Alum tells students how SU prepped her for major program

Southern University alumnae Cacey Stevens told students here that her experiences at the university eased her transition into a special graduate program at the University of Chicago.

Speaking Tuesday to SU students, Stevens said, “Southern has taught me that with determination I can handle any challenge. So I don’t let any low moment be an indication of whether or not I am competent or able to hang with the big fish.”

Stevens, a Baton Rouge native, spoke to students in the nationally recognized Timbuktu Academy and Louis Stokes Louisiana Alliance for Minority Participation (LS-LAMP) students about the influence Southern has had on her and her success in graduate school at the University of Chicago.

The physics major was a student in the Timbuktu Academy and LS-LAMP as an undergraduate at Southern from 2004 to 2008. Stevens returned to speak to Southern students about how her life has been positively impacted by the Timbuktu Academy and LAMP.

Both program emphasize the STEM subjects – science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

The Baton Rouge native is apart of the duel master and doctrine degree program at the University of Chicago. She received her masters in 2010 and is now in the phase of earning her Ph.D by the summer of 2014.

“Southern has helped mold me and prepared me for the challenges at an institution like the University of Chicago,” said Stevens.

Being in a major where being African-American and a female is not the norm, Stevens said she is not a “black woman who happens to like physics but a physicist that happens to be black.”

Stevens urged students to understand that “Southern is a great institution for preparing students for challenges and that there are no limits to what’s possible with a foundation from a school like Southern.”

Stevens, who was the Student Grand Marshall, the top academic graduate in the spring 2008 commencement, encouraged the students to take advantage of the Summer Research Opportunities Program at the University of Chicago to see if graduate school is the right path for them.