When I was eight years old, my biggest fears revolved around my house’s front door. I triple-checked the locks before going to sleep, and I woke up in the middle of the night to check once again. Every little noise, from people walking or talking on the street to my cat waking up to eat, would get in the way of my slumber and set alarm bells ringing in my head. I came home tired but cheerful after a school field trip, the highlight of most third-graders’ semesters. The rest of the day followed as usual, and my family and I went to sleep early. In the middle of that same night, I woke up to strange, armed men carrying away my bedroom’s TV, computer, and other electronics and valuables from my house, and screaming at me to stay silent and remain still. It was a deeply frightening experience. Nevertheless, we were incredibly lucky, as we came out of it completely unharmed, and the only losses were material, but as a result of this incident and the anxiety it caused me, I slowly began to realize how incredibly important public safety and justice are in our society. Later on, during my junior year of high school, I started volunteering with my classmates at elementary schools in low-income areas by giving after-school workshops for students on science, language, and arts, in order to both be able to help other people, and gain insight and connect with a part of my community that I did not know that well at the time. As I chatted with the students during these lessons, I was shocked and appalled to realize how violence seemed to be normalized for them from a very early age too, as they started telling me about all sorts of crimes that they have heard about in the news or from people talking in their neighborhoods, or ones that they had even witnessed themselves. While I was saddened and concerned, this experience made me reflect on what I could do to help those around me. The same year, I realized that I also had a great interest in science, especially when it comes to investigation, statistics, writing, and lab work, as I was provided with the opportunity to conduct my own research project on a species of microcrustacean and its diet and reproduction. Because of this, I was thrilled when I discovered that there was a career path where I could devote myself to these two passions of mine at the same time and decided to start my journey to become a forensic science technician. In the future, I would like to work at a crime lab, hopefully having achieved a leadership position, and continue my professional development by keeping myself up-to-date and well-informed about new techniques and discoveries. I am confident that by being resilient and continuing with my education I can forge a better future not only for myself but also for those around me, as I will be able to work in something that involves two of the things I’m most passionate about, allowing me to feel both personally and professionally fulfilled, while giving back to my community by performing a job that will contribute to their safety and tranquility on their daily lives, putting my grain of sand towards building a space in which other people, and especially children can live with ease of mind and without constantly worrying about crime and danger as I did, and instead focus on following their dreams and reaching their full potential and success.

“They just vanished! No corpse, nothing.” I told my friend on the phone as I stared into the greenish water. By this point, I had spent a few weeks observing Daphnia Magna cultures and feeding them with different plant-based juices to evaluate the best alternative to increase reproduction rates. “Well, they can’t just disappear out of nowhere,” she said. – This was one of the many difficulties that arose during my senior year of high school when I was presented with the opportunity of conducting my own research project, and even though at the moment it felt jarring and frustrating, it allowed me to acquire meaningful experiences and knowledge. By the end of 2019, I had already finished coordinating and making the necessary arrangements with my school’s laboratory to access the materials that I needed and start experimenting in March. However, as the COVID-19 pandemic arrived in my country, cases started going up, and schools switched to online classes, I was advised to postpone my plans or switch my focus to a literature review. I felt discouraged, as this was something I was looking forward to and was enthusiastic about. Finally, I decided on a third option. Just as quarantine was announced, I took home what I had already advanced of my theoretical framework, isolated an entire room at my house, and dedicated the next few weeks to getting my hands on all of the equipment and materials that I would need to buy or borrow. After this, I was ready to begin with the experimental phase of my research, more motivated than ever after managing that initial setback. I started examining a couple of what I had initially thought were Daphnia Pulex under the microscope, when I quickly realized, after comparing it with the taxonomic key, that the seller had mistakenly sold me Daphnia Magnas instead. I started to panic, but I tried to remain calm and started investigating the differences between the two, as well as the reproduction and diet of the Daphnia Magna, and after a few days I managed to reformulate my hypothesis and adjust my theoretic framework to this species. I was ready to start. “I know they can’t disappear, but there’s nothing in here,” I remarked a couple of weeks later. I had been counting the number of organisms in one of the cultures to register the population increase, but there was no sign that they had ever even been there. I Checked all of the other cultures and realized they had the same issue. Once again, I became desperate and even considered giving up and stopping the project, but I decided against it and reminded myself of the importance of perseverance. Luckily, after discussing it thoroughly with my advisor and some of his colleagues and researching more on the ideal living conditions for the species, we managed to track the root of this problem to some traces of chlorine in the water, an issue I was able to rapidly resolve by dechlorinating the water before its use and restarting the experimental phase. As one can see, my path was definitely a bumpy road, but I learned I great deal from the experience to the point where I can consider it my biggest achievement so far. I was able to develop my creativity, patience, and skills in statistics, scientific writing, use of lab equipment, and organization, but most importantly, I learned that if I keep trying and persevering despite my mistakes or the obstacles that might be in my way, I can achieve any goals I make for myself. Furthermore, I ended up receiving a special recognition from my school for this project and was able to explore my interest in science more in-depth, which combined with my passion for justice and safety led me to the choice of majoring in criminal justice with a criminalistics specialization. In regards to this, am confident that by being resilient and perseverant once again and continuing with my education I can forge a better future not only for myself but also for those around me, as I will be able to work in a field that incorporates two of my biggest passions, allowing me to feel both personally as well as professionally fulfilled while giving back to my community by performing a job that will contribute to their safety and ease of mind on their daily lives.

From losing my mind over Shake It Off at a school dance, to screaming the lyrics of Blank Space and Wonderland at karaoke and listening to You Are In Love after my crush smiled at me during class, Taylor Swift’s 1989 is intrinsically tied to some of my best memories from middle school. However, its opening track never managed to catch my attention back in the day. I’ve never been to New York, nor do I have any specific connection or emotional ties with the city, so the song just came across as unrelatable and, frankly, a little bit corny to 13-year-old me. However, after recently re-listening to the whole album, Welcome To New York started to grow on me, and quickly climbed the ranks until it became my favorite song from 1989. Despite initially brushing it off as an extremely specific experience from Taylor’s life, far removed from my own, as moving to New York City to become a pop star has never been among my plans, I’ve come to realize that the song it’s about much more than just that. Welcome To New York is about new beginnings and fresh starts, leaving things behind to be able to follow your dreams, learning to love the new place that you’re in despite its faults (whether that’s a physical place or a situation you are living), and above it all remaining hopeful that you’ll achieve your goals and that they’ve been waiting for you. Despite how different my experiences might be from Taylor Swift’s; this is a message that I can definitely relate to now. As an international student, I know that parting with everyone you love and the place that you have grown up in and always known is not easy. During my first semester of college, I faced several challenges from culture shock to homesickness, I struggled to make new friends and found it hard to adapt to the academic system of the US. Nonetheless, with effort and resilience, I managed to overcome these obstacles. I looked into books, articles, and even YouTube vlogs to try to understand not only how things worked here, but also the social and cultural reasons why they are that way. I stopped waiting for people to approach me and started reaching out, even when it felt awkward at first, getting to know wonderful people from the US who helped me adapt to this new environment, as well as fellow international students who empathized with me and understood the hardships I was facing, and I talked to my professors and started asking more questions and getting involved in my classes, even when I didn’t completely understand everything at first. Even though I had a rocky start, I managed to turn the situation around and find success. Whenever I’m feeling discouraged or unmotivated, I know I can find comfort in listening to Welcome To New York, to help me remember to continue persevering and following my dreams, because, despite any difficulties that might present, I know I wouldn’t change anything, anything, anything.