Kamil Bober
Chemistry UndergraduateKamil Bober, an aspiring physician, admits that a defining moment in his educational experience at IIT was unrelated to his major in chemistry, a discipline that allows him to see "the wonders of the world at the level of atoms and molecules." Instead, Bober says that moment arrived when he volunteered at the 2010 annual fundraiser of the IIT Student Chapter of Haiti Outreach.
"During my time at IIT, I have met individuals whose passion is to help the less privileged people of the world," says Bober. "These individuals, who are now some of my closest friends, have shown me that there are others with much bigger problems than anything I have ever faced. The fundraiser solidified what I want to do as a doctor."
A native of Debica, Poland, Bober came to Chicago with his family when he was five. He learned of IIT through his older sister, who was enrolled in the architecture program. He had developed a strong interest in chemistry as a student at Whitney M. Young Magnet High School, and was offered a full-tuition Camras Scholarship—offered to the top 1 percent of the applicant pool—to attend IIT. He says the university's chemistry program is meeting his academic needs on several levels.
"The professors really make the effort to help students and listen to what they want," he explains. "They also stress that students should apply skills they learn in the classroom to experiments they do in the lab. Students are challenged and given the opportunity to solve real-world problems on their own. There are opportunities to get involved in research, and students are encouraged to do just that."