For Caleb Utter, nothing has ever come between him and his love of science, even cadavers:
By: ALEXANDRA MEDLER STAFF WRITER:
“I remember, way back in high school, we went to a cadaver lab with Human Body and Anatomy and that was really shocking … I just was a high school kid, and suddenly I was at the SLU Medical School doing a cadaver lab with doctors. It was life-changing,” said Utter.
Utter, 19, is a student at Saint Louis Community College – Meramec. He has spent the last two years finding his place academically, which according to Utter has been a difficult journey.
“Growing up I had some mental health issues, and I didn’t really address that until college … I would take Honors and AP courses and push myself and completely skip studying English or math because all I cared about was science,” said Utter, pulling on the collar of his blue button-down top.
On paper, Utter’s high school experience was unsatisfactory, however, the experiences he gained there were incredibly influential, he said. “I took AP biology in my senior year of high school and our teacher was actually a post-doc researcher at Wash-U. So, we went to his laboratory for multiple field trips and we did UV gel slides, and that’s usually stuff that’s reserved for undergrad students, people who are doing lab experiments,” said Utter, rolling his metal coffee cup quickly in his hands.
Utter works at Washington University in St. Louis in the information technology department at the medical campus. He began in IT when he was a young child and would help his father fix computers. According to Utter, this job has connected him with many people and role models.
“Since I work in the Wash-U Medical School, I actually interact with any and all medical practitioners in the hospital. I talk with all of them, and they give me medical textbooks, so they really push me to be interested in a career in medicine,” said Utter.
It has not always been easy to work nights and go to college at the same time, Utter said, yawning and running a hand through his blond hair. “I’m really interested in biology, so my passion for that kind of pushes me through as well as seeing the successful people around me at my job … I want to change lives, I just have to figure out in what position I can make the biggest difference,” said Utter.
His dream is to do work in genetics in his future career and genetic editing has a large place in the future of medicine, he said.
“I follow all these YouTube channels that talk about genetic editing, and there’s also this biology movement, basically ‘garage science,’ do biology in your basement, and I’m starting up to do that. Because of that, I definitely want to do something in biology, but in the back of my head, I also think about maybe being a physician,” said Utter.
His biggest success so far?
“Just kind of getting my act together … going from kind of a burn out student to where I am now,” said Utter, his blue eyes looking to the side. Utter plans to transfer next spring to a four-year university to finish his bachelor’s degree in a sub-field of biology. His educational plans beyond that point are unknown, but he feels he’s gained the skills he needs to figure them out, according to Utter.
“I guess I’ve really found myself here at STLCC, and in science, and in my work. I no longer second guess myself anymore, or when I do, I don’t say it out loud,” said Utter.
