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| DEGREE PROGRAMS & COURSES |
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| HONORS |
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Deborah Ritter - Honors Graduate of 2002
 Born and raised in Pearland, Texas, Deborah was certain St. Thomas was the place to be. “Montrose area, for me, was the center of everything arty and cultural. I was cast in a UST student theater production after the UST Open House, so my senior year of high school was spent feeling ultra hip for being in a college play. I really never thought about another school after going to the Open House at St. Thomas. Then I got a full scholarship, and that was that!”
Having also found out about the Honors Program, Deborah could not pass up the opportunity. “All I know is that MK Sommers reeked of intellectual coolness and walking into that old Honors House with the cats and coffee and stained glass archway was like walking into home… It is one of the best choices I’ve ever made.”
After graduating from UST with a BA in Biology and Liberal Arts (English/Phil), Deborah spent time on a number of things, including teaching ecology, working at a children’s theater, and playing with a band. She was also a company member for a musical theater and worked at Baylor College of Medicine, studying directed evolution.
Deborah then moved to California and is currently working at UCLA for a medical trial, studying Celebrex (COX-2 inhibition) and lung cancer. Outside of work duties, she plays acoustic music at clubs around Los Angeles and is working on a demo CD. She also did some acting in a children’s movie as well as extras work on Friends, Arrested Development, and 2 SAG low-budget indy movies.
This Fall, she’ll be trading in the beautiful California weather for the colorful scenery of Massachusetts as she starts graduate school at Boston College. She’ll work for a PhD in Biology (genomic evolution and mutation mechanisms). Looking to the future, Deborah thinks she’ll “most likely end up writing, working for NIH in public arena, hope to do something creative with science, maybe work for NOVA television or Discover Channel. Along with that, I would like to be a part-time college professor and teach oddball classes for oddball students.”
In case those activities are not enough to occupy her time, Deborah also likes to “hike, bike, learning to play viola, read, play music, do open mics, see plays and bands and cultural exhibits around town, sometimes go to science lectures at UCLA and ask snotty and pretentious questions.”
When asked about her experience with the Honors Program, Deborah had nothing but good things. She loved the primary source literature and challenging material and questions. She liked that she was “free to indulge my inner-geek.” Particularly, she enjoyed “looking deeper into subjects – especially in the Contemporary Problems Seminar, Independent Research, and Social Service classes… those classes allow you to focus on topics from the standpoint of your major, and are the most cross-disciplinary courses.”
What she likes most though, is the “rare chance to bridge intellectual avenues. I especially like how I am still in good contact with many of the people who graduated in my Honors class.” Deborah would like to see the program grow even further. “It’s one of UST’s best programs.”
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