Emma Bunch, 18, poses for a photograph released by Glasgow High School. She is a senior and will soon be a freshman student at Harvard University.
(GLASGOW HIGH SCHOOL)
By BRENNAN D. CRAIN, WCLU News
GLASGOW — One of the top teen scientists in the nation happens to be a student at Glasgow High School. She’s also soon to be a freshman at Harvard University.
Emma Bunch, 18, was recently named as one of the top teen scientists in the nation as a part of the Regeneron Science Talent Search. She was one of 300 students selected for the accolade.
“I was just super, super excited and humbled that I was selected for this because I know it’s an amazing honor with so many amazing students and projects that they did,” Bunch said.
The talent search recognizes and empowers young scientists who are solving significant global challenges, according to a news release from the Society of Science. The society named 300 semi-finalists and plans to announce the top 40 scholars on Jan. 24.
Bunch said she took interest in medicine about a decade ago at age 9. From there, her interests have blossomed into a sizeable goal and ambition. She envisioned curing cancer then, and she’s now appearing to find her way onto that course.
“I think that when you find that purpose and you combine it with incredible work ethic and get some support from either peers or your parents or guardians or teachers — different mentors like that,” she said, “I think that combing those three things is how you can be successful.”
Plenty of cold emails when out to various professors and researchers in the region several months ago before she landed a spot in a cancer research lab at Vanderbilt University, she said. Studying and conducting research under Dr. Alexander Bick, she said she later learned of the national talent search.
Many aspects of Bunch’s journey seem to point back to two places — faith and self initiative.
Dr. Amy Allen, the principal of Glasgow High, said she remembers Bunch as a child while at Highland Elementary. Even then she was a remarkable student with visible intelligence and poise, Allen said.
“She’s one of the smartest students that I’ve ever come into contact with but has a servant’s heart,” Allen said. “That is really just special.”
Bunch was recently accepted into Harvard University, where she plans to study at the undergraduate level. She later hopes to begin a program that will allow her to obtain a doctorate in medicine and philosophy. Her ultimate goal is to study blood or brain cancer, perhaps in pediatric patients, as a physician-scientist.
