STEM Personal Statement

As a dreamer and queer woman of color, pursuing a career in STEM has been quite challenging. But I have never let anything get in the way of reaching my goals and dreams. I have swam against the current in order to be where I am today, where I have dreamt of being. I am currently a second year student at Trinity Washington University majoring in biochemistry and minoring in mathematics. I am a dedicated student and an analytical and skilled critical thinker who is eager to learn. I am passionate about science contributing to a better world, which explains my interest in medical research. My mother, as a nurse, exposed me to a broad range of diseases from an early age which definitely sparked my interest for medicine. My father, on the other hand, suffers from sarcoidosis in the lungs and a mitral valve disease; which also contributed to my interest. I am particularly intrigued by cancer research. I have known many people affected by this horrible and engrossing (for a medical scientist) disease. The most recent being my cousin, who passed away last year at the age of 20. I feel a strong moral responsibility to

My senior year, my AP biology teacher recommended me for an internship with WISE (women in science and engineering). I was the only student from my school to be accepted and I was placed in the chemical and biomolecular engineering department at Johns Hopkins. I worked with a PhD student with the ultimate goal of creating signals that indicated cells specific behaviors depending on their location by developing patterns with DNA. To do this, I tested different reactions in a spectrofluorometer to measure the fluorescence emitted by each sample. This hands-on experience fascinated me and helped me realize that I am truly passionate about laboratory