Massey Basketball: Streaks Alumni Profile- Camellia Schwartzman 2021

Today’s Streaks Alumni Profile features Camellia Schwartzman from Galesburg HS’s Class of 2021.

Several years ago, the girls basketball team took at road trip in the summer to play in a tourney. When we arrived at our destination, I said to Coach Jay Barshinger, “Who road shot gun in your van?”

Jay replied, “Camellia Schwartzman, for three hours I had the most best and more mature conversation I have had on one of these trips.”

Feeling a little insulted, I asked, “You mean with a student?”

Without hesitation, Jay said, “No, the most mature with anyone on one of these trips.”

Coach Barshinger was absolutely correct. Camellia is very intelligent, curious, respectful, and humble. All of these characteristics make great to be around.

In coaching, we talk to athletes about being focused on the process, rather than on the outcome. If a good athlete focuses on the process, the outcome will take care of itself. Camellia is an example of someone who approaches life in this way. As smart as she is, and as wonderful as she is as a student, I never have sensed she is concerned about grades. She is just a curious person who wants to learn.

I asked Camellia to do a Streaks Alumni Profile because I wanted to get an update on what she has been up to.

Favorite Teachers/Classes

After participating in MathCounts with Dr. Shroyer and Dr. Whittle in middle school, I had fostered a passion for math, and therefore I will be eternally grateful for them both. My favorite courses in high school were AP Calculus with Mrs. Kniker and AP Physics 1 and 2 with Mr. Baxter. Both of them made their classes entertaining, informative, and appropriately rigorous that prepared me for college. I cannot say enough about how much I loved these courses and teachers throughout my time at GHS.

Sports/Activities at GHS

Basketball, Tennis, Soccer (only Freshman year), Marching Band, Jazz Band, Wind Symphony, Pit Orchestra for Mary Poppins Musical (2018), WYSE/Academic Challenge, NHS, NSHS

Best Memories of Growing Up in Galesburg/Attending GHS

Some of the best parts about growing up in Galesburg is the tightknit, supportive community! I love walking around town with my parents and greeting people we know. Since Galesburg is so small, I was able to participate in almost every activity imaginable and get to them quickly since we only live about 10 minutes from the HS.

What Made Macalester a Great Choice for You? What Did You Study?

While I didn’t realize it at first, Macalester ended up being the perfect place for me. I was able to pursue all of my interests and it really gave me opportunities to flourish. I continued my activities where I played tennis on the varsity team and was the oboist for the orchestra all four years. My advisor in college was incredibly supportive and helped coach me through all of my research opportunities. In my first year, I took a class called “Rocket Science” where I learned physics and built high powered rockets! I continued rocketry in the rocketry club and became certified when I launched my own rocket the following year! This class coupled with another called “The Science of Renewable Energy” also in the fall of my first year led me to pursue a degree in Physics. I also pursued minors in Chinese and Environmental Studies.

Can you share some of the internships and off-campus programs that you have participated in?

Part of what made Macalester such an amazing choice for me was the numerous opportunities I was afforded. Every summer, I applied and was accepted to an off campus research program. I will list them all with a bit about what I did.

Summer of Freshman Year (2022): My first research opportunity was hosted by the University of Michigan–Dearborn for Undergraduate Research in Sustainable Energy (URISE). I joined a 3-person team to add hardware to microgrid simulations. Applications of this research are for simulating the energy grid with adding smaller distributed renewable energy resources.

Summer of Sophomore Year (2023): My second research opportunity was hosted by the University of Central Florida at DongA University in Busan, S. Korea. I worked on synthesizing nanowires for supercapacitor applications. I really enjoyed my time in Busan and exploring seafood and stationery stores!

Fall of 2023: During the fall of my Junior year, I applied/was selected for my school’s delegation to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) in Dubai, U.A.E. I attended with 3 other students and a professor for the first week of the COP and focused my attention towards sustainable city development and a just energy transition. Feel free to read about this experience in my article I wrote for my school’s biyearly magazine or listen to the MNPR segment with my professor and I. I saw many famous politicians give presentations including: John Kerry, Al Gore, Kamala Harris, and Hillary Clinton.

Summer of Junior Year (2024): My third research opportunity was jointly hosted by the University of Vermont and the University of Oklahoma where I spent the summer in Yonezawa, Yamagata, Japan at Yamagata University. My research was on organic dyes for electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (producing hydrogen from water)! This was my first opportunity to dive into electrochemistry which I continued as my honors thesis for my physics major the following school year. I also visited my Mom’s friend from 30+ years ago in southern Japan with Juniper at the end of my summer!

Image of my research group from Japan!

Summer of Senior Year (2025): I participated in the Summer Undergraduate Laboratory Internship program funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF)**. The Department of Energy (DOE) has 17 labs throughout the country and I was at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL→ now National Lab of the Rockies NLR) in Golden, Colorado. I worked on perovskite materials to downgrade electrons from a higher energy state to a lower energy state. Colorado was great. I loved hiking with other interns on the weekends.

**All of the previous research programs were also funded by NSF

What are you studying at Michigan and what are some of your options going forward?

I just finished my first year of my PhD program in Materials Science and Engineering. My research topic is studying ways to extend the useful life of copper for reducing carbon dioxide into valuable products and fuels. I have about 4 more years to go and have many different pathways open for me in the future. I am considering more research based careers such as a staff scientist at one of the DOE labs (maybe at the NLR again) or following a more policy based career.

Michigan has been an amazing place to be this past year. One of the coolest things I’ve gotten to experience was both of the Final Four games (and the WIN!!) with Michigan Men’s basketball. I was a student season ticketholder and went to almost all of their home regular season games… so I just had to go to Indy to watch them win the biggest tournament of the year. March Madness has always been my favorite event of the year where my family vies for the title of “best bracket” and I really won the jackpot this year! And don’t worry, during the UCONN/U of I game, I rooted for Illinois!

Advice for present students/athletes

One of the best decisions I made in high school was continuing playing basketball my junior year. I had almost quit and my Mom asked me if I would regret my decision later…. and the answer was yes. I knew that looking back 10 years down the line, I would have deeply regretted not playing for Coach Massey. I also knew that if I wanted to support my team, I would need to put the work in. Both of my last two summers, I put in thousands of shots up at the YMCA and the hoop outside my house. This showed me that hard work is important and pays off.

I brought my work ethic to college where I continued playing varsity tennis. At Macalester, sports come second to academics, fostering my ability to excel in courses and I even made some of my closest friends from the team. One of the best lessons I learned through sports in HS/college is that you can’t expect to magically improve each year. Improvement requires dedication and hard work. If you want to get more time or be on a championship team, you need to put the effort in and encourage your teammates to join you!