Alex Bittinger
Bernie Tyson, a junior at Florida Southern College, has made incredible accomplishments that our campus community should commend.
Tyson is a chemistry major with a 4.0 grade point average, treasurer of the American Chemistry Society and will soon become the president of the chapter on campus. He also serves as a chemistry tutor at the Student Solutions Center and is working on a research project with Dr. Eubank.
More recently, he began writing for a magazine: inChemistry, which is published by ACS for students in chemical sciences. It covers subjects from navigating the job market to getting the most out of the college experience.
Tyson previously received the ACS Student Leadership Award, an award presented to students who exhibit exceptional leadership qualities within their ACS chapter. Upon receiving this award, Tyson traveled to a conference in Dallas, Texas to the ACS Leadership Institute where he participated in leadership courses and meet individuals who shared a common passion. After attending the ACS Leadership Institute, he received an email from the U.S. Department of Energy, offering him a summer internship. Tyson believes this to be his greatest accomplishment thus far.
When asked what resources and ideas have contributed to his success, he responded with his morning routine, good friends and his student-professor relationships.
Tyson is a firm believer that the twenty minutes after you wake up is the time in which, “you’re most impressionable and can determine how the rest of your day will go.”
For the first twenty minutes of the day, he listens to motivational and self-empowering speeches. This has helped him to “keep his head” during stressful times and has made him a more positive person. Tyson also appreciates his close group of friends as they understand his goals and help him relieve stress and genuinely enjoy himself.
Tyson attributes part of his success to his relationships with his professors.
“Going to a school [as small as] FSC and being able to see your professor and developing a relationship with them is one of the most important things you can take advantage of,” Tyson said. “When you’re applying to grad school and internships, having ‘someone in your corner’ is something you won’t get at a bigger school. Florida Southern has really allowed me to take advantage of having a close relationship with my professors.”
His piece of advice to students is that, “you will always be successful if you pick something you’re passionate about and you do it as best and as much as you can. If you do this, you will always be making connections, you will always have things to put on your resume and even if you’re not doing what exactly you want to be doing in the future, right now- if you work hard there will always be someone watching, and you will always stand out.”
After his time at Florida Southern College, Tyson plans on obtaining a Ph.D. in chemistry and hopes to follow this with a period of time dedicated to conducting research.
Although he enjoys research in the field, “[his] true passion lies in motivational speaking and helping people live their best life,” and eventually, Tyson would like to become a motivational speaker, life coach or even a teacher. He enjoys science and chemistry but gets “the most joy out of being around and interacting with people.”
Bernie is an outstanding and bright student who exemplifies hard work, passion and leadership.
Be on the lookout for this Moc as he continues to accomplish great things within the Florida Southern community and beyond.
