Katherine Wand, a biochemistry major, works on a project in a laboratory.

Katherine Wand ’24 is having a senior year that has proven to be as challenging as she expected. 

Wand, a native of York, Pa., is a biochemistry major who has spent the academic year hammering out a thesis that has required her to commit 10 hours per week in the lab.

That’s no easy task while taking other courses, working a job for the athletics communications office, and being a co-captain of the track team. 

“Being an athlete and having a normal class load made this incredibly hard to do,” she said. “It is hard to complete 20 hours per week at practice, travel to meets, have three other credits, and study and complete the needed work for each while also adding 10 hours in the lab. I also work, so squeezing that into my schedule has been interesting.”

But after three-plus years of juggling a heavy workload, Wand is not only accustomed to a grueling schedule, she’s learned to welcome it. 

“My schedule has been very demanding,” Wand said. “I live for that.”

Managing her time in an efficient manner has been crucial to her success. A  fondness for chemistry has also been vital — along with a determination to excel at a difficult topic. 

Thus far, one of her proudest academic achievements has been making the Dean’s List of Distinction. 

“Depending on the course, it has been more demanding than other semesters,” she said. “It’s a lot of time studying. I have four classes and two labs — usually. Getting all that done in a day, while staying and doing other work and writing research papers, it was definitely challenging.”

As she entered her final year, one major project still to overcome was her thesis. She began the project last summer for a two-part course called Advanced Chemistry Research (CHEM 481 and 482). 

Wand is focusing her project on understanding the order and disorder of self-assembled monolayers — a collection of organic molecules so small that they can only be seen using a powerful microscope.

The work also involves trying to capture a high-resolution image of monolayers, which has been tough to achieve due to their infinitesimal size. 

The challenge hasn’t stopped Wand, who is using an infrared device and an atomic force microscope to take her images. 

“Our goal is resolution — getting to a higher resolution,” Wand said. “Monolayers are very small. Researchers know they are there, but have never seen it clearly by looking at images. Our goal is to see it by taking nice photos — publishable photos.” 

Wand has been a co-captain of the track team for the last two seasons.

Her instructor, Assistant Professor of Chemistry Eric Muller, constructed the equipment to take nanoscale images. But the instruments have required frequent adjustments.

When Wand is not in a lab or classroom, she’s with the track team. This season, she has competed at events throughout New York and along the East Coast. Wand, who’s part of the throws and jump squads, recently placed fourth in the javelin throw at the Maryland Invitational.

While she aims to achieve personal bests at every meet, she’s also helping the first-years adjust to collegiate athletics, which has been no simple task.

The Raiders entered the season with 40 first-years, which is double the usual total and accounts for half the roster. Such an influx has required all the captains to play bigger roles as leaders.

“We are a very young team,” Wand said. “There’s a learning curve. But a lot of freshmen have shown up and done really well. Having a young team is definitely more challenging because they don’t know what college athletics entails. But the season has gone very well. Over the next few years, we are going to be very good.”

Wand said she’s happy with her success as a student-athlete, and thankful that she could play a sport while taking a STEM major.

“I’m grateful that I’ve been able to pursue the degree I wanted while being on the track and field team,” she said. “Some schools don’t allow STEM majors and athletics because of labs. I’m happy to be able to do both.”

As graduation day approaches, Wand is preparing for life after Colgate. 

Wand said she wants to work in a managerial role for a pharmaceutical company. And she’s already had a few interviews. 

Last fall, she took a course called Medicinal Chemistry (CHEM 468), which taught her much about the different aspects of medicine. It sparked her interest in a career in the pharmaceutical industry. 

But Wand, now in her second year as a track co-captain, also enjoys being a leader, she said.

“I would love a management role that uses my degree,” she said.

Since coming to Colgate, Wand has learned much about biochemistry, track and field, and herself. And she’s come away with many wonderful experiences, whether in the classroom or at a track competition.

“I have very much enjoyed my Colgate experience,” she said. “I have learned so much about myself and in general. I think my team, plus my major, plus my support system, have been so beneficial. I love my team and I have a great connection with them.”