Ը Today is following a group of Golden Flashes for the 2025-26 academic year, chronicling their efforts and successes during the fall and spring semesters. The students are at various stages of their academic careers and will share their experiences as they participate in Ը's distinctive programs, research and campus activities.
While many students spent the spring break traveling or having fun in the sun, twin brothers Ray and Will Maynard spent the week studying.
Both biological sciences majors in Ը University’s College of Arts & Sciences, the twins are hoping for careers in medicine, and are committed to getting excellent scores on the Medical College Admissions Test, or MCAT, when they take it for the first time on April 25.
“Right now, we’re studying on average, I think 40 to 60 hours a week,” Ray Maynard told Ը Today.
“It sounds like overkill, but the MCAT’s hard,” Will added. “And if you really want to do good, you have to put so much time in consistently.”
The brothers are motivated for careers as physicians and believe that achieving high scores on the MCAT will determine their future.
“Plus, studying is fun,” Ray said, explaining their spring break philosophy.
It is for these brothers from Green, Ohio, who recently turned 19, but are classified as juniors, after spending their senior year of high school taking College Credit Plus (CCP) courses at Ը’s Stark Campus. They arrived for their first semester at Ը in August, with Ray having 60 college credits and Will 54 (although Will took 18 credit hours in the fall semester to catch up).
But life is not only about studying for this pair.
‘Code for the Cure’
In their spare time, the twins set up a non-profit organization called to raise money for genetic research.
Their vision is for the non-profit to support $10,000-$15,000 pilot grants for researchers, providing the seed funding they need to start their research and pursue larger funding.
The pair was inspired by their time as Undergraduate Fellows in Ը’s Brain Health Research Institute (BHRI) in the summer of 2025, where they learned about the challenges scientists face in obtaining research funding.
They also fell in love with research in the time they spent in the lab of Dinah Qutob, Ph.D., assistant professor of biological sciences, on the Stark Campus, where they studied how aberrant SUMOylation of SOX 3 could potentially lead to the dedifferentiation of neurons into glioblastoma stem cells.
It was Qutob who suggested they apply to become undergraduate fellows at the BHRI. Ը, an R1 research institution, offers top-tier research in many fields and encourages students to get involved in undergraduate research as soon as possible.
Their preference, Ray Maynard said, would be to support a researcher studying pancreatic cancer, because it is one of the most underfunded areas of research.
“We’d like to figure out a way to get a researcher to investigate blood biomarking to figure out a better way to identify this cancer before it happens,” he said.
Ray Maynard is a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, which has agreed to support Code for the Cure with proceeds from its April 18 Cardboard Regatta fundraiser at the Student Recreation and Wellness Center.
If their fundraising goes well, the brothers hope to award their first pilot grant by the end of the summer, Will Maynard said.
Drawing blood
Over the summer, the twins also took the time to become certified phlebotomists and are hoping to soon find part-time work in that field.
Ray Maynard currently works a 12-hour overnight shift on the weekends at UH Portage Medical Center in nearby Ravenna, Ohio, where, as a nursing assistant, he will see seven to 10 patients per shift.
“I love it,” he said, “It’s my favorite job I have ever had. It’s very fulfilling. I love talking to the patients, it’s great conversation.”
The job has the bonus of putting him around other physicians with whom he can chat and to learn more about the medical profession.
“I was giving care to one of the patients, and I was getting ready to discharge him, and he thanked me and said I was the best patient care assistant he had ever had and told me that I made a difference in his ability to get better,” Ray Maynard said. “You know, that made me fall in love with the job.”
Enjoying their college life
Despite the MCAT studying, the spring semester at Ը has become a bit more relaxed for Will Maynard, who is taking 13 credits, instead of the 18 he crammed in during the fall semester.
He continues to enjoy his independent college lifestyle on the Kent Campus and is involved with a student group with others interested in medical careers.
“The community here is so great, there are people to meet at every corner,” Will Maynard said. “There are truly so many opportunities here that if you’re willing to go and ask for something, somebody is going to be able to help and make what you want to happen, whether it’s a research experience or a study abroad. There are so many great opportunities. With college, you get out what you put into it.”
Ray Maynard is looking forward to the MCAT being over, so his studies can lessen, and he can spend more time enjoying his SAE fraternity activities.
He is loving his Ը experience.
“I’m in my second semester, and so far, I’m in love with it. I love the friends I am making. I love the teachers and the environment. I have nothing bad to say about Ը,” he said. “I love who I’ve become at Ը.”