May of 2018, I departed from US soil with my mother, stepmother, stepsister, and aunt to spend two weeks in Europe. Only a month later, I was sat down and told of my stepmother’s ongoing battle with lung cancer. Growing up, I knew from a young age that I wanted to devote my life to helping others. My dreams reached the stars, and I bounced from surgery, to pediatrics, to even neuroscience. I put hours into researching possible careers and how to prepare for them–the degrees I would need, the years I would need to put into medical school. Multiple binders of handwritten notes and printed-out screenshots from online searches later and I felt prepared for anything. My stepmother was diagnosed with Stage 1 lung cancer in the early days of May, mere weeks before our trip. My stepmother was fifty-eight years old. I was twelve. None of us knew the intensive rounds of chemotherapy and months of heartache to come. She underwent a lobectomy in June and spent two weeks in the hospital. My mother stayed with her, and my aunt stayed with me. In July, she underwent another surgery, where the cancer was found in her lymph nodes. Her doctors changed her diagnosis to Stage 3. Through the following doctors' visits, chemo treatments, and hospital stays, my mother stayed by her side, providing company and taking comprehensive notes. I watched my stepmother’s hair grow thinner, her usual perm falling flat. She grew tired. She grew thinner. My memories of this time are blurry, trapped in a haze of going to school, coming home, doing homework, and trying to cheer up both her and my mother. When she had surgeries and had to spend weeks in the hospital, I was forced to rely on my aunt and stepsister for visits and thus saw her very little. We didn’t decorate for Halloween. We didn’t decorate for Christmas. We normally did the latter as a family unit, alongside various aunts, uncles, and cousins, following large a Thanksgiving celebration. For Thanksgiving that year, I visited my stepmother in the hospital, bringing her and my mother portions of our homecooked meal in small Tupperware containers. I sang her a song, talked to her about school for a few hours, and tried to ignore our surroundings. Despite all of the treatments and agony she pushed through, my stepmother ultimately passed away that December. Her loss rocked my family. I don’t remember that Christmas at all. Whether subconsciously or not, my career goals shifted over the following months. I no longer dreamt of putting on scrubs for active surgery. Instead, I now dream of white coats, goggles, and the peaceful quiet of a lab. I dream of finding a cure for lung cancer. In the years since her death, I have immersed myself in STEM. These days, I am prepping not for medical school, but for future years spent alongside fellow researchers in a PhD program or in the workforce. I want to become a cancer researcher and discover better treatments that won’t cause a loved one’s deterioration in order to cure them. I want to find treatments that work and a cure that will help them once and for all.

It may seem cliche, but BTS has by far had the biggest impact on both my life and global culture. I found their music through an unrelated 2016 fan animation set to their song “Dope.” I didn’t know who created the catchy background music but downloaded the song to my phone and played it on repeat anyway. A year later, BTS released the song that officially introduced me to them: “DNA.” After seeing the music video trending on YouTube and rewatching it several times, I made the decision that changed my life. On December 17, 2017, I officially began calling myself an ARMY and became a K-Pop fan. My mind was blown. K-Pop fan culture, especially a few years ago at the height of 3rd generation’s popularity, was so different from any other fandom I had ever been in. The ARMY community created a feeling of immediate belonging and kinship. From working with others to learn fan chants and to stream BTS’ newest hits, to painstakingly learning Hangul and basic Korean to understand the boys’ jokes in interviews and Run BTS, and sprinting to V LIVE to get behind-the-scenes stories, I felt like a part of something bigger. When I managed to secure tickets to BTS’ 2018 concert in Citi Field, I was over the moon. They were the first K-Pop group I saw in concert, and I had the pleasure to do so alongside over 40,000 other ARMYs. BTS gave me a new appreciation for Korean culture and introduced me to K-Pop, which allowed me to find some of my other favorite artists such as ITZY, Holland, and Dreamcatcher. Beyond the impact they’ve had on me, BTS has inarguably had the largest impact on not only the Korean music industry but also Western media and music. From being the best-selling artists in South Korean history to becoming South Korean envoys and speaking at the UN in 2021, they have taken the world by storm. Like with me, BTS was the gateway for many to discover the rich world of K-Pop. Their colorful discography and choreographies, addictive personalities, and friendly demeanors made them the perfect candidates to become K-Pop’s biggest stars. They are the first K-Pop group to ever receive a Grammy nomination, and the world watched with bated breath to see if they would win. BTS’ influence led to the creation of the “BTS Law” which allowed for some stars, like them, to postpone required military service until the age of 30 (two years after the usual age limit). They also single-handedly brought their company, HYBE (originally BigHit), from near bankruptcy to unforeseen success, allowing them to debut current stars such as TXT and Le Sserafim. Ultimately, while my music tastes have shifted over the years and I have found comfort and joy in following other groups, BTS was my first and forever favorite. Even now, almost six years after declaring myself an ARMY, the love I hold for them has not faded. The impact they have had on not only me but also millions (if not billions) of others through their music and words of love and support has awarded them the title of the biggest K-Pop group in history. Through them, their kind words, and their UNICEF LOVE MYSELF campaign, I learned to love myself. As Namjoon said at the end of that night in Citi Field, “Please use me, please use BTS to love yourself. Because you guys taught me how to love myself.” In years to come, as I continue to grow alongside them, I eagerly await their next step.

