My dream is to study the chemical signals corals use to recruit red microalgae, and to use that information to bioengineer robust, healthy corals, with the capacity to tolerate oceanic heating and acidification.

My family has always referred to me as a fish, one cold summer day at the beach I proved exactly why. Unbothered by the frigid water I swam out to meet the sea. As I came to the surface I heard my mother calling for me to turn around. I looked over my left shoulder and saw nothing, so I looked back at her. With increasing tension in her body, she called again, demanding that I turn around. So I looked over my right shoulder, twisting in the water, and saw nothing. As panic began to rise in my mother’s voice I finally turned around fully and found myself face to face with a sea lion. For a moment, everything was still. The noises of the beach faded out as we bobbed in the rhythm of the ocean, and for a moment, neither of us moved. We just stared, investigating one another. There were no expectations, no binaries, no attractions to explain. For a moment I was seen as I am, nothing more, nothing less. Then it disappeared under the water as quickly and silently as it had come. Even as I lost sight of the sea lion in the dark water, it never occurred to me to be afraid. I was aware of how powerful a sea lion is, and I knew I was in that sea lion's territory. But it did not feel threatening to me, instead, I felt kinship. The bond I felt with that sea lion has only grown and expanded with time. I do not feel protective of the ocean in the sense of guarding a valuable resource, but rather in the sense that my mother felt protective of me that day on the beach. The more I have learned about climate change the stronger that feeling has grown. As humans, we all bear tremendous responsibility for the damage we have done to the environment, and the onus is on us to minimize the chain reaction of destruction. Nowhere is that more true than on the diminishing coral reefs. I have spent the last four years focusing my energy on understanding corals in all of their biological complexity. I am fascinated by the zooxanthellae chemical recruitment system, and the potential to utilize this biochemical mechanism to create a generation of bleaching-resistant corals. Researchers have discovered that corals with red microalgae inhabitants have tremendous heat resistance compared to their green and brown microalgae counterparts. My dream is to study the chemical signals corals use to recruit red microalgae, and to use that information to bioengineer robust, healthy corals, with the capacity to tolerate oceanic heating and acidification. However, I need access to knowledgeable professors and research equipment in order to pursue my dream. This scholarship would support me in pursuing those resources in Northeastern’s one-of-a-kind 3 Seas Program. Through this intensive program, I will gain in-depth experience with a variety of diving research techniques, and gain hands-on experience in three distinct ecosystems. Furthermore, I will be able to work with leading marine conservation experts, one of whom is conducting research in my specific area of interest. This represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to pursue my dream, and I would be honored to have your support.

Over the course of the last few months, I have become an advocate for domestic and childcare laborers. I started nannying four years ago, and since then I have heard countless stories from young women who only realized that they had been exploited in hindsight. The way some families felt comfortable taking advantage of these women made my blood boil. So I decided to take to social media to have the frank conversations with these families that their nannies cannot, and to provide the information new nannies need to advocate for themselves. It felt different from critiquing large companies, or the state of capitalism at large, because this industry offers the unique opportunity to speak directly to the people doing the hiring and deciding compensation. I never imagined I would reach the parents who needed to hear my message in any significant way, but it was enough to know that at least a couple of nannies would go on to demand what they are worth. Back then I never would have imagined how desperately this community needed a voice. Ultimately, my video reached nearly 400,000 people and sparked dozens of conversations. In reading these conversations, the need for allyship among all domestic and childcare workers became apparent. Many people, both inside and outside of these industries, felt the need to compare different fields, and weaponize the plight of one person to justify exploiting another. This changed my mindset from one of pure advocacy to one of allyship. When people asked why a nanny should be paid more than a teacher, I asked why teachers should be paid so little. The more I spoke on these points, the more I was able to build a community of like-minded individuals. Becoming a voice for the helping professions has simultaneously humbled me, and endowed me with new confidence. To me, this kind of duality is the best indicator of growth. In order to ask others to change their mindset, I had to be willing to critically evaluate my own. It has been uncomfortable at times, but discomfort will always accompany growth; the important thing is to learn how to lean into the discomfort and accept that you might do something wrong. For me, that meant that it is no longer acceptable to hold myself to different standards than everyone else, because I am exactly like everyone else. If I believe people deserve grace for their mistakes, then I must extend that grace to myself. I never would have thought to challenge my ego in this way. I embraced the idea that I am not better than anyone long ago, but allyship taught me to embrace the idea that no one is better than me either. Human value is intrinsic and fixed. The more people adopt that mindset, the more powerful allyship will become.

My favorite scientific discovery is the discovery of the mRNA vaccine mechanism by doctors Katalin Karikó, and Drew Weissman. I love the story of their work. Two experts set out to study how mRNA is coded and moves through the body, simply because it was interesting, had the potential to help people, and because they could. They spent years building experiments and analyzing results, to find they had an amazing discovery on their hands. They continued to move forward with their project and build the technology that would later become the first mRNA vaccines. They had no idea that their discovery would become a critical aspect of solving a global health crisis. They were not chasing fame or trying to solve a hot-topic issue. They were just being scientists. They were pursuing knowledge for the sake of knowledge. Just as their technology reached the point where it could become a reality, a worldwide pandemic broke out. A pandemic broke out, and due to genuine curiosity years prior, they saved thousands upon thousands of lives. They indulged professional curiosity and as a result, they not only changed the reality of modern medicine, but also personally kept thousands of families intact; they spared millions of people from the trauma of losing a loved one, and most importantly: people survived. To me, discoveries like these are at the core of what it means to be a scientist. You pursue knowledge for its own sake, and if you are lucky, you will make the world a better place in the process.