There are so many opportunities that I can get here that I am not able to get anywhere else.
When the mind, the heart and the right circumstances click into place, the resulting experience can be life-changing. In the summer of 2026, Charlotte Ji Dressel ’27 was both driver and beneficiary of such alignment.
In the spring, Ji Dressel, an enthusiastic biology student and cellist, researched the rare genetic disorder Williams Syndrome (WS) and learned individuals with WS can be affected by medical, behavioral and/or developmental issues. Then, exploring further, she hit upon a surprise: patients often nurture a deep fondness for music.
“It comes up in the syndrome description, that music produces a really emotional response,” she said. “The innate attachment to it through WS caught my eye, and it was meaningful to see two of my interests connect.”
Ji Dressel focused on the specifics of why WS patients have an affinity with music. For her summer STEM Signature Experience, she conducted research at the University of Pennsylvania, where her lab focused on genome folding defects and their broader implications for developmental and genetic disorders.
One more exciting twist: Ji Dressel is also an Armellino Scholar, and learned that Mike Armellino ’57 founded Armellino Center of Excellence for Williams Syndrome at CHOP (The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia) within the university.
“The lab was coincidentally involved with WS, and my post-doc mentor was actually a fellow at the ACE for WS,” she said. “I wanted to get my first hands-on experience in a lab, and it all just turned out to be connected.”
But Ji Dressel didn’t want her work with WS to begin and end at the lab. So next, she invited Artivism (“Using arts toward social impact,” she defined it), the Peddie club she heads, to partner with ACE for WS. She and a group of volunteers visited a clinic at the ACE space at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, where they connected with patients and families. Later, at the Williams Syndrome Association Pool Party, Ji Dressel performed cello on her own and brought toy instruments for participants to play. She was delighted to witness firsthand the patients’ affinity for music.
“They’re super moved by it, beyond the science,” said Ji Dressel. “‘I heard you’re playing cello,’ they said. That’s the first thing they said; that’s what they were buzzing about. They immediately asked all the volunteers, ‘what instruments do you play?’ They all have their own connection to music, and a lot of them play multiple instruments.”
Meeting and speaking with individuals with WS has profoundly changed the way Ji Dressel approaches her music.
“It’s shifted my mindset from trying to be a perfect performer, and instead, just trying to create joy in others,” she said. “At the pool party, I sight-read a lot of requests and it definitely wasn’t perfect. But it was more about connecting with the audience, instead of my own personal goals and practice.”
And Ji Dressel, who typically spends her summers in music camp, learned from this past summer that passions don’t have to be all or nothing. In her case, there is room in her identity — and future — for both science and music.
“I can bring parts of myself into the new settings I’m in,” she said. “I want other Peddie students to know that despite spending your summer in a lab, you can keep your other interests in mind. Don’t be afraid to be yourself.”
Learn more about the Signature Experience at Peddie, an opportunity to take a deep dive into a subject that excites you, gain real-world experience and connect with experts in that field.