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Meet Our Scholars – Delaney Thurston

By Savannah Amdahl (CHP, 2019)

Delaney Thurston is a freshman in Biology with a concentration in Biochemistry and Molecular and Cellular Biology (BCMB) and minoring in Psychology. Delaney loves getting involved with activities and events on campus. She is a member of the Ballroom Dance Team, plays piccolo in the Pride of the Southland, and has recently started working as a lifeguard at the Student Aquatic Center.

Delaney chose to join the Chancellor’s Honors Program because she felt that it would challenge her to achieve more and help her become a better candidate for job opportunities. She decided to pursue BCMB because she likes to help people and has an inclination towards the sciences. However, Delaney has another much more personal reason to pursue BCMB. When she was ten, her mother lost a child due to a congenital disability, and it was one of the most tragic things her and her family have ever had to go through. This tragedy exposed Delaney to fertility, embryology, and stem-cell research, and ever since she has known that this is what she is meant to pursue. When she graduates from UT, she hopes to attend the University of Tennessee Health Science Center and pursue a Masters in Medical Lab Science. After that, she will either go on to get her doctorate in Reproductive Physiology or go to work in a fertility clinic.

Delaney and her family have been Tennessee fans for as long as she can remember, so UT was naturally her dream school. Her dream became a real possibility two years ago when her family moved from Huntsville, Alabama to Oak Ridge, Tennessee and she is proud to say she is finally “home sweet home,” living her dream. She firmly believes nothing can top the feeling she gets when she marches into Neyland Stadium playing “Rocky Top” and there is an entire sea of orange and white fans singing it back to her at the top of their lungs. When Delaney is not marching in the Pride or studying for her classes, she enjoys scrolling through Pinterest, looking for her next do-it-yourself craft.