Samantha Drop

Nutritional Sciences

Nutritional sciences major grateful she found a home in FACS.

Hometown

Durham, Conn.

Major

Nutritional Sciences

Activities and Honors

UGA Cross Country and Track & Field athlete, NCAA Cross Country All-American, UGA Cross-Country captain, Joel Eaves Scholar Athlete, 2020 SEC Cross-Country Scholar-Athlete of the Year, USTFCCA All-Academic Team, Presidential Scholar, SEC Honor Roll, J. Reid Parker Director of Athletics Honor Roll Recipient, Scholar Athlete Award for Women’s Track & Field/Cross Country, UGA Student-Athletic Leadership Academy, UGA Student Athletic Advisory Committee, Blue Key Society member, Secretary and Social Group Chair of Special Olympics at UGA, volunteer at SOUL, volunteer at Athens-Clarke County Animal Control, volunteer in Bone and Body Composition Lab, intern for the University of Georgia football Team, volunteer at the UGA Community Practice Clinic, extern at Laurel Highlands Animal Health, graduating Summa Cum Laude.

Why I chose my major

I have had an interesting path on my decision for my major with many different changes along my college career. I started as a Biology major on the pre-vet track but often felt lost and had always loved nutrition, so I switched to Dietetics. After a couple of years in this major, along with an internship with Football Nutrition, I felt like I was going in a direction that was not the correct fit for me. I could not see myself being a dietician, but still wanted to go for my original dream of becoming a veterinarian. I decided to stay in FACS because it was a place where I felt most comfortable and still loved learning about nutrition, but I switched to Nutritional Sciences to get more of the science-based classes that I needed. Even though many times I felt out of place in my major as I am not going into the human medical field, I know that I can take what I have learned in all my classes and all the skills I’ve learned into my future career.

What I like most about FACS

I loved that in FACS I always felt like I could reach out for help and there would always be someone who could guide me. As someone who was very undecided on what I wanted to do in my life, I felt like the faculty in FACS were very helpful in every transition that I went through. Some of my mentors in FACS  are people that I hope to be able to reach out to later in life, and the lessons that they taught me will be with me forever.

Post-graduation plans

To be determined!