Lucas Jacobson, ‘14

Why did you choose to come to UMR? I decided to attend UMR because it was different. I had toured a few colleges in town and I liked that UMR had a unique design and culture. I did a tour of UMR my senior year of high school on a college visit day and I knew immediately that I wanted to go to UMR.

What did your Capstone experience involve? My Capstone involved completing the Clinical Laboratory Sciences (CLS) program through the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, which is now often called Medical Technology. Completing this program allowed me to graduate with extra education. I left UMR with my BSHS and a certificate in Clinical Laboratory Sciences.

How did your Capstone experience prepare you for your future in what you’re currently doing? I have relied very heavily on my CLS education in my career. Upon graduation I was hired at Mayo Clinic as a Clinical Laboratory Scientist in the Clinical and Forensic Toxicology Laboratory. I worked there for a few years and transferred to the Hepatitis/HIV Molecular Laboratory (HHM) to help with the surge in testing as HHM is one of the primary Mayo Clinic COVID-19 testing laboratories.

Is there a certain instructor that greatly impacted your time at UMR? It is hard to pick one person specifically. One of the reasons I liked UMR was because of how small it was. I felt like the small class sizes allowed me to get to know all my professors much better and they all provided me with a great education.

What are you currently doing? Last year, I accepted a promotion and joined the HHM management team in a Quality Specialist role. My position focuses heavily on things like data monitoring, event management and regulatory compliance. I am also pursuing my MBA through Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota.