When a student is applying to join the custom-designed major, one of the first questions we invariably get — from students themselves or a concerned parent — is, "How do employers view this major?"
With Cassandra Mikkelson’s 2024 Cooperative Education Student Award, we have a clear answer: Employers value the skills that custom-designed students have developed, including creative problem-solving skills, initiative, and the ability to communicate effectively to diverse audiences. Cassandra, neuroscience '24, is the embodiment of these skills, and she has consistently put them to good use in pursuing her individualized plan of study and in the workplace. Cassandra created a major focusing on neuroscience before it became an official major at Drexel and succeeded in three research co-ops. She received the award based on her performance during her third and final co-op working at Century Therapeutics.
Custom-designed students like Cassandra are proficient in these areas by the nature of the work they put into creating and achieving their unique majors.
In his nomination of Cassandra, her supervisor, Thomas Brigman, wrote: "[Cassie] shows initiative by taking on many projects of high complexity...Not only does [she] have initiative and critical-thinking skills, but she is also very dependable and has major dedication.” For those of us running the custom-designed major, seeing those words — initiative, critical thinking, dependability, dedication and communication — is confirmation of what we already know. Custom-designed students like Cassandra are proficient in these areas by the nature of the work they put into creating and achieving their unique majors. Mr. Brigman praised Cassie for presenting her poster at the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minoritized Students, fielding questions, and bringing back improvement ideas. This comfort in presenting complex information is something we instill in custom-designed students early on, and Cassandra has been exceptional in this regard.
