Three things I’d like to promise to my future self to have a better life would be to continue doing research in pharmaceuticals/biotech, to stay physically active as well as being mentally healthy, and lastly to never give up no matter the situation as things will get better and seek help if needed. These are the three main things I would like to promise to my future self in order to have a better life. The reason why I chose to continue doing research as my first choice is because that is where my career interests fall and what I currently do as a current undergraduate chemical engineering student. I’ve done research in drug targeting for influenza, protein expression of liraglutide (an anti-diabetic 2 medication), and neuroblastoma treatment (a pediatric cancer). I want my future self to promise continuing doing research in pharmaceuticals/biotech as this is my main career goal and it leads to one of my life goals which is to help contribute in the world of medicine specifically in cancer, whether that be in drug discovery, drug delivery or drug development. I want my future self to keep these goals and continue working towards them in the hopes of creating a better future in the world of medicine. My second promise to my future self and also current self is I want to stay healthy both physically and mentally. I chose this as my second promise to my future self because if I’m not physically healthy or in the right mental state I won’t be able to achieve my goals or reach them at my highest potential. I want my future self along with my current self to continue to take pride in being physically active and to stay mentally strong as this will help me achieve my goals and help me reach new heights. My last promise to my future self and to my current self is to stay strong no matter the outcome and seek help if needed. I say this because life can get tough and things won’t go your way. I’ve experienced this during my current year of college on the financial side and it was difficult figuring out ways to pay for school but in the end I didn’t give up and managed to pay for my school for that year. I say this because life won’t get any easier from here on, it’ll be difficult but I want myself to stay strong now and in the future. I would also like to include that I want myself to find help whenever and wherever I may need it and that there’s someone there to help. Those are the three main promises I would like to promise to my future self and also my current self as well. This scholarship fits into that image of as my main promise is to continue doing research as I see that as a way to improve my future financially and also the world of heath in the hopes of good cancer treatment. As of now my current financial situation involves a federal loan, the FASFA, school grants, and a tribal scholarship. My schooling is barely payed except for books, food, and transportation are all payed out of pocket. I come from a single-low income household and the only child currently in college and I receive no parent contribution to help pay for school. So receiving this scholarship will greatly help my education with funding and will also help me travel to any conferences where I may present my research or connect to grad schools and companies.

I’m thinking engineering as a path of career because when I was younger my father used to give me some engineering problems to solve or he gave me some examples of what an engineer would do and he also told me stories of the engineers he worked with. My father knew this stuff because he was a machinist and worked very closely to some engineers. This inspired me and made interested in solving problems in an engineer's manner. From there on since I was young I’ve been exploring different engineering career paths. It wasn’t until middle school that I’ve found what path of engineering I was going to take. That path was in Chemical Engineering. I chose this path because I’ve always enjoyed science as my favorite subject and Chemistry was something that always interested me after taking a class in middle school. So from that I managed to learn about chemical engineering and was able to learn in engineering and chemistry which is something I love to do. My current career path is in chemical engineering but I would like to pursue a higher degree and obtain my Ph.D in Pharmaceutical Engineering or Biomedical Engineering. I say this because I’ve gained a huge interest since high school in drug delivery and the creation drugs. Since starting in my undergraduate career I was involved in 2 research projects, one in drug targeting for influenza done during the summer heading into my sophomore year at the University of Pittsburgh and the other being in drug treatment for neuroblastoma done during my sophomore year at New Mexico Tech my home institution. Both of these were done within my first twos of undergrad and I plan on continuing in my current research lab in drug treatment for neuroblastoma at my home institution. I’ve also got another research project I’m joining this summer at Virginia Commonwealth University. With the research I’ve been conducting, I gained a huge interest in drug delivery in cancer research. I say this because cancer is something so many people may have experienced or know someone who has and I want to be a part of making a treatment that can help combat these diseases. This is my main goal in my career and why I chose my path in engineering. My research I’ve done so far both fall under engineering. Both of these research projects and my upcoming research project are all hands on in the engineering field. For my research done at the University of Pittsburgh, it was hands-on research using computational methods as well as engineering methods such as creating the code, interaction network, and etc. I used the program called RStudio to create a Protein-Protein Interaction Network to find which proteins are best to target influenza using data from a research paper that had patient sample data of the genes. For my research done at New Mexico Tech my home institution it was hands-on in a wet lab setting meaning I was actually working with chemicals and drugs during my time in the lab. In lab I’ve done chemistry synthesis to create the drug and from there we used engineering aspects to create lipids using the drug so it can be packaged into liposomes for neuroblastoma treatment. In this lab I’ve use Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS), UV-VIS, Thin Layer a Chromatography (TLC), Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (NMR).

I’m a first generation Native American student from my family coming from the Navajo Nation. Some experiences I’ve had with my culture were the opportunities provided to us and me. I’d say coming from a Native American background has helped me find success in finding and landing a spot in Research Undergraduate Experience (REU). I say this because there’s not much of my people especially where I am from who are continuing their education to the next level working towards a degree. On top of that not much of them are going for a degree in engineering and not much are also pursuing in research while in their undergraduate years. I like being a Native American in research because it brings culture in the labs and also brings diversity in labs, conferences, symposiums, and etc. Other opportunities I’ve had as a Native American were being able to apply to scholarships and also on of the scholarships had a volunteer requirement. For that requirement I went back home and volunteered at my local chapter house and helped with yard work while there. Other stuff I did at the chapter house were helping out with food drives and supply drives. For the supply drives this was done during the time of COVID and I helped the chapter house by handing out supplies such as tissue, wipes, masks, cleaning supplies, hand sanitizer, and water to the community. At the chapter house there the local senior citizen center and I also volunteered there as well for a couple hours every day. At the senior citizens center I helped prepare/cook the food being made that day for lunch. I’ve also helped with setting up the dinning hall and also cleaned up the dishes and dining hall after the senior citizens finished their lunches. While I was there I also helped serve the Senior Citizens by either taking their food to their table or packaging their food in a to go tray and bring it out to them in their vehicles. I also interacted with the seniors and talking with them. This chapter house and senior citizens were both of the Navajo Reservation. Some of my favorite cultural events would be family gatherings in the winter and doing string games and telling stories. I say this because winter is my favorite season and string games are fun as there so many ways of telling a story by using just strings. I also enjoyed some pow wows and listening to the music there. I say this because these help me remind me of my culture and also allow me to enjoy my time and take a step back from everything that’s happening in life.