How a Middletown woman hopes to make a difference after graduating from Salve Regina

Soon-to-be Salve Regina University graduate Tallya Maciel has a busy couple of months ahead of her.

Not only is Maciel, a biology major with a double minor in chemistry and neuroscience, preparing to graduate from college, she is also bouncing between meetings with decorators as she plans for her wedding this June.

After her wedding? She’s set to start her new job as a research technician for the Multiple Myeloma Center at Dana Farber Institute of Cancer at the Longwood Medical Center in Boston.

“I'm excited about that,” Maciel said. “Research has always been a passion of mine.”

Maciel’s college career began as it ended: eventfully. Not only did her freshman year begin in fall 2020, the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, her house had actually caught fire just before she was set to begin classes. She also had a health scare and had to get a tumor removed.

“Covid was like — I don’t remember the courses I took,” Maciel said. “It was like a fever dream.”

A Middletown native, Maciel lived just minutes from her college campus when she was able to finally attend classes in person, but by that point, she was already learning and helping patients at the Eye Care for RI in Middletown, an optometrist office her mother cleaned through Maciel's youth. Her mother was the one who had encouraged her to take on medical science as a career, Maciel said, and her work at the eye clinic and studies at Salve Regina University would only strengthen that interest as the years went on.

“Being able to explain (a medical problem) to (a patient at the eye clinic) and them understanding was so fulfilling, it was like, ’Yeah, I am learning and it is making sense,’” Maciel said. “I just fell in love with it.”.

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Her friends may still ask her questions related to eye health, but Maciel’s college coursework has led her away from eyecare. She began working as a researcher at Salve Regina and her thesis focused on how PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) alters neurotransmitters in the roundworm Caenorhabditis elegant.

Inspiring others

Maciel had such a fulfilling experience researching for the university that she co-founded a student organization, the Association of Student Researchers, to encourage more students to look into research opportunities at the school. Early on in the club’s existence, she hosted a panel dedicated to women in STEM fields and was excited to see how many students the panel had inspired.

“After the panel, I had friends call me that went and they’re like ‘You need to do this more often’,” Maciel said. “Most of them, their minds changed completely after it. I had a friend that called me and she was like, ‘Oh my god, I called my mom and I was crying because I felt so motivated and so inspired and I felt like I could actually make a change.’”

One thing she wished she could have done before graduating college was tour schools on Aquidneck Island and encourage students to attend Salve Regina. She originally didn’t want to stay on the island for college, but after receiving a full scholarship, she said she was glad she did.

Growing up in Middletown

As the first member of her Brazilian family born in the United States, her life was a balance of Brazilian and American culture and influence. She would translate athletics permission forms for her Portuguese-speaking mother and attend church surrounded by a largely Brazilian congregation, while at the same time speaking English with her friends at Second Beach and learning American cultural references from the chef at Brick Alley Pub, where her father has worked for over 30 years.

“I’m grateful for everything Middletown and the Middletown community has given me,” Maciel said. “My fiancé tells me, ‘Newport to you was your hometown and at moments of your life, it was the place where you wanted to escape from. Now it’s going to be the opposite: you’re going to want to escape to it. You’ll value it more.’”

She said she didn’t understand what he meant by that six months ago, but now, as graduation nears, and as she drives around her hometown, she said she can already see herself growing nostalgic.

“Maybe in the long run, I’ll want to come back to Rhode Island, but I’m excited for this new chapter,” Maciel said. “I’m excited to learn who I am outside of Middletown and I’m grateful for everyone who’s helped me, all the teachers, all my friends, my professors at Salve… I’m grateful for all their support and guidance.”

This article originally appeared on Newport Daily News: Salve Regina grad Tallya Maciel from Middletown has big plans