Deach Family in STEM Scholarship

Cells float around below me, moving gently across my field of vision as I attempt to focus my microscope. I’m the only person in the lab, dim lighting coming from above while I insert plasmid DNA into the strain of bacteria in an attempt to understand antibiotic resistance using ampicillin and E. coli. After several hours of preparing the plates of agar, DNA plasmids, and ampicillin for the lab, the only thing left to do was wait for the incubation period to end. This lab was one I completed as a part of the AP Biology course I took online in 11th grade. It was my first exposure to bioengineering beyond abstracts in science publications, and I fell head over heels in love with it. My teacher had offered me a choice between doing the lab or simply having a data set provided to me, and even though the second choice would have been easier, I chose to do the lab. How could I not? Recombinant DNA and bacterial transformation were some of the most fascinating topics I had learned about all year, and I had been excited about this lab since the start of the semester. It was because of this lab that I chose to apply to schools under the major of bioengineering. While I had always known that I wanted to focus on something within the STEM world (be it physics, biology, chemistry, or even, if I was feeling brave, mathematics), up until this point, I hadn't had a clear path. After this lab was over, I dove head first into reading anything I could get my hands on about the subject, and once college decisions came out, I was absolutely thrilled to find out that I was accepted to my number one major choice at every school I was got into. Now, I am committed to the University of Washington Engineering Program. My goals going forward are to graduate from the University of Washington, engineering degree in tow, and move on to higher education at the graduate level focused on either bioengineering once again or biophysics. Once I complete those programs, I want to go into research. Specifically I want to perform research in areas such as global health crises like antibiotic resistance and research on biotechnology that has the ability to better the lives of those around me. I have a very deep love for these subjects, and also believe that they're incredibly important for future generations to be involved in, so I can't wait to start my career in these areas.