Natalie Kuldell (00:03):
Hi, Pamela.
Pamela Schehu (00:04):
Hi, Dr. Kuldell.
Natalie Kuldell (00:06):
Oh, you can call me Natalie now. That’s fine. That’s fine. Well I’m so glad you can talk today. It’s really great to see you. I understand congratulations are almost in order you are about to graduate, so maybe you can say who you are and where you are in school.
Pamela Schehu (00:24):
Yep. I am Pamela Shehu and I I go to Northeastern university. I’m currently on my fourth year and I’m about to graduate soon.
Natalie Kuldell (00:34):
That’s amazing. Congratulations. what did you study at Northeastern?
Pamela Schehu (00:41):
Yeah my major is biochemistry and I also have a minor in psychology mm-hmm <affirmative> but yeah, that’s at first I came to Northeastern as an Explorer student, so I didn’t have a major and I was just exploring different things that I found interesting until I just went with biochemistry.
Natalie Kuldell (00:58):
Yeah. That’s so it’s so wonderful. Congratulations. That’s a, a great major. Do you have plans for what you’re gonna do once you do graduate?
Pamela Schehu (01:10):
Yes. I, since I entered Northeastern, I was a student as well, so I applied to dental schools and I got accepted. So I’m going to dental school right after my undergraduate. So that’s plan for the next four years.
Natalie Kuldell (01:28):
That’s wonderful. Congratulations. Wow. Is it Boston local or are you going away?
Pamela Schehu (01:34):
Yeah, I’ll still be in Boston for the upcoming years, but
Natalie Kuldell (01:38):
Yeah. Fantastic. That’s amazing. Congratulations. It’s a lot of school <laugh> but I’m sure you are ready for it. So you and I got to know each other through a program that BioBuilder runs called the Apprenticeship program. I hope that that was a positive influence in your decision to pursue science, but I know that you were a great science student when you came to us too. So do you wanna back it up a little bit and talk about, you know, where you went to high school and what you were interested in and how you got to Northeastern?
Pamela Schehu (02:10):
So for high school, I went to West Roxbury Academy and I remember at the time my advisor was sending emails about different programs that we could attend and I found BioBuilders. So I applied and then I got accepted and attended BioBuilders. I think it was in 2018 and yeah, it’s been a while. And then after I attended BioBuilder, I got connected to Codiak Biosciences, which is a company that is in Cambridge and is a biotech company. And it’s, it was at the time it was like a smaller company. So then after BioBuilder, I went to work there for the summer for, I think it was two months. And then that kind of the whole experience, I think, especially with BioBuilder, kind of, I realized that I did really enjoy science and anything that could be kind of like biology, chemistry related.
Pamela Schehu (03:12):
That’s why, when I went in college, I was kind of take like taking that in consideration as well as what I did at the Codiak Biosciences, which was working mostly with immunology field related lab work. So when I went to college, I did have a lot of interest in many different stuff, but I knew for sure that I had tried these stuff. So I knew that I liked it. So when I went to college, I talked to my advisor and kind of we made like a list with courses that I could take to see if I could see myself doing specific majors. And then I ended up doing biochemistry <laugh> so, yeah. And I, well, I currently go to Northeastern university and my school has this program that is called a co-op, which is cooperated cooperative education that we can do as many co-ops as we want.
Pamela Schehu (04:14):
Some people do three, some people do two, I did one, but we take basically a break from college that we work for six months in a job. So it’s kind of what, like similar to the job that I got through BioBuilder, but this time it’s like for a longer time. And I worked at a company in Cambridge again <laugh> so I went to Bristol Myers Squibb. So I worked there for six months in protein discovery. I do really like research, but at the time I was also exploring, so I was also doing shadowing for dentistry. And I’m gonna end up in dentistry.
Natalie Kuldell (05:01):
I think that’s great. I think, you know, putting science to work and, and helping people is a, is a great job. It’s a great career. And I love that you have been able to pursue all of this locally, right. Are you long time, Boston native? Doesn’t sound like it from your accent? Right? <laugh>
Pamela Schehu (05:26):
Well, I moved to I moved to Boston in 2016, so six years ago I actually moved to us six years ago and I came directly to Boston. So I’ve been only in Boston. But yeah,
Natalie Kuldell (05:40):
<Laugh> and are your family, do you have scientists in your family?
Pamela Schehu (05:45):
No. <laugh> I moved from Albania. My parents there did very different jobs than my dad had a business and completely not science related. And then my mom finished law school, so I did not have anybody in my family that was doing science. So I was the first one.
Natalie Kuldell (06:10):
Wow. They must be so proud of you and so ready to celebrate all your hard work and your ambition.
Pamela Schehu (06:17):
Yeah. They’re all very excited right now. <Laugh> yeah. <Inaudible>
Natalie Kuldell (06:21):
Yeah. So your family I’m sure was very encouraging. I’m glad that the BioBuilder program was helpful in connecting you with Codiak and some early work opportunities.
Pamela Schehu (06:34):
I
Natalie Kuldell (06:34):
Think, yeah,
Pamela Schehu (06:36):
Yeah. Sorry. Especially cuz of the skills that we learned at Codiak, when I went into my courses, which we did kind of like do those skills, repeat those skills again, I just felt very prepared cuz like I already used a pipette and I knew how to do all those stuff, especially with the internship. That also helped me a lot when I got the co-op later because I already had work experience, even though it was two months it was work experience. So it was an amazing thing that opened so many doors for me because now I had all this like stuff in my background, but
Natalie Kuldell (07:12):
Yeah. Yeah. Well, I am sure that the people you worked with also felt incredibly lucky to have you. It is, you know, certainly one of the goals that BioBuilder has is to prepare the interns that we send out. So they’re valuable interns on the very first day that they show up. And I know that we got that feedback about you. And it’s interesting because Kodiak, when you were, there was a smaller company, Bristol Myers Squibb is obviously a large international company, very different experiences, but I’m sure lots of transferable skills that you brought. Do you have any advice for students who might be looking for, I don’t know, some kind of work related experience for, you know, as they’re trying to figure out what to do.
Pamela Schehu (07:58):
Yeah. So cause sometimes I think about that because my sister, she goes to Northeastern too and she’s now doing the co-op program. So she’s kind of like in that time, which she has to find, she was finding a job. So I always was telling her that to kind of like keep an open mind to trying anything because you never know, you may think, oh, I really wanna do research and then you go and try it and then maybe you don’t enjoy it as much. Or maybe the opposite happens that you are not very looking forward to research and you end up loving it. So you never know it’s, it’s good to just try anything and see where it leads you to.
Natalie Kuldell (08:37):
I think having an open mind is really important. I remember when I went to school, I really thought I would do one particular kind of research. And then I went to the lab and tried it and I was like, no, that is not for me. I can’t do that every day. So even if it’s interesting, it wasn’t stuff that I enjoyed doing every day. So having a chance to try it and keeping an open mind about whether it’s a good fit or not. I think it’s excellent advice. Excellent. So, well congratulations. I am sure there are gonna be great things happening for you. I am. So just thrilled that you are part of the community and that you will continue to be. It’s been a joy.
Pamela Schehu (09:21):
Thank you for me too. I’m very grateful for the program and for everything.