I graduated from California University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Earth Science with a concentration in Meteorology. I am now working on my thesis as a second year Masters student at Kent State. Much of my time transitioning from my undergraduate to graduate studies has been spent participating and conducting research in the Significant Opportunities in Atmospheric Research and Science (SOARS) internship program at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado. I am integrating the skills I have gained from my undergraduate studies as well as SOARS to complete my master’s thesis. This work involves determining whether or not extreme midlatitude cyclone environments of the western North Atlantic basin have been changing in recent decades and whether or not Arctic sea ice and Siberian snow cover are predictors of any such changes.