Rachel Mulligan's Story

Rachel Mulligan, age 18, West Hampton, NJ

Rachel, who plans to pursue a double major in Early Childhood Education and Fine Arts, has a career goal of becoming an elementary school teacher as well as an author and illustrator of children’s books. Her volunteer work in a preschool classroom inspired her to become a teacher and she has showed talent as an artist and writer since she was young. She is currently on the staff of the high school literary magazine, contributing her own stories and illustrations as well as editing and assessing other writers’ contributions. Last year, she received the Bryn Mawr College President’s Book Award for her interest in creative writing. For the past two years, she has received a scholarship to a semester-long art program at the Moore College of Art and Design in Philadelphia.

Rachel says that dealing with classical PKU and a low phe tolerance has taught her "self-discipline, sacrifice, and open-mindedness to others with differences. I have never questioned why I have PKU: I have simply embraced it as a characteristic I’ll have all my life, like the color of my eyes." She maintains exceptional phe levels.

Rachel maintains a grade point average of 4.0 including many Honors and Advanced Placement courses. She still finds time to practice the piano that she loves and has been committed to for the past 12 years, is a member of the school’s theater production make-up crew, and was on the tennis team for 2 years (receiving the Coach’s Award). She enjoys being a member of many clubs, including Women’s Forum, Animal Awareness Club, and the Foreign Language Club, as well as being an active member of student-run school events such as the prom. A teacher says Rachel is "smart, hardworking, compassionate, and supremely suited to be the teacher she aspires to be. Her special combination of confidence, devotion, and her enthusiastic pursuit of academic excellence will make her both effective and beloved by all of her students. . . She is a bright and creative person, gifted in art and creative writing, and accomplished in science, social studies, and math."