Harrison, who also hailed from Northern Virginia, did not plan to come to Blacksburg initially but ended up in the School of Neuroscience as well.
“I’ve lived so many places [following the NFL career of her father, Nolan Harrison] that I wanted to go anywhere else but the state of Virginia for college. My parents were actually the ones who said, ‘You should give Virginia Tech a chance, and if you hate it, you can transfer after your first semester,’” she said. “Of course, I loved it immediately, and I cannot imagine being anywhere else. It’s perfect for my major, so it really worked out in the way that I hoped it would.”
As chance would have it, Harrison and Thomas did not get to know each other during their first two years at Virginia Tech, but found they had a lot in common when they started the Early Identification Program at the medical school.
“It’s crazy that we were both from Northern Virginia in this newer, smaller major and had several of the same classes but never really knew each other,” Thomas said. “Part of it may have been that we were wearing masks at the time due to COVID restrictions, but part was just the nature of the classes. And now through this program, we are roommates for the summer in Roanoke and going through this amazing experience together.”
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