Westmont College is a small private Christian university hidden among the sprawling mountains of Santa Barbara, CA. In my senior year of High School, I had been quietly exploring the world of Christianity, a world that seemed at the time, so very far removed from my own. I hadn't grown up in a religious family, I had never read the bible, I had never even been inside a church; yet come the Fall of 2016 I found myself walking through the doors of Westmont's gym for mandatory chapel, held three times a week all year long. I had chosen Westmont because it offered me a community where I could foster my journey with religion, but also for the brand new biology labs and the best-in-their-field professors that taught within them. I have always been enthralled with the details of our everyday lives, the intricacies that the world holds, always moving, always changing. As I said before, I did not grow up religious, my childhood was instead centered within the natural world. The animals I encountered became my pastors, the outdoors was my church, the delicate inner workings of the natural world were a scripture all their own. It was no surprise to my parents when I chose to pursue a degree in Biology, but pursuing a degree in STEM at a Christian college came with unique challenges. It wasn't until my third year at Westmont that the biology department debuted a course in evolution, only to be met with fierce opposition from many at Westmont who believed that the science of evolution went against what was taught in the bible. I was among the first 8 students to complete the course and like many of my STEM courses at Westmont, it served as a means of deepening my relationship with God rather than debunking it. Though I left both Westmont and organized religion after that year, I continued to explore my curiosity with religion and biology on my own, eventually arriving two years later at the University of Alaska Fairbanks to finish my degree. I may not have found my place at Westmont, but the ways I experience the world are remnants of the lessons I learned in my time there. Contradictory to those who felt that Christianity and the sciences were incompatible with one another, the more I learned about how the natural world works through science, the deeper my faith became. I am someone who is always seeking the "why" behind every bit of newly acquired knowledge, and for me personally, my belief in a higher being was able to satisfy this need. Familiar concepts for those who study the sciences: the complex interactions between atoms, the intricate coding of base pairs within a strand of DNA, the seemingly endless micro-processes that allow for life on earth. My personal understanding of these concepts strengthened my relationship with religion and fueled a hunger for knowledge that has become the primary way I worship. Though I do not practice Christianity traditionally, my faith has had a significant impact on the ways I live my life. I have always held a deep adoration for the earth and the creatures that inhabit it, and my career goals are very much shaped by this love. My faith compels me to use my knowledge in the sciences to help protect and restore the world I love so deeply through conservation and stewardship of our planet.