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TUES 4 MAY 2004

Chemistry student finds formula for college degree

By Tara Karr
Argonaut Staff

Colin Carver never planned to study chemistry, but he will graduate with his bachelor’s degree May 15. Carver, who attended high school in Richland, Wash., began his college career in an unusual manner.

ALAN ESPENSCHADE / ARGONAUT / Collin Carver, seen here with his new 2004 Yamaha, will graduate May 15.

“I actually dropped out of high school, which tends to shock people,” he says. Carver says he did not enjoy his high school classes and had a problem with authority, so he began taking classes at Columbia Basin College in Pasco, Wash. Because Carver was attending college, high school did not matter anymore. “[My high school] gave me a diploma when I turned in all my school books,” he says. Carver continued to attend CBC but did not originally study chemistry. He was inspired by Karen Grant, a regular customer at the restaurant where he worked during high school and college, he says. Grant was a chemistry teacher at CBC. “She told me to take a (chemistry) class, and I did,” he says. Carver began to study chemistry with more intensity. He conducted research at CBC and applied to do summer research at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland. “I got to really jump in my freshman and sophomore years of school to see what research was really like,” he says. Timothy Hubler, an adjunct faculty member at CBC and a senior research scientist at the laboratory, taught and worked with Carver. He says it was clear Carver had an aptitude for chemistry. “Despite the occasional meandering to Ozzfest, he put the majority of his effort into learning the chemistry we were doing here,” he says. “I’m very proud of what Colin has achieved, and he’s earned it entirely on his own.” Carver transferred to UI in 2001 and says Hubler was of great assistance in connecting him to the university. Hubler put Carver in contact with his old adviser, Tom Bitterwolf. “I knew that Tom was an excellent instructor/mentor and was interested in working with undergraduate students, so it was a natural match,” Hubler says. Carver says he appreciates the lack of a barrier between students and faculty at the university. “I think the best thing about the U of I … is I’ve gotten to know all of the faculty on a first-name basis,” he says. Carver says his most significant challenge in college was paying for school. His father works for a school district and his mother is a librarian, and they have been unable to contribute much toward funding his education. “I ended up having to work almost the whole time I was in school,” he says. Through it all Carver says college has been a great experience. “I met a lot of really good friends and learned more than I ever thought I could know,” he says. Carver is not finished with his education. In the fall he will begin graduate school at the University of California in Los Angeles. He says he is not yet sure if he will study organic or inorganic chemistry. While at UCLA he will also complete the math degree he is two classes short of completing. Carver says he would eventually like to get a job with the government. He also says he has enjoyed UI and living in Moscow, and has a few words of advice for students who will remain here. “Stick it out through the budget crisis as long as it continues to exist,” he says. “Better times are coming.”

TODAY

Performance: “The Rise and Rise of Daniel Rocket”
Kiva Theatre
7:30 p.m.

Jazz Band and Choir
School of Music Recital Hall
7:30 p.m.

SATURDAY

Performance: “The Rise and Rise of Daniel Rocket”
Kiva Theatre
2 p.m.

� UI Boise Commencement
Boise Centre on the Grove
3 p.m.

Editor in Chief: Brian Passey News Editor: Abbey Lostrom
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