My name is Callie Abernathy, and I am currently a junior at NC State, double majoring in Biochemistry and Genetics with minors in Psychology and Biotechnology. I plan on attending graduate school and pursuing a career in research. When I was in the seventh grade, I would spend my lunch periods in the high school science classroom, washing the beakers and flasks so that I could eavesdrop on the lesson. The science teachers thought it was a bit strange, but they were always happy to have some help-- especially on the days when I convinced my friends to join me. What’s better than volunteer dishwashers? I was young, so I struggled with many of the complex concepts that were being taught in that high school classroom. Khan Academy and YouTube became my best friends, and I’d spend my free time during school working my way through lessons on everything from metabolism to migration. Of all the things that I learned, nothing enthralled me more than molecular biology. Some people spend their lives dreaming of how big the universe is. Personally, I’ve always found that there’s an amazing, teeny-tiny universe within our bodies, and within the bodies of all living organisms on Earth. We are alive because each molecule and cell within our body carries out certain functions in a specific way. Evolution has shaped us, and each change in our DNA has made us into the species that we are today. A single mistake in a strand of DNA could create a catastrophic mutation, yet those mutations are extraordinarily rare-- it’s mind-blowing! In more recent months, I’ve begun looking up at the stars, and looking forward to the future. I’ve started wondering more and more about the impact that the extreme environment of space might have on our bodies, particularly at a molecular level. Research shows that astronauts who spend large amounts of time in space often return to Earth with tons of gene mutations, which have been attributed to the stress caused by space travel. That opens up a whole range of questions that I’d love to study and learn more about! Though I’ve always been fascinated by molecules, I was not sure about becoming a scientific researcher until this past Fall, when I had the opportunity to intern with a team at Gaston College. Together, we researched antibiotic resistance in microbial populations throughout our local watershed. Helping to perform hands-on experiments and write reports convinced me that I’d be very happy to spend my life holed up in the lab, scribbling data into tables and cooking agar. Actually, there’s no place I’d rather be! I look forward to a future where I can help expand our knowledge of the universe, on both a cosmic and molecular level. I’d like to spend a few years after graduation researching some of the topics that interest me, then possibly move into teaching as a professor. This degree will just be the first step towards actualizing all my goals.