Eberly undergrad overcomes pandemic obstacle with college alumnus’s help
It’s easy to forget that the college experience and connection goes well beyond receiving a degree, and Penn State might just be the best example of this. With the University ranking first in College Magazine’s 2020 list of “Top 10 Schools with the Friendliest Alumni,” Penn State’s alumni prove time and again their dedication to helping students succeed.
Graduating as a first-generation student from the Eberly College of Science in 1979, Dr. Judd Moul went on to become the James H. Semans, M.D. Professor of Surgery at the Duke University Medical Center Urologic Surgery Division and the Duke Cancer Institute. Today he and his wife, Ellen Jablonski Moul, help support current Eberly College of Science students such as Tyler Vu, an undergraduate student in the Premedicine program.
“I met Tyler in October of 2019 shortly after he had just been announced as the second recipient of our scholarship,” Moul said. “We were at the Eberly College of Science Benefactor and Distinguished Faculty Recognition Dinner and sat at the same table. He is an impressive young man.”
Over the next eight months, Moul and Vu kept in touch by email and Zoom. Not only did they learn they are both first-generation college students in their families, but they also took time to check in on each other as the school year wrapped up. After learning that Vu’s summer plans had been disrupted by COVID-19, Moul decided to reach out to one of his connections, Dr. Suzanne Merrill at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, to see how they could help Vu gain research experience for the summer. Merrill had previously spent six years training with Moul during her residency at Duke University, and a few years later she was hired by the Medical Center.
Following a Zoom interview, Vu was offered the opportunity to help with a variety of medical research projects in the Medical Center’s Department of Urology for the summer. Moul explained that he was happy to help create a bridge to open up doors with the medical community to assist Vu. “It was a joy to have a small part in helping this student,” he said.
Moul was Merrill’s research mentor at Duke, which made this connection for Vu even more special. As a student, Vu recognized that summers are the perfect opportunity to gain experience and shadow hours without the worry of academic workload.
“With the pandemic, many hospitals and doctors’ offices are already restricting the number of their own workers from coming in, so finding shadowing and volunteering opportunities was impossible!” said Vu. “I’m super thankful to Dr. Moul for connecting me with Dr. Merrill at Hershey for a research internship. The alumni community is so receptive and helpful. There are many alumni that have helped me with preparing for my future, I don’t think I could be where I am without them.”
When asked about why he gives back both financially and in time, Moul emphasized how much Penn State has given to both him and his wife. “Ellen and I met her first year when we were both at University Park, and Penn State has been very good to us,” he said. “It's amazing. I've gotten more out of this relationship with PSU and Tyler than I expected. It is a wonderful feeling to be able to help others, especially during these difficult times of COVID-19.”