Anonymous scholarship helps student pursue a lifelong dream

Karol Sokolowski was a junior at the University of Illinois studying molecular and cellular biology and chemistry when unexpected financial difficulties threatened to disrupt his studies. He needed help—and that’s when he received some life-changing news.

At the time, Sokolowski was researching genetic code. Working with Douglas Mitchell, professor of chemistry, Sokolowski found the research incredibly exciting, as he’d long possessed a passion for chemistry. In fact, his interest in the field started as early as the seventh grade, as he distinctly recalls balancing chemistry equations on the blackboard.

“Later on in high school, when we started doing experiments and I got to be hands on in the lab, that’s just one thing that I loved,” he said.

Sokolowski followed this passion in college and sought out research opportunities. While he spent the majority of his time focusing on this interest, Sokolowski found himself distracted by money concerns.

His parents were facing unemployment due to injury, and though he wanted to finish school, he wasn’t sure how to afford the cost of his education. That’s when the Department of Chemistry awarded him a $10,000 Chemistry High Achievement scholarship funded by an anonymous donor. The annual scholarship is among the largest private scholarships on campus.

Sokolowski was selected for the scholarship due his heavy participation in research on campus and for his work with Professor Mitchell.

“I was really nervous about the amount of loans I’d have to take out to keep going,” Sokolowski said. “(The scholarship) really helped my mental health and reduced the amount of stress I was facing.”

Beyond relieving Sokolowski’s financial stress, the anonymous donor’s generous contribution propelled his career path in an entirely different direction. The anonymous donor’s acknowledgement of his hard work in the lab encouraged Sokolowski to pursue other seemingly unattainable interests.

“Knowing that someone was interested in what [I was] doing, and interested in [me] going forward, just gave me the support to keep going,” Sokolowski said. “It boosted me forward to think that people actually do care and believe in me. It was really a confidence booster and it keeps me going even today.”

Sokolowski graduated from Illinois in 2015. Now he is studying for a professional doctorate degree at the University of Illinois-Chicago College of Pharmacy, where he is also studying for his doctoral degree in the Department of Biopharmaceutical Sciences. Sokolowski’s research is focused on investigating novel delivery systems for medicine.  

“As we’re going forward in time, we need more and more ways to deliver doses,” he said. “There are shortcomings to every delivery vehicle to that we have, so it’s always best there are more vehicles available to us.”

Sokolowski said the technologies he is currently helping to develop can have a wide range of applications, such as topical, intraperitoneal, and local depot methods of administering medicine.

“You just want to have as many options as you can, to treat as many people as you can,” he said.

Once Sokolowski graduates from the pharmacy program, he hopes to work for the Center for Disease Control and Prevention as an expert of problematic outbreaks. Alternatively, he might consider entering the pharmaceutical industry as a clinical scientist or a lab scientist.

“Overall, I want to use all this information I’ve used and not let it go to waste,” he said.

Sokolowski credits the generosity of his anonymous donor at the University of Illinois for much of his success.

“To this day, I’m just incredibly grateful and thankful for their support,” he said. “It helped me get to where I am today.”