Hi all! My name is Simone Hetherington, and I’m a first-year student in the UNCG genetic counseling program. I grew up in Kannapolis, NC and graduated from Furman University in Greenville, SC in 2014. During college I worked in a neurobiology lab, and following graduation I made my way out to Tucson, AZ, where I worked in a neuroimaging lab for a couple of years and eventually became a high school science teacher. One of my passions is advocacy related to disability/chronic illness and the undiagnosed and rare disease community. I volunteer with Rare Genomics Institute, an organization that helps connect people who are undiagnosed with sequencing and re-analysis, as well as with a rare disease community. I love being back in North Carolina, and I’m looking forward to autumn and a trip to the Blue Ridge mountains! In my free time, I enjoy baking and experimenting with recipes, taking walks in the forest, playing board games, and watching new shows. Please feel free to reach out if you have questions about UNCG or want to chat about the career!