ABOUT ME

Biography & Personal Statement

​Kat Gorlenko is a sophomore from Bethesda, MD studying Secondary Education, with a focus in Biology, at the University of Maryland. Kat is passionate about musical theatre, painting, and inspiring young minds in STEM, especially girls. In her coming research, she plans to investigate how utilizing her artistic abilities in the classroom, through lessons and activities, helps students engage more deeply with the content. Her skills in both the performance arts and visual arts will come together to create a hands-on classroom experience that will work to immerse the children into the material in a way that activates more parts of their brain for better retention, and more fun! After graduating with a bachelors degree in both Secondary Education and Biology, she aims to work in an Maryland public high school, where over 50% of its students are eligible for free or reduced price meals, as a science teacher, using her arts knowledge to motivate underprivileged kids to love learning and reach their full potential.

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As a College Park Arts Scholar, Kat will be diving further into her artistic interests as a performer and educator in her final sophomore year Capstone project. Through her arts scholars journey, she is very excited for field trips and pentathlon, as they are a way to indulge in great real, in-person arts experiences that you are able to reflect on and use for future reference. This will also be a wonderful way to explore everything UMD, College Park, DC and beyond have to offer. This area is a mecca for arts, with the Smithsonian museums, constant concerts and more, and these assignments will allow to her to get the most of her college experience. She plans on joining Lakeland STARS, a non-profit volunteer project that works with College Park Scholars as well as FLAME. Working with children in a STEM context will help her expand her expertise in teaching. By the end of her academic career, she hopes to graduate tuition free without losing her scholarship, and going straight into teaching, as she can't wait to finally go back into the classroom.