Amy Bondy loves chemistry – and she wants her fellow students to feel the same way. As a Supplemental Instruction leader in natural sciences, Amy uses her knowledge and skill to mentor freshman-level students, help them raise their grades and encourage them to stay in school.

“She has done an excellent job making science accessible to non-science majors,” says Donald Miller of the national sciences department. “The students routinely praise her. She has certainly made a difference for these students, many of whom are uncomfortable having to take a science course.”

An academic all-star since her freshman year, Amy is a past winner of the William J. Branstrom Freshman Prize for academic excellence. She has worked in a campus chemistry nanotechnology lab, working on fuel cell research and presenting her findings on campus as well as at the National Chemistry Conference for Colloid and Surface Chemistry.

She’s also active in the campus Chemistry Club as well as with the Kids and Chemistry branch of the American Chemical Society. She has led chemistry experiments for several groups of elementary and middle school students, on campus during Earth Day celebrations and off-campus through the Detroit Holistic Center. Her dream? To pursue a graduate degree in chemistry and work in the field of solar panel technology.

“Amy is extremely bright, but at the same time has the correct maturity and poise to help people,” says Debalina Bandyopadhyay from the natural sciences department.

IN MY OWN WORDS

"Throughout my journey at UM-Dearborn I faced numerous challenges but successes as well. In general, my successes came from hard work and copious amounts of effort. If I could recount my experiences to current high school students, the most important tip that I would give them is that hard work pays off. Although college is quite a bit more difficult than high school, as long as you study, work hard, utilize help where available, and put forth 110% effort you will excel in whatever you attempt."