Jackson State University sophomore Menase Daemo was recently accepted into the Summer Undergraduate Research Program at Princeton University.
The chemistry major and native of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, will join a Princeton chemistry faculty member’s lab this summer to gain what he considers will be valuable experience that will aid him in the future.
“I’ve been interested in chemistry and physics since childhood,” says Daemo. “I’ve thought about medical school but I want to do research in medicine and immunology.”
Daemo expressed his excitement about the internship opportunity but he is more excited about showing the world what students at Jackson State have to offer.
“This tells them we have students at Jackson State who can do research at this capacity,” he says. “I think I can compete with anybody.”
Daemo was also accepted into internship programs at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and Indiana University.
As for the future, Daemo hopes to attend Princeton University for graduate school. From there he will pursue a Ph.D. and try to obtain funds to conduct research and find cures for diseases.
“Maybe I can conduct some research at JSU,” he says. “They gave me an opportunity to pursue whatever I wanted to. If it wasn’t for Jackson State University, I don’t know where I would be. They gave me a full scholarship. I owe it to Jackson State University.”