Get to Know WIC: Cassie Zentner

Cassie is a Pittsburgh native who received her B.A. in Chemistry in 2013 from Oberlin College. Cassie moved to Boston after graduation and joined QD Vision, Inc. as an R&D Chemist. She then joined C2Sense, Inc. as an R&D Scientist, developing chemiresistive gas sensors for food, agriculture, and industrial safety. In Fall 2016, Cassie joined the Swager lab as a graduate student in organic chemistry, and is currently a 4th year student in the group studying complex emulsion systems. Cassie has been a part of the WIC board for 4 years and has served as the Mentorship Chair (and various other roles) for 3 years.

Why did you pick MIT?
I plan to return to the startup world after graduate school, and MIT and the Boston area is the perfect place for entrepreneurship. I also loved living here and it was hard to imagine moving away for school.

What are your favorite things about the Cambridge/Boston area?
My favorite place in the city is the Boston Public Library. I have written all my manuscripts and reports sitting there. Who wouldn’t want to be surrounded by books? I have also found a couple diners and bars that feel like “neighborhood” places where everyone knows you. It’s nice to get that small town feel in the city.

What’s something that surprised you about life here?
You almost never hear the Boston accent in the city. If it wasn’t for our lab manager, I could go a week without hearing a Boston accent and I live in Boston.

Real Talk: What’s been your biggest challenge since coming to MIT?
Since I did not come straight from undergrad to grad school, I had forgotten what it means to study. Trying to get back into those habits and doing homework again was eye opening. Being thrown into Organic Tutorial after not thinking about reaction mechanisms for 3 years was a challenge to say the least.

What was your favorite part of your first year at MIT?
I really enjoyed getting to know my labmates! And it was nice having them there for support during the year.

What is your favorite thing about your cohort?
My cohort are all super easy to get along with and that helped when we tried to work through homework problems or studied together. But I have to give a special shout-out to Katie McGeough, who has been there for me from orientation.

Why did you join WIC?
I had such a fantastic WIC mentor (hello Julia!) that I wanted to know more about the organization that helped me out so much in my first year. I ended up starting to come to meetings in my first semester and have been working with WIC ever since.

What’s your favorite WIC program or event?
As the Mentorship chair, this may not be much of a shock that I truly love the WIC mentorship program and am so happy to have been a part of it. Outside of the mentorship program, I really like Scientist for a Day, which is an outreach event for 5-6 grade girls to come and do hands-on science!

What’s your go-to for self-care in quarantine?
Is it okay to say wine? Because wine and reading are a lovely combination while sitting at home. But also organizing virtual game and D&D nights to stay connected to people.

 

Our series “Get to Know WIC” was inspired by MIT CADI, who did a similar series for their members. Thanks for the idea!