My name is Tyler Hartline. I grew up the first eleven years of my life in the Great Bridge burrow of Chesapeake, Virginia before spending three years in Richlands, North Carolina.  The time came for me to move back to Virginia, this time in Deep Creek of Chesapeake.  In the middle of my freshman year of Deep Creek High School, I moved to Norfolk, Virginia, where I commuted until the end of that school year.  After that, I moved to Portsmouth, Virginia, where I attended Woodrow Wilson High School.  I like to refer to it as, “Jackie Wilson High School.”  I spent two years in Portsmouth before moving to Floyd, Virginia.  Once in Floyd, I attended my last year of high school.  I am usually happy to shout-out to my people in the ‘757’ and ‘910’ area codes.

I am now a local of Ferrum in Franklin County but most of the year I can be found on Ferrum College campus in my dorm or at the Conferences and Events Department.  Depending on the day, I may be wearing a bucket or a container-like object on my person.  I am happy to help or provide assistance, or attempt to provide assistance, with anything you may need here on campus, if I am able.  In my personal time, I am a gamer at heart, be it trading card game, board game, or video game.  If you would like to get in touch with me, I am usually awake during the day and late hours.

I am currently a senior finishing up a biology degree with a chemistry minor.  Once I receive my degree, I will likely pursue a job that involves studying life forms.  In the more distant future, I may practice medicine or work in a field of biochemistry, like genetic engineering.  If I do not pursue those passions, then I may join a company that produces products, like soda, that make people smile and feel better.  On the topic of feeling better, if you need help with either biology or chemistry, I will assist to the best of my ability even if it means passing you to someone more suited to your inquiries or needs.

Life is not “it is what it is.”  Life is what you make it when you can make it.

My name is Taylor Darnell, a senior, class of 2020 (woohoo!) I am from a little town about 20 minutes outside of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, called Rural Hall. I am a chemistry major with minors in horticultural science and business administration.

After graduating from Ferrum, I enrolled in the master’s program in aquatic ecology at the University of Florida’s Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants, where I successfully defended my thesis in June 2022. plan on attaining my PhD. in either a plant pathology field or bioengineering of plants to be able to maintain my chemical research and merge plant science into my passion for chemistry.

Ever since I was six months old I have been in our yard/garden with my parents, working alongside them. My parents are by far my most influential people in my life and always will be! I have an older brother who works in Raleigh, NC, for an engineering company that specializes in solar and renewable energy. In addition to working with my parents in our yard/gardens at a young age, I started a landscaping company that I solely own and operate separate from my parent’s business ventures and plan to maintain this company until after graduation!

I decided to come to Ferrum because I have the opportunity to swim at the collegiate level and have smaller classes. Coming to Ferrum has by far been one of the best decisions that I have ever made and I do not regret not going to a larger school! Being an athlete at Ferrum is different than any other school because we actually form a family and bond with each other.

My name is Tori Akers. I was born and raised in Griffin, Ga., and moved to Bluefield, Va., later in my life. I’m a senior triple majoring in pre-professional science, chemistry, and biology and  minoring in forensic science and theater arts. I’m vice president of the Black Masks Improv club, treasurer of Theta Gamma Omega, president of the Ferrum Greek Council, and a member of the Honors Advisory Council. I’ve also been involved in multiple campus plays, the most recent being August: Osage County.

I was a freshman scholar over the summer of 2013 and studied under Dr. Laura Grochowski, instructor of chemistry. I was also a part of the Smith Mountain Lake Water Quality Program through Ferrum College. During this program I worked primarily with chemical and bacterial analysis.
​Outside of school I love video games, tattoos, cats, and poetry. I stay pretty busy, and I’m all over the place — so if you see me around feel free to say hi!  After graduating from Ferrum College, I hope to enroll in a physician scientist graduate program. Eventually I would love to work at the Centers for Disease Control, focusing on infectious disease study.

