Meet Jett House
At UT's department of neurosciences in the cognitive disorders research lab learning biochemical techniques to study Alzheimer's disease
From being a member of his school's Social Alliance team to earning his varsity letter in crew his junior year, Jett House is a Next Gen pacesetter. This Homestead resident is a 2022 graduate of St. John’s Jesuit and is headed to Northwestern University in the fall. Jett aspires to get his M.D. and potentially a Ph.D. in neuroscience. He isn’t sure which discipline he will choose, but it will definitely be something where he can work with neurodegenerative disorders.
Jett discovered that he wanted to go into neuroscience after he did his volunteer hours for several years at MemoryLane Care Services, which is a daycare program for persons living with Alzheimer's and related disorders. Jett’s grandmother has dementia, and he is very comfortable being around individuals with memory impairments because of the time he spends with her and because of his volunteer work at MemoryLane. This background inspires him to learn more about how the brain works and hopefully find a cure!
Activities and Achievements
Jett has big plans for the future, but that doesn’t take away from all he has already accomplished. He has participated in many different extracurricular activities, including SJJ’s Social Justice Alliance team for all four years of high school, which included frequent trips to Washington D.C. Jett was the director of his school’s broadcasting crew for TV 4 and was also the lead student editor on the journalism team. He belongs to the National Honor Society and was a member of the Ski and Snowboard Club; he was also vice president of St. John’s student body and was a co-founder and president of St. John’s Chinese National Honor Society.
Favorite Things
But Jett doesn’t stop there; his true passion is his voice. He was in St. John’s Men’s Chorus and performed each year in musicals at the Valentine Theater. In the future, Jett hopes to learn how to play the guitar because he owns two of them. Other than singing, some of Jett's favorite things are his friends, watching movies, and enjoying his mom’s cranberry roast!
Jett’s favorite TV show is Avatar the Last Airbender, a Nickelodeon animated series that discusses the topic of turning negatives into positives and overcoming adversity. Jett’s favorite part of the show is the development of his favorite character, Zuko. He also enjoys watching scary movies because he likes the suspense and trying to predict what will happen next. Jett’s favorite food is sushi. A fun fact about Jett is that he earned his black belt in karate when he was 11. Learning Karate has helped Jett develop confidence and will definitely allow him to focus on his career goals!
Current Work
Jett is working at University Hospital this summer, where he maps cadaver brains to determine the prevalence of dementia cells in the hippocampus (the part of the brain that has the biggest role in learning and memory).
We are honored to feature Jett in this issue of Stroll Quarry, and we can’t wait to see how he goes on to change the world!