting on the right individual.
“I’ve always been a very inquisitive person, and I love learning about the world around me,” she said, brushing off the accomplishments. “I think this led to my interest in chemistry. I realized it was something I wanted to spend the rest of my life doing after my first research internship the summer before my junior year.”
That internship was at Mississippi State University, where she studied biophysics alongside graduate students.
Since then, her passion has continued to bring her great success. Ferrari has been a standout in LVC’s Chemistry Department, winning awards this year for being the best senior in the program and recognition as the most impressive student in the physical chemistry subdiscipline, though she credits much of it to her professors and her goals in life.
“Dr. Sterner was my biggest mentor here,” she said. “I look up to her a lot. Watching her teach has shown me how to best help the students that I work with.”
Ferrari also mentioned Drs. Peelen, Marsh and Patton as instrumental in her growth as an aspiring chemist and cited plans for graduate studies as an antidote for senioritis.
“I’ve wanted to get my PhD for a while now and that’s a huge motivator for me to work hard at my classes.”
Her largest success came recently when she persevered through what was described as an “incredibly overwhelming” and “very time consuming” application process, making it into Penn State’s PhD-tracked chemical engineering program,a top-30 program in the nation, with no engineering background.
But underneath all the accolades, Ferrari is very human. When asked whether she was excited for her future, she responded, “Sometimes I am, but sometimes I’m just terrified.”
She also noted that her sleep since being accepted to Penn State has been more “erratic” and that she has been dealing with a kind of “persistent, all-encompassing, omnipresent impostor syndrome.”
“Overall though,” she said, “I think I’m excited. I think I’m going to love grad school.”
If she could give one piece of advice to future students, based on her time at LVC, Ferrari said, “Make friends. College will be absolutely miserable if you don’t have friends.”
Her first few semesters were rough in that department, but she learned quickly that “it’s ok to put yourself out there, you’re not going to look stupid, and if you do no one will remember it so just go talk to people.” She smiled. “They’re probably just as nervous about meeting people as you are.”