“People are like, ‘you study chemistry? Wow! You must be really smart!’” Alexis Myers says. “But I’m really not that much smarter than the average Joe, Jane or whatever … I’m definitely not going to get any chemistry awards.”

The only problem is, Alexis actually has gotten some chemistry awards. The American Chemical Society named hers the best undergraduate poster at its regional meeting, and she and classmate Noah Vieira ’19 were two of only three undergraduates at an international symposium in Oxford, England, where they presented their revolutionary research on dye-sensitized solar cells.

That honor was the climax of three summers spent doing research with chemistry professor and mentor Paul Wagenknecht, who Alexis says “tends to make me think that I’m capable of more than I think that I am capable of.” Not surprisingly, the University of Colorado’s chemistry Ph.D. program is where Alexis’ path is leading. What is surprising are some stops along the way.

A first-generation college student, Alexis nearly had enough credits to double major in religion, and “the most significant thing” she experienced in college was a study away trip to Jerusalem—her first time living abroad. Perhaps the most fun, though, was a spur-of-the-moment decision to join student improv group Improvable Cause. The public-speaking skills she gained showed when Alexis delivered one of the highlights of TEDxFurmanU2018 with a talk on the challenges of living as an American of mixed race.

“I like to do things that I’m not particularly great at,” she says with a smile.