Facing a lot of obstacles brings you closer to a rewarding life, as was proved by a woman of the name of Barbara McClintock.

The Alumni Association showing of “Longing to Understand”, an original script by Jane Cox, associate professor of theater, tells the story of Barbara McClintock.

“She was a remarkable woman,” Cox says. “She lived in relative obscurity. She was so far ahead of her time, scientists chose not to pay attention to her.”

McClintock was born in 1902, a time when the field of science was male dominated.

She went to undergraduate school at Cornell University in New York, where she wanted to obtain a degree in genetics, says Cox. But she was not allowed to study genetics due to her gender and studied botany instead.

As McClintock, in the play, suggests, it is difficult to be on your own for much of your life, where you don’t really fit in anyplace.

She fit in at the end of her life, in her 80s to be exact, when she received the Nobel Prize for her work.

“It shows how important it is, longing to understand,” Cox says. “That is a passion that will drive you through life. Go the direction you feel you must, and if that makes you different from others, then that’s the way it has to be.”

Cox wrote the story herself, after doing research on McClintock.

Cox chose McClintock to write about because she thinks it is a very inspiring story, regardless of how old or who you are.

“I think it is a very inspiring story,” she said. “One that shows what people can accomplish with their lives, even though they are not continually praised.”

“Longing to Understand” will hold three performances this weekend in Fisher Theater. Tonight the performance starts at 8 p.m. and Friday and Saturday’s showings are at 7:30 p.m. Tickets cost $10 for adults, $9 for seniors, and $4.50 for students.