My name is Chantel Crystal Antonette Aaron. I am a 2019 graduate with a degree in Pre-Professional Science and a minor in Chemistry. I am an aspiring cardiologist who intends to make a difference in patients’ lives through the practice of internal medicine. It is my passion to care for others and make everyone I meet smile. In words of Bob Marley, “The greatness of a man is not how much wealth he acquires, but his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.”

To attain my goals in the field of medicine, I moved to the United States from Jamaica in June 2014. My favorite subjects are anatomy, chemistry, and mathematics. It is my belief that science is a great tool for improving the lives of individuals around the world.

I have a great passion for travel. In 2017, I had the amazing opportunity to study abroad in Northern Ireland for one semester and also traveled to England and Scotland. This experience was life-changing and my love for different cultures and their peoples deepened.  I was also privileged to take an E-term course with travel Peru. Studying religion in Peru and being engulfed in such a beautiful culture was beyond unforgettable.

My name is Dorothy (Carroll) Vetterl, and I was born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama. I graduated from Jefferson County International Baccalaureate with an Advanced Academic Diploma from the state of Alabama and a diploma from the IBO in 2015.

During my time at Ferrum, I was a political science major with an emphasis in Democracy, Justice, and Civic Engagement and a minor in International Relations. I graduated from Ferrum in May 2018 and was awarded the Arthur S. Owens Leadership Award at Commencement.

Ferrum was a place I called home for three years and the honors students, along with other students on campus, were my family. I was a student-athlete (cross country), a resident assistant, president of Delta Phi Epsilon, co-founder of No Labels, a member of Lion’s Club, an SGA senator, and a member of the Honors Advisory Council among other clubs and organizations. Ferrum provided me many opportunities for experiential learning. The Boone Honors Program provided me with a scholarship to study environmental laws in the Virgin Islands for 3 weeks; when I wasn’t gathering research, I was on a beach organizing my data or taking breaks to snorkel with the class. Ferrum also provided me the opportunity to intern and study in Washington D.C. for a semester. During that semester, I took classes at American University twice a week and interned with the Department of Justice three days a week. I didn’t know it at the time, but I also met the man who is now my husband and who also participated in the program.

After graduation, I moved to Washington D.C. to become a paralegal. I currently work full-time at a law firm and attend classes at Antonin Scalia School of Law’s part-time program, ranked the #4 best part-time law program in the country for 2021. I am also the volunteer coordinator for the SHARE of McLean and work to organize volunteers during the week and volunteer on the weekends. My time at Ferrum, and as a member of the Boone Honors Program, prepared me for challenges I face at work and in law school.

I check my Ferrum email regularly and would be more than happy to answer any questions you may have about the honors program or college in general.

Dcarroll@ferrum.edu

[Honors director’s note: Dorothy was the Virginias Collegiate Honors Council’s 2018 Honors Scholar of the Year.]

My name is Rebecca Cariens, originally from Bluefield, Virginia, and I graduated with honors in May 2016. I majored in history and minored in Russian. In 2015, I completed a seven-month internship in Novosibirsk, Russia. There I taught English to children of various ages. I am recipient of the Graduate Student Academic Year Fellowship and currently I’m working towards my Masters in Russian History at the University of Kentucky.
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My name is Hunter Aycock, and I am from a little town called Skippers, Va. My years at Ferrum were some of the most memorable of my life to this point. I grew up without a lot of exposure to other ideas and backgrounds. In my time at Ferrum, I had roommates whom I couldn’t stand, and those same people became my best friends by the end of my time there. Some of my best friends from my time in the Boone Honors Program were people with drastically different views and experiences than myself.

I have now had a few different jobs related to my Environmental Science major, working with plants, and a little research here and there. In the summer of 2021, my fiancée Kendra and I moved to her hometown in Pennsylvania, to start the process of taking over her family’s landscape nursery and feed mill. We were married in September of that year.

You never know what life has in store for you. It’s possible you’ve never had this kind of exposure to new people before and you might never get these chances again. Take that road trip. Go to Walmart at 3:00 a.m. Stay up all night watching Netflix. Take a friend with you on a hike. These are the things that show you who you really are, and how to make and grow friendships. Your goal is to never have to ask yourself, “What if?