During his four years at Geneseo, Justen Geddes has become a mathematician, biology researcher, athlete, chief of the student first-response emergency team, an anthropologist, and has studied in Brazil. With each experience, he challenged his idea of his limitations.
“If you look at my Geneseo career, a central theme is that if something looked cool, I tried it and I wasn’t afraid to fail at it,” said Geddes.
For Geddes, his time at Geneseo has been about discovering more about himself while becoming as well-rounded as possible.
In 2015, Geddes joined Geneseo First Response, a student-run, volunteer organization that provides emergency medical services to the Geneseo campus community and is an accredited New York State emergency medical services provider. As chief of operations this year, Geddes manages more than 75 student volunteers serving as emergency medical technicians, who treat patients of on-campus emergency calls during the interim period before an ambulance arrives. Geddes has volunteered nearly 2,000 hours of service with crews.
“It has taught me was how to deal with a tremendous amount of work and stress and still be able to stay in the moment and be happy,” said Geddes. “People all around us need help any day. It is so important and so rewarding to slow down and help those around us. Sometimes that is responding to a call. Sometimes it's talking to someone."
In the classroom, Geddes is a math major with an anthropology minor.
“I chose to study anthropology because it is the polar opposite of math,” he said.
Geddes traveled to Brazil through a Geneseo summer course after his sophomore year to study the culture of the African diaspora. He was also the recipient of the Campus Auxiliary Services’ First-Time Study Abroad scholarship. (Read his first-person essay on the experience. )
“I learned that happiness stems from community,” said Geddes.
Ultimately the transformational experience taught Geddes the importance of cultural awareness and reminded him that we are all just people.
Geddes has also worked with professor of biology Gregg Hartvigsen and assistant professor of math Cesar Aguilar on a cancer research project. He was immersed in biology during a cross math and biology course called “modeling the biological system.” He is studying the structure of protein reactions, using graph theory to optimize protein inhibition therapy, allowing for more accurate research and better individualized approaches for patients.
Always looking for new challenges, Geddes has also taken on Spartan race —an obstacle course competition that is run all over the world.
“I love stepping outside my comfort zone and becoming better.”
In 2015, he placed 28th in his age group for the Obstacle Course Racing World Championships.
This fall, Geddes will begin a doctoral program at North Carolina State University in applied mathematics. He would like to continue his biology research by modeling cardiovascular systems and hopes to become a professor of mathematics.
He believes that small steps and challenging yourself will add up over time, eventually resulting in something great.
“Sometimes you throw the long hail Mary pass, hoping for the best,” said Geddes, “You also want to throw the short one. Small things pile up and make a big difference.”
— By Kitrick McCoy '19