{"id":34157,"date":"2026-06-30T11:30:19","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T18:30:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/?p=34157"},"modified":"2026-06-30T13:01:52","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T20:01:52","slug":"making-the-most-of-a-second-chance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2026\/06\/30\/making-the-most-of-a-second-chance","title":{"rendered":"Making the most of a second chance\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">Attending&nbsp;the University of&nbsp;Washington&nbsp;Bothell&nbsp;felt like a&nbsp;second chance for Thomas Purchas. One he intended to capitalize on&nbsp;to ensure his career plans could come true.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now 27, the&nbsp;Economics major&nbsp;first&nbsp;enrolled at&nbsp;a different university when he was 17. 足彩app哪个是正规的n life took a tragic turn. On the day&nbsp;he graduated from&nbsp;high school, his best friend was killed&nbsp;in a motorcycle accident.&nbsp;His first&nbsp;year&nbsp;in college found Purchas depressed and living&nbsp;far from his support network. He faltered.&nbsp;As his grades tanked, he&nbsp;left for the workforce.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But&nbsp;he did not give up on his dreams of higher education. \u201cI was always going to earn my degree,\u201d Purchas&nbsp;said.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He&nbsp;enrolled&nbsp;in UW Bothell in 2024&nbsp;and&nbsp;\u2014&nbsp;supported by&nbsp;strong faculty and dedicated mentorship \u2014 transformed both his scholarship and his life&nbsp;path.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In recognition of&nbsp;Purchas\u2019&nbsp;exceptional&nbsp;academic&nbsp;record,&nbsp;high-caliber research and well-rounded skill set,&nbsp;he&nbsp;was presented with the 2026 President\u2019s Medal at Commencement on June 14.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m so grateful and so shocked, honestly, to have received it,\u201d said Purchas, who discovered he&nbsp;was chosen for&nbsp;the award just before taking the&nbsp;stage&nbsp;at the UW Undergraduate Research Symposium&nbsp;in May. \u201cI\u2019m so thrilled, so surprised and honored.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>A passion for research takes root<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>A&nbsp;turning point in Purchas\u2019 academic&nbsp;journey&nbsp;came in Dr. Xiahua (Anny) Wei\u2019s \u201cIntroduction to Econometrics\u201d course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Offered in spring 2025,&nbsp;the class&nbsp;was not for the faint of heart.&nbsp;Dr. Wei\u2019s syllabus emphasized both econometric theory and empirical applications. It also required strong foundations in probability theory,&nbsp;statistics&nbsp;and economic theory.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Purchas&nbsp;entered well prepared, said Wei&nbsp;when nominating him for the award, and \u201cdistinguished himself as the top student in this quantitatively demanding class.\u201d He led&nbsp;a team of&nbsp;peers&nbsp;in a quarter-long empirical project that examined carmaker Ferrari\u2019s F1 performance and stock returns.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cHe initiated non-linear modeling approaches&nbsp;\u2014&nbsp;uncommon among students in their first econometrics course \u2014&nbsp;and frequently consulted with me on model specification and interpretation,  said Wei, associate professor in the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/business\/\">School of Business<\/a>. \u201cHis leadership, analytical rigor and clarity of communication elevated the entire team\u2019s quality and depth of work.\u201d<strong>&nbsp;<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although Purchas had no prior experience as a researcher, his potential was clear to Wei. She&nbsp; encouraged him to pursue an independent project and apply for the UW Bothell Summer Research Award.&nbsp;She also offered to mentor his research.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/06\/Thomas-Commencement-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Two people in commencement regalia shaking hands.\" class=\"wp-image-34159\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/06\/Thomas-Commencement-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/06\/Thomas-Commencement-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/06\/Thomas-Commencement-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/06\/Thomas-Commencement-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/06\/Thomas-Commencement-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/06\/Thomas-Commencement.jpg 1500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Thomas Purchas\u00a0receives the 2026\u00a0President&#8217;s Medal from UW\u00a0President Robert. J. Jones.\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>An exceptional&nbsp;trajectory<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Accepted into the&nbsp;2025&nbsp;summer research program, Purchas went to work investigating the financial impact&nbsp;of weather extremes&nbsp;\u2014 especially heatwaves and cold snaps \u2014 on stock prices in U.S. energy firms.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt was so rewarding, so fulfilling,\u201d said Purchas.&nbsp;\u201cI learned what it&nbsp;was like to do real research. I quickly realized it was something I wanted to do more of.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As his mentor, Wei&nbsp;marveled at&nbsp;his rapid learning curve.