Honors Capstones come in many different formats and genres, but as many Honors students happen to be Biology majors, they typically involve some sort of research that is intended to broaden their portfolio when applying to medical and graduate school. However, not every Biology Honors student does research for his or her capstone. Some students choose to complete creative capstone projects, which is exactly what Honors Alumna Whitney Cameron chose to do. Cameron is a Biology major with a concentration in pre-medicine. Her decision to get creative rather than tackle research was largely shaped by her experiences at Duke University during her 2016 undergraduate summer medical educational program to which she gained acceptance. The program changed her thoughts regarding her future career plans to the degree that she no longer sought acceptance into medical school. She explains, "Since I decided against going to medical school, research was no longer as big a priority for me." Instead, Cameron's life-long passion for drawing and illustration took precedence, and she fashioned a way to incorporate her passion into her project. Her capstone proposes a way to teach college-level topics to grade-school students through illustration and storytelling. She centered her project on one of her favorite branches of Biology: Immunology. Through her own illustrations and personal notes that she compiled throughout her time as an undergraduate student, Cameron created a book that teaches how specialized cells in the human immune system work to protect the body against pathogens and infections. 

Throughout her four years of college, Cameron has learned how important visual images and representations are for her style of learning and wanted to propose a way of teaching that appeals to visual learners. Working on the capstone and being a part of the Honors College has helped to enhance her undergraduate experience as a Biology major by getting her more involved in being a leader, testing her knowledge and ideas, and helping her focus her interests, all of which have assisted in shaping her future goals. "Working on this capstone enabled me to see the relatedness between disciplines," she said. "It's a rewarding feeling, and it makes you feel like all of your studying is actually worth everything you go through. You can make connections and know that what you learn in one class isn't separate from what you learn in another - I really appreciated that."