Inspirations: Z is for Zaner SA

Image by DrAjao

(The SUPERS have resurfaced!)

You guys, this May marked A DECADE since I graduated from College! And although I have been in the field for almost 10 years, I was inspired by an exceptional young lady, the Student Keynote Speaker at The University of Maryland College Park (UMCP) 2013 Commencement activities for The School of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences.

Her name is Ms. Stefanie Anne Zaner, but pretty soon, the scientific world will know her well as Zaner SA. Well, actually, Ms. Zaner was first know as The Iron Kid of Darnestown who completed 13 years of elementary, middle and high school without a single absence.

Ms. Zaner became just as impressive in College, as she didn't just BS to get a BS! Having received her Bachelor of Science Degree in Biological Sciences: Physiology and Neurobiology this May, Ms. Zaner earned a University Honors Citation and has been inducted into Phi Beta Kappa and the Primannum Honor Societies. She was the type of student who "camped outside her professors' offices," using all the resources available to her as a student who invested in her own education.

You would think she would forsake all else and face the studies as a "responsible scholar". Rather, she believed in the power and opportunity found in student involvement. She was President of the Charles R. Drew Pre-Medical/Pre-Health Society; Head Recruitment Ambassador for the College of Computer, Mathematical and Natural Sciences, and played the clarinet as a member of the Mighty Sound of Maryland Marching Band and the Pep Band for all 4 years.

Student activity is great; but so is that moo-lah. Ms Zaner was a Teaching Assistant for Biometrics and Mammalian Physiology. She has been a Research Assistant at the National Institute of Child Health and Development. Finding opportunities to apply her book knowledge, she was also a Radiology Assistant at Washington Hospital Center.

Now she is going to complete a Post-Bac Research Training program, then off to Med School! She is impressive indeed! Ms. Zaner is living proof that busy girls get it done--and that they do it big!

So to all my Super Women out there excelling in life;

Skillfully managing spirituality, academia, career, family, service and self;

I salute you!

Zaner SA, I hope to hear more about you through your activities in science, research and medicine; and definitely in the media! You've truly inspired me that it is possible to do it all, and do it well. Congratulations!

Enjoy Zaner SA’s Witty Keynote Address on

The ABCs According to the UMCP Class of 2013

Based on evidence-based research: real student survey responses.

Genius!