The Grass is Greener

Students in action! (L to R: Elizabeth Koppang, Bryon Overton, Ben DeMarco, Kim Overton)

With a longer than appreciated winter behind us, I am more than ready for spring! Last semester I joined “Medical Roots” — the student interest group that founded our school’s garden with the intent of educating the community about the benefits of good nutrition. However, many of us do not have any significant gardening experience; in fact, I don’t have any at all! So when it came time to plant our spring crop, we turned to our advisor and biochemistry extraordinaire — Dr. LeClair. She has been guiding us through the ropes and even gave from her personal compost store to make our soil better.

Professors in action (L to R: Dr. LeCLair, Dr. Peffley, Dr. Otto)

On a clear Wednesday afternoon, we began to turn over last year’s crop and invest the work and sweat it takes to make a garden bloom. (I never guessed my arms would be so sore!). Thankfully, we had a few other professors join us, and Dr. Otto saved the day with his tiller. It was a very successful event! Now, if it ever stops freezing, we’ll get some new plants in the ground!

Megan Epperson

I graduated from Clemson University in 2013 with a B.A, in Biological Sciences after growing up in Alexandria, Virginia. Now, I love South Carolina and chose USC School of Medicine Greenville because the school’s mission lines up with the interests and values that attracted me to medicine. I hope to enter a primary care specialty in order to form many relationships and look at health holistically. Some of my hobbies include Bikram yoga, nutrition, spending time with friends and family, laughing, and rowing (though I haven’t found a river in Greenville big enough yet!). I feel blessed to be a part of the class of 2017, where I know I will learn from enthusiastic faculty, classmates, and a groundbreaking charter class.