COSAM News Articles 2023 March 25th Anniversary Summer Bridge Program Alumni Spotlight: Baylor graduate student Leo Burdett shares importance of friendships and mentors found through Bridge

25th Anniversary Summer Bridge Program Alumni Spotlight: Baylor graduate student Leo Burdett shares importance of friendships and mentors found through Bridge

Published: 03/20/2023

By: Leslie Leak

Leo Burdett, a homeschool graduate from Altamonte Springs, Florida, came to Auburn University in 2017 as a participant in the College of Sciences and Mathematics, or COSAM, STEM Summer Bridge Program. Established in 1997 and celebrating its 25^th anniversary this year, Summer Bridge is a four-week, summer program that assists incoming freshmen from historically underrepresented groups majoring in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, fields with academic preparedness and social support to excel within the academic rigor of the COSAM curriculum.

Through Summer Bridge, Burdett found the extensive professional development presentations and exercises most helpful, yet most impactful were the lasting friendships that he formed with fellow participants.

“The most impactful part of Summer Bridge was definitely working together with the friends I had made like Alonso, Austin, Danny and Hayleigh to accomplish our tasks,” said Burdett. “The program gave me a set of friends that I clung to during my freshman year. Even after we went our separate ways as general courses gave way to our major-specific classes, we still kept in contact."

Burdett says his favorite memory of Summer Bridge was when the participants were taken to the ropes course one Saturday and had to learn to trust each other and work together in a physically demanding setting.

Burdett also found mentors in COSAM’s Office of Inclusion, Equity and Diversity who provided critical support during his undergraduate years.

“Dr. Kimberly Mulligan and Mrs. Janice Brown were the two powerhouses that kept me encouraged during the hard times and helped keep me on the right track throughout my time at Auburn,” Burdett said. “Since we’ve gone our separate ways since I graduated, I still check-in via text or email every once in a while to see how Dr. Mulligan and some of my other friends are doing.”

Burdett graduated from Auburn University in May 2021 with a Bachelor of Science degree in physics and a minor in Italian studies. He is currently in his second year working on a Ph.D. in physics at Baylor University in Waco, Texas.

“At Baylor, I work in the space physics group called Center for Astrophysics, Space Physics and Engineering Research, or CASPER,” said Burdett. “I work with their dusty plasma research and am continuing in the same field of research that I did in Auburn.”

To learn more about the research Burdett is working on with CASPER, visit www.baylor.edu/casper.

COSAM will host events throughout the 2022-23 academic year to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Summer Bridge. Additionally, there is an initiative to raise $1 million dollars. These funds will be used by the COSAM Office of Inclusion, Equity, and Diversity to support initiatives such as creating an endowed professorship, providing study abroad opportunities, and expanding scholarship availability for deserving students. To learn more about the celebration and to donate, please visit the 25^th Anniversary website.