By Kishal Shah – Staff Reporter  

Jonathan Law Class of 2024 Valedictorian and graduate Natalie Morrell is currently attending Brown University, majoring in Biochemistry with a focus in Molecular Biology. 

Morrell’s initial transition to the college lifestyle was a little difficult, but she has since adjusted to the academic and social environment.  

“It took a while for classes to get started so the first couple of weeks was really just adjusting to the new environment, dorms, and meeting new people,” Morrell said. “It’s definitely different living with roommates, especially in a triple, but everything’s been smooth and I love chatting with them about my day.”

Since the school year started, Morrell has had the opportunity to meet many people through welcome week and social events.

“It was also crazy meeting so many new people so fast, but it was fun to talk to new people and make friends throughout those first three weeks,” Morrell said. 

Adjusting to a more rigorous workload meant managing time and navigating through a schedule to meet deadlines for short term and larger assignments. 

Morrell’s daily schedule consists of attending classes along with studying outside of class.

“Right now most of my classes are lectures with weekly conferences in small groups, and as I get to higher level courses and not intro courses my classes will get smaller,” Morrell said.

Morrell prefers smaller classes because they allow for a more specific and personable learning style. 

“I have one smaller seminar class about molecular structures that’s been very interesting, and it’s nice to have at least one smaller class that’s a seminar style rather than lecture,” Morrell said.

Through attending lecture based classes, Morrell has realized she needs to schedule studying and completing assignments outside of class.

“Once classes got started, I definitely had to adjust my time management,” Morrell said. “Managing assignments, readings, studying, etc is definitely more on you than it was in high school.”

Additionally, Morrell has been working on becoming more accustomed to utilizing resources. 

“Currently, I’m trying to get better about utilizing outside resources, like going to office hours to go over questions or stopping by the career center to figure out different opportunities to look into,” Morrell said.

Participating in clubs has helped Morrell chat with friends and build connections.

“I’m part of a couple clubs, including club gymnastics, Brown Science Prep, and Brown Science Olympiad,” Morrell said.

Morrell likes that Brown’s environment offers the opportunity to go out to events if students feel like it, but no one is pressured to go out or integrate into a party scene all the time. 

“There’s a very supportive environment here which I’ve loved,” Morrell said.