Growing up an avid reader, I experienced my taste in books evolve from heroes defeating a tangible villain in a world of black and white to protagonists fighting battles within their own minds and rebelling against the disguised corruption of the world around them. Despite the tremendous amounts of novels I have blazed through since elementary school, They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera has overshadowed all others. The novel is set in a world quite similar to our own, despite the fact that at the beginning of each day, a group of people is informed that it will be their last. The story follows two boys who are choosing to live their last day together, as complete strangers. Rather than fighting an external force, the two boys aid each other in their final journey, learning to break out of their shells and be their authentic selves while they still can. Additionally, the novel highlights a few people they encounter throughout their day, showing the tremendous impact these boys have on others lives with little effort or time. By doing so, the author emphasizes how connected we are to each other. Our actions can alter someone else’s life forever and we may not even remember the interaction ourselves. As the story progressed, I was in awe of how elegantly the author developed the boys’ relationship from one of convenience to one of love through shared experience and vulnerability. Ultimately, the novel accentuates the beauty of life and the invaluable nature of time. The author encourages his readers to evaluate their own life as if they are living their last day and to examine their interactions with others. This novel inspired me to view each day as an adventure waiting to happen and time as a precious gift.

When I was in elementary school, my mom bought my sister and I a circuit builder. I spent the summer poring over the board, connecting the pieces to turn on a fan or ignite a light bulb on the other side of the board. The challenge delighted me and I grew up to invest hours into puzzles of various types, from completing jigsaws in my basement to competing on my middle school’s and high school’s math teams. Consequently, I always knew I would pursue a career that allowed me to solve problems everyday, specifically in the STEM field. My greatest problem was deciding which area of science was my favorite. Eventually, I completed an AP Computer Science course at my high school and discovered my passion for the subject. I savored the freedom to create unique solutions to every problem and construct an entirely new program from scratch for each project. However, I also adored my AP Biology class that same year. I loved learning how all the molecules aligned to create an organism and the mechanism of different chemical pathways and processes. Struggling to choose between the two subjects, I decided to pursue a career that combined my two interests, by majoring in Computer Science and minoring in Biology. While these areas of study can lead to various career options, my goal is to write software intended for the fields of biology or medicine, including genetic analysis, biological research and modeling, machines used in hospitals and clinics, and medical devices. My hope is that my programs will improve the lives of others and have a positive impact in the fields of biology and medicine; such software could lead to earlier disease detection, advanced medical technology, easier analysis of vital data, and much more. Presumably, this career domain will require a graduate degree in Bioinformatics, computational biology, or a related discipline. While I am currently uncertain about where I will study during my graduate years, I am committed to the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities’ College of Science and Engineering for my undergraduate education. Initially, my Computer Science major will provide me with a strong programming foundation that I can build upon in my graduate years. Additionally, my Biology minor will allow me to fulfill many of the biology prerequisites for a Bioinformatics graduate degree as well as allow me to learn background information that may later be useful in the field. Ultimately, my life goal is to be a lifelong learner and innovator. My career in Bioinformatics will allow me to continue to learn throughout my entire career as both technology and our biological knowledge expand and evolve. As a Computer Science major, I will be at the forefront of technological innovation, and with a graduate degree in Bioinformatics, I aim to be at the forefront of medical innovation as well. Technology is the future of medicine, and I intend to be at the heart of it all.

