Hannah Hutchins

When I joined my Health Science master’s program in August of 2024, it quickly became apparent to me that I had entered an academic environment quite unlike anything I had experienced before — and not simply because of the increase in rigor. Rather, I was caught off guard by the expectation that we as students were to become the leaders and the teachers in the classroom. And one fundamental skill that we were expected to aptly exercise in this process was none other than public speaking.

January marked the start of my 12th and final semester—the culmination of a six-year journey as a STEM undergraduate and master’s student at Palm Beach Atlantic University (PBA), where I also serve as a teaching assistant for chemistry and biology. One of my faculty supervisors, Dr. Gregory Rummo, is a chemistry professor and writer with a background spanning chemistry, financial management, and theological apologetics.

A traditional four-year education has historically been advertised to encompass two key components: knowledge formation and practical application. Critical thinking and intellectual debate—values with intrinsic worth that quench one’s thirst for knowledge and foster analytical assessment in daily life—exist as the base of academia: knowledge formation.