Justin Vinca, a Philadelphia native, sought schools in the South that offered respite from harsh winters. Call it fate, call it karma, Vinca says Wake Forest was probably the most enjoyable campus [he visited].
“A lot of it really was the weather, I’m pretty sure Wake [Forest] was the only school I toured that was sunny the day I toured,” Vinca said — which sealed the deal, making it a clear choice.
Vinca’s journey to becoming a chemistry major was preceded by a desire to major in physics: “I actually came to Wake [Forest] planning to be a physics major.”
But, during his sophomore year at Wake Forest, he took an organic chemistry lab in chemotherapeutics. Vinca approached his professor, Dr. Ulrich Bierbach, about doing research.
“Bierbach kind of stated [he] really only takes people that are chemistry majors into [his] lab,” Vinca said. Highly interested, Vinca decided to shift majors.
As Vinca delved deeper into chemistry, he found himself immersed in a tight-knit community within the chemistry department. He says that those who major in chemistry grow close because they are taking all of the same courses and that though they’re not forced to collaborate, they tend to anyway.
“With the small groups that [constitute the chemistry department,] you’re automatically going to collaborate,” Vinca said.
The close-knit nature of the chemistry department has been vital for studying and collaboration, leading the department community to buy a couch that now sits in the chemistry building, where the students spend lots of time. Additionally, Vinca prides the Chemistry Center on tutoring intro-level chemistry students, which “has also worked to bring the department closer and allowed [the] chemistry students to hone their skills as both teachers and learners.”
Vinca is also very proud of his role as an executive member of Wake Forest’s American Chemistry Society, which engages the community through volunteering and running events throughout the year, most notably for Vinca, the event in which they make ornaments around Christmas time.
Post-graduation, Vinca will be attending Drexel University College of Medicine and serving in the United States Military. Coming out of Wake Forest, Vinca feels like he has been “well prepared on what to do with the chemistry degree” by his mentors, namely Dr. Bierbach.
“A lot of people come in expecting to do medicine with their chemistry degree, but they tend to end up somewhere else,” Vinca said. He highlighted the profound impact that a passionate and well-informed professor can have on a student and hopes to have the same positive influence in the community.
Down the line, post-retirement, “at the ripe old age of 75, or maybe 65, I don’t know when I’ll retire, but if I get there and I feel the need to continue to work, I think something that’d be really fun to draw back to this is to be like a high school chemistry teacher,” he said.
