On October 12, 2024, The Central Virginia Governor's School posted a photo on their Instagram page, which showed a table in my research classroom with both a cotton candy machine upon it. I stood behind it, wearing safety goggles and brandishing a large wooden dowel like a conductor’s baton. To the unsuspecting onlooker, it appeared as if I was simply making some cotton candy. Indeed, earlier that day I had to disappoint several of my hopeful peers when they asked if they could eat what I was making. On the counter in the back of the photo was a crosscut paper shredder, a spice grinder, and a bag of plastic water bottles. These objects hinted to the true nature of my experiment. It wasn’t sugar that I had placed into my machine, but rather shredded, then pulverized plastic. Plastic in a cotton candy machine might seem like an odd decision, but there was a method to my madness; the scientific method to be exact! I should explain the context in which I found myself making plastic “cotton candy.” For almost four years I’ve owned a business selling hand-made crocheted stuffed animals. This requires me to use a lot of stuffing. At a hundred and twenty dollars per box, stuffing expenses were eating into my profits. Like any scientist would, I took my problem and looked for a solution. I was surprised to learn that polyester (which stuffing is made from) and PET 1 plastic (what most disposable water bottles are made from) are two different names for the same material: polyethylene terephthalate. So I asked myself, would it be possible to recycle plastic water bottles into polyester stuffing? Through research, I learned that a cotton candy machine could be used for polymer fiber production. Studies in this field have been very limited and conducted mostly at research facilities or factories with large budgets. As a small business owner and a high school student, I didn’t have that amount of funding. Therefore, my project specifically focused on making the process affordable. This will now be my third year continuing my research. I am currently creating a way to monitor the temperature more accurately, and then will use those readings to turn the heating element on and off with a programmable Arduino in order to maintain an optimal temperature range. I am also designing a method to continuously feed plastic into the machine. Science and research have become a large part of who I am. I truly enjoy the process of research, but I am just as passionate about its purpose. I am no mad scientist; as I engage in research, I am aware that I must do so responsibly with ethics in mind. Should I succeed in creating an efficient way to recycle plastic, I will still need to run tests on my design to ensure that it is safe for both the environment and consumer. I plan to major in engineering, but I don’t want to be one of those engineers who abandon their morals for a profit. I have worked tirelessly on my research for the past three years because I believe I can make a change for the better. That photo on the CVGS Instagram shows me working to solve a problem. That is the sort of person I am. A hard working, problem-solving, creative individual, with a drive to learn and solve the problems I see in the world. I will continue to pursue solutions to complex problems creatively, even if that means doing something as seemingly absurd as putting plastic into a cotton candy machine.