Meet the College of Science Student Giving the 2023 Undergraduate Commencement Address

Reporting by Cyrus Moulton

Read the full story on Northeastern Global News:

Clara Wu, a behavioral neuroscience major, was chosen to address her classmates at the 2023 commencement exercises that took place at Fenway Park in Boston. Her success at Northeastern is plenty inspiring. Originally from the Bay Area of California, Wu says she was attracted to Northeastern by its size, its proximity to the hospitals of Boston and, of course, its co-ops.

“I wanted to get started doing stuff,” Wu says. She took advantage of the opportunity. She completed four co-ops as an undergraduate. She split her time in spring 2021 between working as a newborn hearing screener at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and as a clinical research assistant focusing on pediatric stroke victims in the Boston Children’s Hospital neurology department. She worked at George Mark Children’s House in San Leandro, California, as a pediatric palliative care assistant for the first part of the spring 2022 semester, then she headed to Tubingen University Hospital in Germany where she observed neurosurgery and shadowed staff in neuropediatric clinics—as well as ate a lot of gelatos.

The experiences solidified her interest in neuroscience, which she first encountered as a high school student while attending a summer lecture series. She knew she wanted to continue to explore the subject at Northeastern.

“Everything we do, I can link to something physically happening in my brain,” Wu says. “Everyday stuff, you can see how it works because of neuroscience. It’s the science of everything.”

The co-ops also confirmed her interest in medicine. She says she is in the process of applying to medical schools for fall 2024.