20 Ransom Everglades LOG FALL 2025 Described by his RE peers in 2021 as “the go-to man on campus,” Medina has long been known for doing it all, and doing it well. A few bullet points in a vertigo-inducing resume: A polyglot and grandchild of Cuban immigrants, Medina speaks Spanish, French, Mandarin and English. During his time at Ransom Everglades, he was frequently recognized with academic awards and other achievements to the surprise of none of his peers, who saw him as an intelligent, humble and generous classmate. At Princeton, Medina spent four years as a chemistry major and generous community member, dedicating his time to teaching science to university peers and younger students in various settings. His thesis research in organic chemistry proposed a novel way to upcycle difficult-to-recycle PVC plastics into pharmaceutically valuable compounds. The title? “Burning Rubber Duckies with Flashlights: Applications of Photothermal Conversion to PVC Chemical Upcycling,” This spring, he became co-first author for a peer-reviewed paper in the Journal of the American Chemistry Society and was accepted into a PhD program at the University of Wisconsin, which he will attend in the fall of 2026. Ransom Everglades’ valedictorian in 2021, Medina did not miss a beat when he settled in at one of the nation’s premier academic institutions. “There wasn’t anything that he didn’t excel at,” said longtime Princeton chemistry professor Michael Kelly in a news release from the university. “He was a student with me in three separate courses, earning an A+ in all three. I teach the core laboratory course, which spans the breadth of chemistry – from biology to quantum physics – and I’ve never had one student be the best at all of them before.” Medina chalked up his academic success in high school and college to a carefully calibrated combination of “hard work and luck.” But while the list of achievements is, seemingly, never-ending, peers and faculty mentors agree that what sets Medina apart are his humility and drive to get things done. Medina, as his achievements thus far would suggest, is a certified go-getter. For example, if you asked Medina what brought him back to Ransom Everglades, he might tell you: “It’s something that I’ve kind of been angling for since freshman year [of college].” Coming back to teach was something he had “wanted for a long time,” so he chose to spend his first two college summers working at RE’s Pine Knot Camp. He loved teaching there, and already knew he wanted to try a year of radically different work before attending “There wasn’t anything that he didn’t excel at.” – Princeton chemistry professor Michael Kelly
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