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThomas quickly learned to formulate research questions, develop testable hypotheses, manage large datasets and implement econometric models,\u201d she said. \u201cWithin just half a year, he progressed from&nbsp;a student learning econometrics&nbsp;to a researcher capable of engaging in higher-level discussions connecting empirical patterns. His growth has been remarkable to&nbsp;witness.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>足彩app哪个是正规的&nbsp;summer research project, buoyed by Wei\u2019s mentorship,&nbsp;shifted Purchas\u2019 academic trajectory. He had been pursuing a Business major with a Finance option but&nbsp;pivoted to major in&nbsp;Economics with double minors&nbsp;in Business Administration and in Mathematics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>On an international stage<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Wei continued to mentor Purchas even after the summer research program concluded. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cShe exposed me to different ideas in my research, guided me on the path and opened up&nbsp;so many opportunities along the way,\u201d he said.&nbsp;\u201cIt was such a transformative experience that I can\u2019t even put into words how much has happened over the course of that mentorship.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Wei encouraged Purchas to present&nbsp;their joint&nbsp;research&nbsp;at the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences annual meeting&nbsp;in fall 2025. Typically the province&nbsp;of graduate students and faculty, the international conference rarely&nbsp;counts undergraduates in its ranks.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cPresenting at INFORMS as an undergraduate is an exceptional achievement,\u201d said Wei.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThroughout these experiences, Thomas has demonstrated professionalism, strong communication skills and the clear trajectory of an emerging independent researcher.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote\"><blockquote><p>&#8220;Within just half a year, he progressed from&nbsp;a student learning econometrics&nbsp;to a researcher capable of engaging in higher-level discussions connecting empirical patterns. His growth has been remarkable to&nbsp;witness.&#8221;<\/p><cite>Dr. Anny Wei, associate professor, School of Business&nbsp;<\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Direct entry into doctoral program<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>As he worked with Wei and other faculty, Purchas\u2019&nbsp;academic interests continued to evolve.&nbsp;He initially intended to pursue&nbsp;a master\u2019s degree in financial engineering, but his&nbsp;newfound passion for research pointed him in a new direction: a doctorate in economics.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It was the right call.&nbsp;Last year,&nbsp;Purchas&nbsp;received an offer of direct admission to the prestigious Ph.D.&nbsp;program in&nbsp;economics at&nbsp;the State University of New York at&nbsp;Stony Brook.&nbsp;He will begin his program&nbsp;in August.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cDirect entry into a doctoral program is an exceptional achievement for any undergraduate \u2014and particularly rare for students from teaching-oriented institutions like UW Bothell,\u201d said Wei.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt is deeply rewarding for me to know that this path can be traced back to Thomas\u2019s embrace of research on applied econometrics in&nbsp;my class just a year ago, the class where our paths crossed and our mentorship started.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Purchas called&nbsp;the experience of attending UW Bothell completely transformative. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cEspecially as an older student who has been in the workforce and&nbsp;lived on my own,\u201d he said, \u201cI\u2019m amazed at how much growth UW Bothell has caused in me.\u201d&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>2026 President\u2019s Medalist distinguished himself with high-caliber research and direct admission to a top-flight doctorate program in\u00a0economics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121,"featured_media":34158,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_is_archived":false,"_archived_contact_email":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[202,211,200,204],"tags":[],"school":[417],"class_list":["post-34157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus-news","category-honors-and-awards","category-profiles","category-students","school-school-of-business"],"acf":{"related_links":{"toggle_visibility":false,"link_1":"","link_2":"","link_3":"","link_4":"","link_5":""},"highlight_box":{"toggle_visibility":false,"title":"","content":"","button":"","button_style":"angled-purple-button","button_screen_reader_text":""},"contact_type_1":{"toggle_visibility":true,"contact_title":"","email":"","phone":"","box":"","address_line_1":"","address_line_2":"","location":""},"contact_type_2":{"toggle_visibility":false,"contact_title":"","email":"","phone":"","box":"","address_line_1":"","address_line_2":"","location":""},"social_media":{"toggle_visibility":false,"facebook_url":"","instagram_url":"","linkedin_url":"","twitter_url":"","youtube_url":""},"blog_archive_sidebar_visibility":false},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - 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