By Marcia Barnes
Staff Writer
Scholarship and steady determination to do well and studying with an expectation of reaching personal goals transported Brianna Ross from the mountains of western North Carolina to earning a degree from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and to special studies at NASA.
Ross took a road less traveled in her educational journey and it began early in life. Ross was home schooled starting in the second grade. At 24 years of age, Ross earned a Master of Arts in science writing from Johns Hopkins University in one of the advanced programs. The classes were virtual.
What might appear the normal run of things, graduation at 18 and with four years of college in Young Harris, then two more years to an advanced degree was uniquely contemporary.
“In high school, I switched to an on-line program, the N.C. Virtual Academy. I really liked it. It wasn’t too much of a transition. The school is based in Raleigh and teachers are situated throughout all of North Carolina,” Ross said.
Ross’ favorite subject was biology, although she said that she really did enjoy American History. She took honors classes which were more challenging and began studying with the N.C. Virtual Academy at the beginning of 11th grade. Ross was in the first graduating class of the academy.
During high school she was dual-enrolled at Tri-County Community College in on-line general education classes, psychology and English and also took a career readiness course.
After high school graduation Ross’ course of study moved from the virtual classrooms to classes on the campus of Young Harris College, a few miles from home in Georgia.
“I graduated and went to Young Harris College,” Ross said. “I had a dual major, biology and environmental science with a minor in chemistry.”
The young science major graduated after four years with both degrees in May of 2022. Ross said that she really enjoyed the college, she lived at home and that it was around graduation time she’d made a definite decision to pursue a career in science writing. That fall, Ross began a science writing program at Johns Hopkins University.
“At the time of graduation, I knew that I wanted to go into this program. My theory behind that was I would do science writing for a little while, and then, being a better communicator would help me with a Ph.D. in research when I did get it eventually.”
Ross completed studies at Johns Hopkins in two years, graduating in May of 2024. Classes were virtual except for a week of residency with 12 students in a science in action class.
During that week in the big city, Ross was able to tour the Applied Physics Laboratory at Johns Hopkins University, visit the NASA Center in Greenbank, Md. and talk with some legislators in Washington, D.C.
In between studying for a science writing degree from May through August of 2023, Ross was enrolled in the NASA Proposal Writing and Evaluation Experience. She completed the NASA studies which students are not allowed to discuss. Ross could comment that the studies were demanding and required about 10 to 15 hours of work every week.
Offered a job the week she graduated, she began work with Cambium Assessment in June. Ross said that the company makes standardized testing that is used in public schools around the country as it partners with departments of education in varying states and that she finds the work interesting so far.
“I do science testing and it’s very fun to research different topics. I’m a science writer for the company and enjoy breaking down the topics in a way that students will understand.”
Ross has accomplished a tremendous amount in educational achievement in a short period of time. She is making a difference and considering how to do even more with a science writing degree in a blog or a newspaper column to expand “readers” knowledge in the ever-changing field of science.
While ultimately, Ross hopes to return to the classroom and study for a doctorate degree in order to work in the medical research field as a science writer, she also knows that will probably require a move to a bigger city.