C H R I S T I N A. M. H U L L '01

The following feature article appeared in the campus publication Mosaic in December, 1998.

STAYING ON KEY IN MUSIC AND IN THE LAB

Christina M. Hull ’01 personifies determination. In October of her senior year of high school, Hull broke a finger playing basketball. With a cast up to her wrist, before long she was typing college application essays one-handed (including the one to Trinity), and practicing the piano with only her left hand. By the time the New Jersey Senior Competition for Piano was held in April, Hull won first place in the statewide contest. "It really was one of my greatest accomplishments," she says.

Hull’s accomplishments and determination extend far beyond her musical pursuits. At Trinity, the Teaneck, NJ native has earned faculty honors every semester, has worked at a private biomedical research firm where she conducted genetic research aimed at creating new vaccines, and has been sharpening her research skills in the new electron microscopy facilities at the College. At the end of her first year, she earned Trinity’s Chemical Rubber Company Award for her outstanding academic work in "Introductory Chemistry." Although Hull seems perfectly suited for a career in medicine, she is keeping her options open. "I don’t want to just have this narrow path," she says. "I may go to medical school, but I want to be sure."

As a high school student Hull attended the Academy for the Advancement of Science and Technology in Hackensack, where she first began to develop an interest in molecular biology. When she enrolled at Trinity, she began the Interdisciplinary Science Program, a program for a select group of first-year students which explores the interdisciplinary connections within the sciences during the first two years of undergraduate study. The program has only heightened her interest in the sciences -- especially biology, chemistry, and electromicroscopy. She finds her work with the highly sophisticated microscopes that permit the visualization of cells at very high magnifications particularly stimulating and exciting. "By the end of the semester we’ll be creating electron micrographs that you see in biology texts," she explains. "Learning these valuable techniques and working in state-of-the-art facilities is really amazing."

Hull’s passion and her impressive academic performance at Trinity helped her win a place last summer in a highly competitive program at the Jackson Laboratory, a nonprofit, independent biomedical research institution in Bar Harbor, ME. There, Hull conducted research on mammalian genes to create graphics of human chromosomes with links to the human genome. The ultimate goal of the research is to design vaccines for various diseases. Working in the laboratory taught Hull a great deal about research techniques -- techniques she had honed at Trinity.

She has worked as a research assistant with Professor of Biology Daniel G. Blackburn. Recalling his first encounter, Professor Blackburn said of his student, "Christina happened to mention that she was something of a perfectionist. I told her that was the most important prerequisite for working in my lab, and hired her on the spot." Professor Blackburn believes that "Trinity provides extraordinary opportunities for students in the sciences, and Christina is taking advantage of the best we have to offer. By using the beautiful new electromicroscopy lab in the Life Sciences Center, she and the other students have mastered highly sophisticated techniques of a kind seldom learned by undergraduates."

Music and more

In addition to her work in the classroom, Hull has continued to play the piano, and she performed in this month’s student recital in Austin Arts Center. Balancing four afternoons of labs makes practice time difficult, but Hull squeezes it in on her only lab-free day, late at night, or early in the morning before class. And she squeezes in more than just piano practice. Hull worked last year as a Student Government Association representative with former Dean of Students and Associate Professor of Psychology David Winer to start a "Drugs Don’t Work" program on campus, and she served on the SGA’s admissions and financial aid committees. Hull is also a member of the Asian-American Student Association and participates in Aetna’s Saturday Academy, teaching computers, math, and science to Hartford public school students. In what little free time that remains, Hull enjoys exercising in the Fitness Center.

Whether faced with a physical obstacle, a demanding weekly schedule, or difficult course load, Hull never loses her drive and her obvious enthusiasm. Always seeking and taking advantage of opportunities to explore and learn, she is considering spending a summer abroad in Hong Kong or China to learn Mandarin, or possibly serving an internship on Wall Street to try out the business world before settling on a career in science. Whatever path Christina Hull chooses, her determination will no doubt carry her to success.

-Jocelyn M. Jones ‘99