After years of blood, sweat, and tears earning not only a bachelor’s but also a master’s degree and a PhD, I envision myself in a pristine white lab coat, hair pinned back and goggles over my face as I squint down the lens of a microscope; with steady hands and years of experience, I conduct experiments that will allow me to seek cures to cancer.

If I could have everyone in the world read just one book, it would be "Loveless" by Alice Oseman. My whole life, I have felt different than my peers. I struggled to relate to their discussions of crushes and squeals over popular actors. I assumed I was just a late bloomer and tried not to ponder it too much. When I stepped foot into high school, however, things changed. Relationships between my friends became solid–far more real than the short flings of middle school. I felt more isolated than ever. When I read this novel, my entire worldview shifted. The main character, Georgia Warr, is aromantic and asexual. It was the first time I heard those words and the first time I ever felt such a deep kinship with a character. She also doesn’t fawn over an actor’s appearance, or daydream about one day standing at the alter. I realized, then, that I’m just like her, and I haven’t looked back since. Beyond acting as representation for an underserved community, this novel also works to highlight the importance of friendship and platonic bonds beyond the ties of romantic relationships. Oseman’s words helped me not only understand a significant part of myself but also helped me feel more secure in my relationships with my family, friends, and peers. I feel closer to them than ever before. Now, when I need help, I don’t hesitate to reach out and ask. Platonic relationships are more important to me than ever, and I know it’s because of this novel. In a world so focused on finding your “one true love,” friendships are often left in the dust. Those bonds are arguably even more important though, as they form the basis of communities and support systems. I believe everyone could benefit from reading "Loveless" for this reason: even for a romantic audience, this book does an excellent job of placing friendships front and center and showing the consequences when that support system is ripped away. It also has the added benefit of representing a small minority and lessening feelings of alienation. While this novel may not be as well-known as some of Oseman’s other works such as "Heartstopper," I believe it should be read by a wider audience to open the eyes of readers to a world-view beyond a romance-centered society, where friends are placed on an equal pedestal as a soulmate.

As far back as I can remember, it's always been just me and my mom. My mom is a very independent and strong woman who was raised to be able to stand on her own two feet without having to be dependent on anyone. She knows how to do everything necessary to run a household from maintaining a budget to household chores to performing maintenance jobs including replacing light fixtures and changing out toilet parts. She maintains the household, supports my activities and works full-time. Even managing all of these things, she still makes sure we sit down together for dinner every night to talk and share how our day went. Although my mom has had relationships, she's never found the person she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. She always knew she wanted to have children but she wasn't willing to settle just to make that happen. Instead, she decided to go through in vitro fertilization to complete her family. The process took 5 years, a significant amount of money, heartache and 2 miscarriages for her to become pregnant with me. My mom was 37 when she became pregnant with me and there were many obstacles to navigate to make it to my birth. Between her age and medical issues, she was considered high risk. She had to give herself blood thinner shots 1 - 2 times a day to prevent her body from rejecting me while in her womb and had to have stress tests every week to make sure everything was ok. Even with all of those obstacles, my mom never complained. She was willing to do whatever it took to make sure I arrived safe and sound. My mom has never hidden the fact that I was an IVF baby from me. Instead, she made sure that I knew that even though I didn't have two parents I was always loved and wanted. As I've gotten older, I have come to realize just how hard it must have been for my mom to navigate everything she's been through by herself. She is the strongest person I know. Any time I start to get stressed over schoolwork or problems with friends, I think about my mom and realize just how petty those things are. Just as my mom was taught to stand on her own two feet, she's worked to make sure I can do the same. Even when I fought her over having to do things that I thought were "adult" tasks, she never wavered. She was determined to make sure I was a strong, confident young woman who could take care of myself. I'm going to be heading to college soon and although I'm anxious about being out on my own, I know I can handle it. My mom has made sure I'm ready and I know, no matter what, she'll always be my biggest cheerleader and fan.