Student Inspiration: Charlotte Humes
Most college students find that one major keeps them fairly busy. Two is ambitious, but very few are brave enough to tackle a triple major. U of R student Charlotte Humes is the exception. Not only does she have three majors, she also has three jobs.
While Charlotte pursues degrees in three notoriously difficult concentrations—Math, Chemistry, and Arabic—she devotes the remainder of her time to working as a Sustainability Coordinator for dining services, a tour guide for the admissions office, and a RA. You’d expect her to be drained, frazzled, on the brink of insanity—yet she is glowing with energy, permanently sporting a bright, eager smile.
How exactly does she juggle so many responsibilities successfully? Personal assistant? Time-turner? Adderall? She confesses to drinking black coffee every day, but more seriously: “Time management is a big part of it,” she says. “I try to do everything a little bit less than I’d like– a little less working out, a little less sleeping, a little less time with friends, a little less studying– without going so far as to lose too much of something. Some semesters are more relaxed than others. The best thing for me is that I enjoy what I do, so it isn’t as awful as it would be otherwise.”
A native of Hodgenville, Kentucky, Charlotte describes her childhood as “quaint.” She didn’t have video games or the Internet and rarely watched TV. Instead, she began taking weekly trips to the library at a very young age, where she would check out ten books and read them all in one day. She moved out of her parents’ house at age 15 to attend a residential charter school in Bowling Green, Kentucky. At school, she excelled as a chemistry research assistant, and spent summers working as a camp counselor and lifeguard.
She discovered the University of Rochester through spam mail during her sophomore year. On the way to her stepfather’s art show in Pennsylvania she stopped in New York to see the school. Now in her third year, she sits on the steps of Rush Rhees Library, smiling fondly at the sight of fellow students relaxing on the quad. “I love it here.”
Choosing three majors was not her initial plan. She entered college planning to major in chemistry, with a lifelong dream of becoming a research chemist. “Chemistry is the fast food version of science: instant gratification. Wonder what this reaction would do? Do it. It’s flashy, messy, really hands-on.” She describes math as the opposite: “slow, elegant, and beautiful, it takes time and patience.”
As for Arabic, she developed a passion for the language when she studied abroad in Morocco as an NSLI For Youth Scholar the summer before her senior year of high school. She says of this first trip outside of the U.S., “I saw the most beautiful places I’d ever seen and met some of the most interesting people.” During her freshman year at the U of R she became involved with tutoring refugees every Saturday at Carlson Library. She worked mainly with 9th grade girls, providing support in whatever subjects they needed.
At the tutoring sessions, she formed a relationship with two sisters from Syria. She usually worked with the older, English-speaking sister, but recalls one week when the native Arabic-speaking tutor didn’t show up, and she had to explain the multiplication system in Arabic to the younger sister. The moment stuck with her as “very rewarding.”
It was around this time that she began to question her long-held dream of becoming a research chemist. “It really was a gradual shift. I first moved away from chemistry to math, which I love as well, but research still wasn’t what I was most passionate about. I did have a weekend when I really started thinking seriously about going into refugee education instead of academia, and then on Saturday morning I thought, ‘Oh, maybe that’s what I should do,’ and Saturday evening I met completely by chance a student here who spent about a decade in a refugee camp in Uganda. He told me all about his life, and introduced me to a friend—a friend who had helped him co-found an organization for youth development in the camp, aimed at ensuring they were able to get an education. They were amazing, and I talked to them for hours.”
Now, her heart is set on working in refugee education. So how will her three degrees help her reach this goal? Does she still need chemistry and math? “If I do end up teaching, I can teach STEM, which opens up a whole world of possibilities,” she explains. “I’m definitely planning on getting the CELTA so I can teach English as well, but the more widely prepared I am, the better. Not to mention, it’s interesting. There’s no need to give it up. I’m prepared to drop the chemistry major if it comes down to taking that last required class or learning French my senior year, since I need to pick that up before I go, but otherwise, I’ve done the four years of chemistry research, published, taken 90% of the classes, still have an interest, might as well just get finished. Who knows when it will come in handy?”
She hasn’t finalized her post-grad plans, but could see herself pursuing a M.A. in Forced Migration & Refugee Studies at the American University in Cairo, or staying in Rochester to get an education degree. She’s still weighing the possibilities. But for now, she looks forward to spending the upcoming semester in Jordan and enjoying time with her classmates and friends.
She has a simple piece of advice for others: “Play into your passions. Each person has their strengths.”