Stephanie Boczek | Student Spotlight

Stephanie Boczek

BS Candidate
Chemical Engineering

"From as early as I can remember, I have felt a strong commitment to serving others. I grew up in a small town where community members embraced interdependence and practiced unhesitating altruism. The environment of my hometown instilled in me the value of selflessness and the importance of contributing to causes larger than oneself. The unwavering support I received from my community enabled me to develop my academic interests in STEM. As I transitioned to Stanford, I felt a desire to pay forward the generosity I had experienced.

I believe one of the most fundamental aspects of the human experience is the pursuit of health and wellness. An unavoidable reality of life is the indiscriminate threat posed by illness. Understanding the widespread nature of health-related distress deeply motivates me to help alleviate suffering through compassionate research, engineering, and care. I am particularly aware of the potential engineering has in advancing human health, not only because of my academic training but also due to the influence of my mother and two sisters, all of whom are engineers. My interest in the intersection of life sciences and engineering inspired me to study Chemical Engineering. After graduation, I plan to pursue an MD-PhD and hope to lead the translation of scientific insight into improved patient outcomes.

During my time at Stanford, I have been especially grateful for the ChemE community. I have thoroughly enjoyed cultivating relationships filled with inspiration, support, and camaraderie with my peers and instructors. I will always cherish the many memories I’ve made: accidentally spelling silly words with dimensionless groups during a review session with Dr. Kat, meeting Prof. Fuller’s dog, throwing a party with baked goods during a random Energy and Mass Transport lecture, being saved from a spider attack during a Microkinetics lecture and many more."