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In 2003, 17-year-old Brittany Phillips was thrilled when she received a full scholarship

to study chemistry at Eckerd College in St Petersburg, a coastal city in Florida's Tampa

Bay region. Her mother, Dr Maggie Zingman, had attended the same college in the New

1970s and excitedly helped her daughter prepare for the interstate move from their hometown

of Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Brittany was inspired to study chemistry after losing her grandmother to cancer during

her senior year of high school and had decided to dedicate her life to finding a cure for

the disease. She left for college in August of 2003 and through herself wholeheartedly

into her studies. Brittany was a friendly and trusting young woman who had no problems

settling into her new surroundings. She succeeded academically, made new friends, and took a

part-time job weightressing at a popular seafood restaurant. However, as she neared the

end of her first year at Eckerd College, Brittany became increasingly homesick. She was

a year younger than her classmates, having started kindergarten a year ahead of schedule,

...