The reaction she had to her high school chemistry class sparked the future career path of 2025 graduate Mikayla Roberts, one of this year’s two Outstanding Graduates for the Fauquier Campus.
Roberts is earning her associate degree in science and transferring to Christopher Newport University in fall 2025 to major in chemistry.
“My junior year of high school, the first chemistry class I took, I realized I loved it, which I really had no clue about up until then,” she said.
That led her to take Organic Chemistry 1 and 2 at Laurel Ridge. She drove to the Middletown Campus to take those courses in the summer with Professor Sam Dillender.
“He’s truly one of the best professors I’ve had,” said Roberts. “It was a long summer, but it was worth it.”
She is open to what her future career will be.
“I really love research and I really love learning, and I think if I can do that, I will be happy,” said Roberts.
When Roberts graduated from Gainesville High School a year early, she knew she wanted to attend Laurel Ridge. She was struggling with two autoimmune disorders – postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, often referred to as POTS, and Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.
“I decided I wasn’t quite ready to go to off to a four-year university,” Roberts said. “I wanted to take things slow to figure out what to do and to save some money.”
Besides her chemistry classes with Professor Dillender, she really enjoyed her English classes with Professor Lisa Dunick, who she had for three semesters.
“My favorite professor was Dr. Dunick, a thousand times over,” said Roberts. “She’s helped me with so much. I would probably consider her more as a mentor.
“I really liked the small community at Laurel Ridge. Everybody has been so nice. From the get-go, it was a very welcoming environment.”
Besides being her English professor, Dr. Dunick was Roberts’s Phi Theta Kappa advisor. PTK is the international honor society for two-year colleges, and Roberts served as president of the Fauquier Campus chapter. Professor Dunick credits her with rebuilding the chapter from the ground up.
“She jumped right in and through her engagement and dedication to her work has managed to revitalize PTK at the Fauquier Campus,” Professor Dunick said. “We have seen a marked increase in acceptance of membership and, more importantly, in participation. Her organization and the way that she interacts with her fellow students make them want to join in and participate.”
She added that Roberts exemplifies the best qualities of a community college student – “smart, capable and willing to work hard for what she wants.”
Laurel Ridge Community College was known as Lord Fairfax Community College until June 2022. For consistency purposes, the college will be referenced as Laurel Ridge going forward.