For much of my junior year I struggled to choose between Biology and Computer Science. Eventually, I decided to pursue a career that combined my two interests, by majoring in Computer Science and minoring in Biochemistry. While these areas of study can lead to various career options, my goal is to write software intended for the fields of biology or medicine, including genetic analysis, biological research and modeling, machines used in hospitals and clinics, and medical devices. My hope is that my programs will improve the lives of others and have a positive impact in the fields of biology and medicine. Presumably, this career domain will require a graduate degree in Bioinformatics, computational biology, or a related discipline. While I am currently uncertain about where I will study during my graduate years, I am committed to the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities’s College of Science and Engineering for my undergraduate education. Initially, my Computer Science major will provide me with a strong programming foundation that I can build upon in my graduate years. Additionally, my Biochemistry minor will allow me to fulfill many of the biology prerequisites for a Bioinformatics graduate degree as well as allow me to learn background information in biology and chemistry. While the majority of the University of Minnesota Computer Science classes are technology specific, they do offer a Computational Chemistry course that I plan to take as an opportunity to expose myself to some of the information I may be learning during my graduate degree. The University of Minnesota also supports a multitude of academic clubs that I will take advantage of. The Code the Gap Club aims to support underrepresented groups in STEM fields, and as a woman in STEM, this community could be a great support through my degree. Foremost, I am ecstatic about the Medicine & Machine Learning Club on campus. This group consists of Medical School bound and Computer Science students who are passionate about the future of healthcare and artificial intelligence. By participating in this club, I can explore my career interests in ungrad and collaborate with others who share similar goals and ideals. Once leaving the University of Minnesota and moving on to graduate school, I will learn the skills necessary to seamlessly blend Computer Science and Biology, which may include molecular modeling, coding databases, analyzing data, and various other applications. Throughout my time at university, I intend to participate in various research projects that combine biology and technology. Opportunities for such research may include writing a program to analyze a lab’s data, creating the software for a new biological or medical device, or exploring the uses of artificial intelligence in medicine and biology. Finding a way into research will require reaching out to the professors running the labs and likely volunteering to do monotonous tasks within their labs to gain valuable experience. While this research will absorb some of my limited free time outside of classes, the knowledge and applicable skills I will learn within the labs will be invaluable and may even hold some similarities to my final career path. Ultimately, my life goal is to be a lifelong learner and innovator. My career in Bioinformatics will allow me to continue to learn throughout my entire career as both technology and our biological knowledge expand and evolve. As a Computer Science major, I will be at the forefront of technological innovation, and with a graduate degree in Bioinformatics, I aim to be at the forefront of medical innovation as well. Technology is the future of medicine, and I intend to be at the heart of it all.

Our world is slowly being overrun by technology. While some aspects of that notion may be frightening, the increased implementation of technology into our lives also has many benefits. I have always been fascinated by the programs that run the various electronics we encounter everyday. Our phones can display mountains of data within seconds, and our calculators can instantaneously produce the sin or cos value of any number we suggest. Even more importantly, pace-makers regulate the heartbeats of our friends and family and ventilators breath for those who cannot. Technology saves lives. I have decided to further my education by majoring in Computer Science at the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities. While Computer Science is an extremely versatile field with a variety of avenues to pursue, my goal is to write software for biological or medical devices or research. New research techniques have produced vast quantities of data that require continuous analysis. Computer programs have the potential to organize such data and draw connections much faster than a person, and databases constructed by computer scientists make important research and conclusions available to and visible to the public. Additionally, new molecule modeling programs and experiment simulations allow chemical interactions and other experiments to be visualized much faster, easier, and cheaper. Ultimately, computer science does and will continue to allow for leaps in biological research, and I hope to be a part of this stupendous advancement. From a medical perspective, modern hospitals utilize countless computers to operate. From data input systems to robots used in surgery, computer programming has become a vital part of medicine. My education could allow me to program electronic prosthetics, design life-saving medical devices, or construct an information system that could better track and predict patients symptoms and reactions. When considering genetics, technology has released a whole new frontier of possibilities. Computer programs designed for genetic sequencing have the potential to map, analyze, and compare genomic sequences, searching for abnormalities that contribute to diseases. The potential in this area is especially amazing to me. Infants could be screened for hundreds, thousands, of genetic markers, allowing for earlier treatment of and maybe even the prevention of illnesses. Families could be warned of predispositions to diseases and individuals could be recommended lifestyles that perfectly compliment their genetic composition. Entering such a field would likely require a master’s degree or Phd in bioinformatics or a related field. However, this additional schooling would enable me to explore the very essence of each person, and provide them with a drastically enhanced future. Finally, as a woman entering a STEM field, I hope to be a role model and an example. Growing up, I was constantly reminded of how difficult it was for women to succeed in the fields of math and science. I did not have anyone in my personal life that I could see as a role model in this respect, or someone to answer my questions. As I entered high school, I opted into an AP Computer Science course, and my teacher was a tremendous support. She ensured each person in her classroom was valued and encouraged. Her walls were plastered with posters of influential men and women in equal numbers and she highlighted the accomplishments of the female computer scientists that may be overlooked. Like her, I hope to be a mentor for girls interested in STEM fields, encouraging them, providing support, and easing any concerns. Ultimately, my skills in computer science will allow me to improve the lives of those around me. From building life-saving software to encouraging the women I encounter, I hope to leave a lasting impact in my wake. Each person has the potential to change the world, and I believe my potential can be found in technology.