Before coming to Abilene, Quentin Jabo had a different future in mind.

Growing up in Kigali, Rwanda, Jabo attended a minor seminary and once planned to become a priest. His family supported the path, and he saw it as a way to serve others. But during high school, Jabo began questioning whether the priesthood was his calling.

“I think I can make an impact without necessarily becoming a priest,” Jabo said. “I’m still a Christian. I’m deep with my Christian roots. But I didn’t feel like being a priest – that’s a big decision.”

Jabo, now a sophomore biochemistry major on the pre-med track, found a new direction through science and medicine. At ACU, that direction has grown beyond the classroom through undergraduate research, chemistry tutoring, IT work, ACU Choirs, church involvement and a medical mission trip to Guatemala.

For Jabo, involvement is not simply a way to fill his schedule. It is part of learning how to serve people in different ways.

“If it’s something I’m committing to, then why not?” Jabo said. “If there is research, I will do that research. If it’s tutoring, I’ll do that as well. It’s like trying out things.”

Jabo grew up as the youngest of 10 children in Rwanda. While in high school, he participated in Bridge2Rwanda, now called Isoma Academy, a leadership and college-preparation program for high-performing students. The program provided instruction in English, leadership and college preparation while exposing students to readings and conversations about injustices around the world.

The experience helped Jabo reconsider how he could make an impact.

“That was a life-changing program,” Jabo said. “We got exposed to a lot of readings about injustices happening everywhere in the world. I was like, ‘I think I can make an impact.’”

After taking a gap year, Jabo’s college counselor recommended ACU. Jabo knew other students from Rwanda attended the university, but he said he came to campus without knowing much about the school or the opportunities it would offer.

He arrived with an interest in pre-med and a goal of attending medical school. He said medicine appealed to him because it combines science, service, problem-solving and relationships with patients.

“When you’re a doctor, you’re doing science,” Jabo said. “You get to do service, and you get to make connections with people and do problem-solving.”

At ACU, Jabo has expanded that initial interest through chemistry research with Dr. Davis Curry, assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry. During the summer, Jabo spent eight weeks working in the chemistry and biochemistry department on a project involving molybdenum complexes and pharmaceutical chemistry.

The research aims to better understand how molybdenum, a metal, can contribute to reactions that produce pharmaceutically relevant compounds. Metals can accept and give electrons in ways that may help chemical reactions occur more efficiently, Curry said.

“Many metal complexes can carry out jobs that normal elements cannot perform,” Curry said. “One of the reasons is that metals can accept and give electrons very freely.”

Jabo and Curry’s work focused on isolating highly reactive molybdenum compounds that could eventually be used for catalysis, or assisting chemical reactions. The project also required the team to establish laboratory conditions that would prevent water in the air from interfering with the water-sensitive chemical reactions.

Curry said Jabo played a significant role in both building the lab’s research capacity and conducting the work.

“Quentin was very instrumental in not only pioneering new experiments and new reactions and isolating new compounds, but also setting up virtually a new lab,” Curry said.

The summer research did not always produce the results Jabo hoped for. Some reactions did not yield the expected compound, while others reverted to the starting materials. Still, Jabo said those setbacks became an important part of learning how research works.

“Sometimes you expect to get a very good yield, and when you test it, it seems to be the starting materials,” Jabo said. “You didn’t get anything, or the reaction just reversed. But slowly and slowly, we learn how to be patient. That’s research.”

The work is continuing this semester. Curry said Jabo and another student collected results substantial enough for a presentation, though additional experiments are needed before the work could become a paper. Curry said he hopes Jabo will have a published article by the end of the year and expects him to present at ACU’s undergraduate research event in the spring.

Curry said Jabo’s independence and attention to detail have stood out, particularly for a student early in his college career.

“He is a very independent worker,” Curry said. “He plans his own experiments very frequently.”

Curry said Jabo has approached unfamiliar work with a strong scientific mindset despite not yet completing organic chemistry.

“I’ve just been very impressed with his ability, as a sophomore, to fully embrace the mystery of synthetic chemistry and approach it with a very scientific mindset,” Curry said. “He’s very methodical. He’s very detail-oriented.”

Jabo’s adjustment to ACU has included more than navigating difficult chemistry experiments. As an international student, he said communicating in English was initially one of his greatest challenges.

Although he had learned English in Rwanda through his college-preparation program, Jabo said it took time to process conversations, participate in class discussions and feel comfortable asking questions.

“When you get to a place where everyone speaks English, and when you speak your language, no one is going to understand, that becomes another issue,” Jabo said. “At first, it would take me a long time to process it so that I could say something back or ask a question.”

At times, the barrier made him want to stay quiet. But through conversations with students, professors and members of the ACU community, Jabo said he gradually became more comfortable.

“One thing that I admire is that people are really nice here,” Jabo said. “People approach you and ask, ‘How are you doing? How is your day going?’ That made me feel better slowly.”

He said relationships with professors have been especially important. While working an IT shift, Jabo helped a professor over the phone. Later, when the professor saw him in person, she recognized his voice.

“It just blew my mind, how they know you to a point they even know your voice,” Jabo said. “There’s another level of connection and caring that I wasn’t picturing.”

Along with research, Jabo works in IT, tutors general chemistry and attends Highland Church of Christ. He also traveled to Guatemala during spring break for a mission trip, where he observed doctors caring for patients and praying with them afterward.

The trip gave Jabo another picture of the kind of medical career he hopes to pursue.

“Going to Guatemala and seeing how people are making an impact in the health care system over there – that was the best,” Jabo said. “I don’t know if I would have gotten that experience if I just decided to be in my own cocoon.”

For international students arriving at ACU, Jabo encourages openness. He said students should not limit themselves to a major selected before college or avoid opportunities because they seem intimidating.

“Just explore,” Jabo said. “If you see an opportunity to do research, go for that. You will learn a lot of new things, not just about that, but also about yourself.”

Jabo said getting involved also helped him become more confident speaking English and more connected to his campus community.

“You will not get better at the language if you don’t interact with it, if you don’t talk to people,” Jabo said. “It will be hard. People will make you repeat again. Don’t give up. Just do it.”

For Jabo, becoming involved at ACU has helped turn a move from Rwanda into an opportunity to discover a new calling. Through research, tutoring, work, faith and service, he continues to seek ways to use science to make an impact.