Rheumatic Heart Disease Personal Statement

My name is Hannah Lee, a rising senior at Hilliard Darby High School. At my school, I am involved in extracurriculars such as Ceramics Competitive Team and Senior Class Cabinet. Next year, I plan on studying Chemical Engineering with a minor in Women’s and Gender Studies or Bioethics and Humanities at Columbia University, Brown University, or Ohio State University. I have always been intrigued in the innovative nature of engineering, but I also want to further study science on a molecular level. Besides growing in my passion for science, I am also looking forward to developing a politically thinking mind in my post-secondary education. Through Mechanisms of Human Health and Disease this year, I have been introduced to molecular interactions and processes of different diseases and found my own learning style.

As a grant reviewer at Columbus Medical Association Foundation for youth health, I have encountered many reactive organizations targeting different diseases, and with research, I hope to contribute to the proactive side as well. In fact, one of the reasons I chose to study Rheumatic Heart Disease is because of its largely disproportionate prevalence in the developing world compared to the first world countries despite its easy prevention (“Rheumatic Heart Disease”). This shows plausibility of a huge impact on global health if the treatment and prevention accessibility improved among the poverted populations. In addition, I can study the mechanisms of infectious immune system, cardiology, and autoimmune system all at once by researching the mechanisms of