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����ֱ�� State 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 ����ֱ�� State's distinctive programs, research and campus activities.

Just one more year at ����ֱ�� State University and 19-year-old twin brothers Ray and Will Maynard of Green, Ohio, expect to be graduating and, hopefully, off to medical school.

The pair, biological sciences majors in the College of Arts and Sciences, are finishing their undergraduate education at a breakneck speed. They entered their first semester after high school graduation as rising juniors in the fall of 2025, thanks to taking about 60 hours of College Credit Plus courses at ����ֱ�� State at Stark while seniors at Green High School.

The pace left them little spare time to enjoy college life, but their focus has always been the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT), which they took on April 25. The brothers are motivated to pursue careers as physicians and believe that achieving high MCAT scores is important in determining their future.

Waiting for MCAT results

They won’t know their scores until May 27, and they have varying levels of confidence in their performance. The test is 230 multiple-choice questions, covering four areas: chemistry and physics, critical analysis and reading skills, biology and biochemistry, and psychology and sociology.

On a scale of one to 10, Will Maynard said he is feeling “a 10” about how he fared, despite being sick with a cold and sore throat the week before taking it. Ray Maynard said he’s feeling “more like a seven” for his performance on the test.

“We'll see what happens,” Ray Maynard said. “We both prepared very hard, so all we can do is wait and see.”

“We prepared for this for so long, and we put our best foot forward to try and do as well as we could,” Will Maynard added. “So that's all you can really do at the end of the day. And I think that we both know that.”

They know that only 80 percent of those with perfect MCAT scores get accepted to medical school, and the admissions interview process also plays a role, they said.

Study Abroad Awaits

The twins aren’t sitting around while they wait for their scores. They depart May 16 for a week-long trip to Ecuador with the ����ֱ�� State chapter of the non-profit organization Medlife, which partners with low-income communities in Latin America and Africa to improve their access to medicine, education, and community development projects.

The group is made up of students pursuing medical careers. The twins will spend the week in Riobamba, a city in central Ecuador, as clinical volunteers, and also help with hands-on building projects as needed.

After they return from Ecuador, they will depart on June 20 for a month in Italy at the ����ֱ�� State Florence Center, where they will study genetics with Chi-hua Chiu Groff, Ph.D., assistant professor in the School of Biomedical Sciences.

They are taking the course, “Feasts and Plagues: The Science of Italian Wine, Food, and Disease,” to look at historical diseases, and a second course on the genetics of mythological creatures, tracing their embryological development and how some of them could have existed biologically.

They’ll pack plenty into the month between Italy and when classes start in August, with their jobs and devoting time to the nonprofit they founded, , to raise money for genetic research.

Ray Maynard has joined the research lab of Erin Reed, Ph.D., assistant professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the Northeast Ohio Medical University in Rootstown, Ohio. The Reed laboratory focuses on the inflammatory response in the brain during Alzheimer’s disease. Ray Maynard said he would like to attend NEOMED because of its proximity to home and family.

“I think part of the reason I was so successful at ����ֱ�� State, to be honest, was because I had so many people to rely on. I could drive home if I wanted to,” Ray Maynard said.

Once the MCAT scores are in, the twins will begin the process of applying to medical schools.

Stressed, but loving it

As the brothers look back on their first year on the ����ֱ�� Campus, they are both overwhelmed and satisfied.

“This year has been a lot mentally, physically. It's just been very draining, I guess, in a good way,” Ray Maynard said. “I didn't get outside much this year. I definitely just stayed in and studied the whole year. But I feel pretty good about it. I feel like I put my best foot forward, and that’s all that I really care about. I just wanted to enjoy the experience that I gained and work as hard as I could.”

Will Maynard said he had to face some challenging times, like the C he earned on his first organic chemistry test.

“I was just so stressed out,” he recalled, noting how the grade was his first C, ever.

“But I just kept persevering through it. I ended up getting an A in the class. So just keeping that attitude,” Will Maynard said, “I would say that was my main takeaway from this year: You can really do anything. Sometimes, though, you have to just get through the day, and that's the best that you can do. As long as you keep moving forward, the sky's the limit for what you can accomplish. And I think that I've been very satisfied with what we've done this year.”

Both brothers are glad they jump-started their college careers at ����ֱ�� State Stark and moved to the ����ֱ�� Campus to finish.

“I'm very happy with how this year went. I had a great time at ����ֱ�� State, and I would not want to be going to college anywhere else,” Will Maynard said.