Alumnus pursuing career in neuroscience

When Kamden Kuklinski was looking at and applying for colleges, he started to realize just how expensive four-year universities were. He also looked at College of Lake County (CLC), and once he compared the factors, his decision was easy.

“I looked into CLC a little bit more, and I just really fell in love with the community, the great financial aid packages and the excellent programs for transferring to a four-year university,” Kuklinski said. “It was really attractive to me.”

Kuklinski planned on becoming a physician at the time, so he took classes in the biology program. He was impressed with the resources available to him, including human bodies donated for studying anatomy.

“Now that I've seen more lab facilities at different colleges and universities, I can say with a lot of confidence that the ones at CLC are great,” Kuklinski said.

Kuklinski took his core biology courses at CLC, including anatomy, physiology and general chemistry. They served as a foundation for him and helped him excel at the higher-level courses he took later. The courses are a good start for students interested in entering a variety of fields.

“The biology program is a very broad program generally designed as a program that offers classes toward associate in arts and associate in sciences degrees,” said Biology Instructor Shane Jones. “It also supports our various allied health programs such as nursing, dental hygiene and medical imaging and transfer students looking to go to four-year colleges and universities to obtain bachelor’s degrees.”

During his time at CLC, Kuklinski was part of the Honors Scholars program. That made him feel even more like he belonged, having a small group to be part.

Kuklinski transferred to Lake Forest College, a process made easy thanks to CLC’s guaranteed transfer agreement with the college. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in neuroscience, a topic he became interested in while at Lake Forest College.

Now, Kuklinski is going to work for two years at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis as part of their neuroprep program to do biomedical research related to neuroscience to prepare him for graduate school.

“CLC was a really good option for me,” Kuklinski said. “I think it was the perfect way to go because it was very affordable. The smaller class sizes and community feel definitely made it feel like home.”

Jones said about Kuklinski, “Kamden was a joy to have as a student. His energy, enthusiasm, and drive were infectious. He is a highly motivated, bright and charismatic individual.”