As a standout student-athlete in high school and salutatorian of her graduating class in Columbia, S.C., Aliya Dumas knew she was college-bound. But as the first person in her family to attend college, she wasn’t sure which school she wanted to attend or how she would adjust when she got there.
Aliya Dumas
Thanks to two summer transition programs for undergraduate minority students, Dumas not only found a home at the College of Charleston, but she is thriving academically as she strives toward her lifelong dream of becoming a surgeon. In fact, the junior biochemistry major recently won a grant to take part in a summer research project in Singapore.
Dumas credits the South Carolina Alliance for Minority Participation (SCAMP) and the Speedy Consolidation and Transition Program (SPECTRA) for helping ease her transition to the College and providing a strong foundation for her academic success.
WATCH: Students explain the SPECTRA program.
“I learned how to study and prepare for the work I needed to do in class and organize my schedule,” Dumas says. “We also got to know our professors and understand the importance of using professors’ office hours for your advantage.”
Originally from Philadelphia, Dumas moved to Columbia, S.C., when she was 8. In addition to her success in the classroom at Covenant Classical Christian School, she was also a star basketball player.
The SCAMP program was a perfect fit for Dumas and her goal of pursuing a career in medicine. With funding from the National Science Foundation, SCAMP is held in conjunction with SPECTRA during the Summer II session and focuses on underrepresented minorities majoring in the fields of science, technology and mathematics.
During the summer prior to her freshman year in 2012, Dumas took courses in pre-calculus and chemistry preparation, which helped prepare her for other challenging courses during her freshman year. She has also served as a math tutor in the Center for Student Learning.
Associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry Wendy Cory says the SCAMP program has produced many amazing students, including Dumas.
“I met Aliya after I presented my research at a SCAMP meeting and asked for any interested students to contact me. Aliya contacted me immediately and we have been working together ever since,” says Cory, who also serves on the SCAMP advisory board. “Aliya is very hard-working and driven, and she has a natural talent for scientific research.”
EXPERIENCE: Find out how you can ignite your passion at the College of Charleston.
That natural talent recently helped Dumas win a grant to participate in the 2015 LS-SCAMP International Research Experience for Undergraduates (IREU) this summer in Singapore. She will spend eight weeks doing bioengineering research with faculty at Nanyang Technical University.
“The research program in Singapore is perfect for her, at this time in her studies, and I know she will be an amazing representative for the College of Charleston,” Cory says.
But Dumas is not all work and no play. She enjoys staying fit and blowing off steam by playing on the College’s Women’s Rugby Club team. She also enjoys having fun with science as a way to capture the interest of children. Through the College’s chemistry and science fraternity Alpha Chi Sigma, Dumas participates in educational outreach programs for local school children.
Aliya Dumas does the “elephant toothpaste” lab demonstration.
One of her favorite experiments is called “elephant toothpaste.” The lab demonstration, which Dumas has conducted for school children visiting the College, involves mixing concentrated hydrogen peroxide, dish soap, food coloring and yeast in a plastic bottle. The resulting reaction creates a huge, colorful column of oxygen bubbles that ooze out of the bottle like toothpaste from a tube. The long tubular columns resemble an elephant’s trunk.
“Kids can learn about how the hydrogen peroxide is broken down creating an exothermic reaction releasing heat at the same time it shoots out of the bottle,” Dumas says. “It also teaches them about lab safety.”
WATCH: Aliya Dumas makes “elephant toothpaste.”
While she’s thoroughly enjoying her college experience and the many friends she has made, Dumas is looking forward to graduating. After earning her degree she plans to obtain certification as an emergency medical technician and do volunteer work at the Medical University of South Carolina.
“Since I was young girl, I knew I wanted a career where I could help people,” Dumas says. “The SCAMP program has been instrumental in helping me advance successfully in my academic career and prepare for my future.”
