Cheyenne Sanchez ’09 is a long way from home, but he says St. Lawrence isn’t that drastically different. The chemistry major is from Juneau, Alaska.

“That is part of what attracted me to St. Lawrence,” says the graduate of Juneau-Douglas High School. “And of course, the new science building made SLU very enticing.” The 115,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art Johnson Hall of Science, noted for its sustainable design, opened in fall 2007.

Cheyenne is involved with the American Chemical Society’s SLU chapter, and has worked as a chemistry stockroom attendant and a chemistry workshop leader. “Chemistry is wonderful,” he said, “and I get to spend time with people that feel the exact same way.”

Although the new science building is large, Cheyenne loves that his classes have remained small. “I have been able to form really close relationships with my professors,” he said. “All of them know my name, and most of them even know my handwriting.”

Aside from his interest in chemistry, Cheyenne enjoys club soccer because he says it keeps him active and he continues to meet great people.

Cheyenne says he wants to go to graduate school for future chemistry studies. “Eventually I want to become a synthetic chemist for a drug/chemical manufacturing company,” he says.

Last summer, he and his friends hiked in the vicinity of the Mendenhall Glacier near Juneau. “It was great!” Cheyenne said. “Some day the glacier might not be there.”