5 years ago, I didn’t believe I was good enough to pursue a stem major at all. Now, I’m an aspiring synthetic biologist hoping to do research on growing sustainable textiles fibers. After a long uphill battle and some kindness from a mentor I realized that I was capable of making a difference. For years, I had been skating by on test scores and not needing to study despite forgetting where anything was, forgetting to do homework, and always having some odd social mannerisms. I did very well academically, so the fact that I didn’t turn in homework or remember things despite how much I enjoyed learning and loved school wasn’t addressed for years. was either completely ignored at best or ridiculed by my teachers in front of my classmates. I became extremely aware of how I fell behind my peers in terms of performing basic tasks, social cues and getting things done. By the time I got to high school, I felt like a failure who was struggling to do basic tasks while my peers could do everything I couldn’t do while being so much smarter and talented. I had loved animals, the environment and science from before I was even in preschool, but I gave up on the idea of going of pursuing STEM very early on. I felt like it was unrealistic for someone like me to even try. Eventually things did get better. I was, unsurprisingly, diagnosed with autism and ADHD. My parents helped advocate for me and encouraged me to start doing better and believe in myself as an intelligent and capable person. Throughout my high school years, I gained more confidence in myself and my abilities. I became more willing to advocate for myself and ask questions. Eventually I found myself curious about growing sustainable textile fibers after an interest in crochet snowballed into a research rabbit hole. Realizing how unsustainable the fashion industry was, I started contacting researchers in synthetic biology for a project on growing sustainable textile fibers. At one point, I interviewed a synthetic biologist who said “I really hope you pursue academic research, you could easily write a PhD thesis on this topic someday” and it was like having a fog cleared out of my mind. That conversation was the first time the thought of pursuing a graduate degree crossed my mind. That was the moment I realized I could work hard to make clothing sustainable and more accessible. I believed I could make a difference in science after loving it for so long. Sometimes the path to success feels impossible to reach. Understanding how important it is to advocate for and believing in myself has led to me doing better. It's also why I think representation is so important. There are many ways to say “you can do more, and I really hope you do” without saying it out loud. Seeing someone like you do something incredible, by seeing people going through the same struggles overcome, and showing them that they have the opportunity to excel. Science is a collaborative effort that everyone can contribute to, even random curious high schoolers. That can help ignite the passion someone has for STEM or anything and foster it into a steady flame. I will always try to nurture that. I try to always encourage people to try even when they can't see the path to success, and to speak about their struggles with race, identity or disability. To tell more people "Someone who wants you to excel, and that people like you can do it."

I like to say the way I discovered I wanted to study sustainable biomaterials is similar to the book "If you give a mouse a cookie". First my sister gave me a crochet kit just before my junior year of high school. I decided I needed more yarn to practice. Then I decided I needed a yarn collection. After that I realized that most yarns that I could afford were not sustainable. Since natural fibers like cotton use massive amounts of insecticides and pesticides, and fabrics like polyester are made of plastic which don’t degrade naturally and pollute the earth. The creation of yarn and fabric often creates massive amounts of water pollution. Not to mention how much pollution and carbon emissions are created in transportation just to make a finish product. Obviously, the next logical step was for me to make my own yarn. Since my parents wouldn’t let me raise a flock of sheep in the backyard, I turned to science to make my yarn. Which led me to the field of synthetic biology and biomaterials. I learned about how people learned to make new biomaterials that were more sustainable, and I was captivated. I interviewed random synthetic biologists through LinkedIn and asked for advice on how to start an independent research project. I chose to do an independent project on bacterial cellulose as a sustainable biomaterial. My passion for crochet suddenly became my motivation to pursue academic research and help make progress towards a more sustainable world. There are a lot of goals I plan to achieve in my work on sustainable materials and textiles. Of course, being able to have an unlimited supply of yarn is something I would particularly enjoy but there's a lot more to it than that. Sustainability is something I've already mentioned so I won't explain that again. However, the use of unethical labor particularly in the fashion industry is truly awful. There are child labor issues, exposures to dangerous chemicals, unsafe conditions and low wages. The quality of clothing in terms of durability also is severely lacking leading to clothes being turned into waste faster than they should. I think that sometimes people forget that clothing is still a necessity. Sure, nobody has to buy the newest fashion trends but clothes but there are a lot of people who don't have long-lasting durable clothing. I am deeply passionate about my work in biomaterials and sustainable textiles. I truly hope to someday make a meaningful impact on the creation on the creation of sustainable durable clothing for everyone.

If I could speak to my 14-year-old self, the first thing I would talk about is accountability. Understanding accountability was probably one of the hardest lessons I’ve learned. I am currently a student at the University of South Florida majoring in biochemistry, I aim to work in sustainable textiles research, and I like art, animals, and crochet. I’ve made a point to hold myself accountable for many of my shortcomings. I work on keeping track of dates and times. I try to prepare for events earlier and be more punctual in my day-to-day life. I am constantly looking for ways to improve my schoolwork and try to avoid rushing assignments. I make sure to set tangible or concrete goals in all of these areas to demonstrate how I’m improving over time and take note of how often I achieve these goals. In my experience, the most important aspect of accountability is reflecting on yourself and making an effort to be a better, more mature, and responsible person. I try to hold myself to a higher standard, regardless, of if I’m doing well in achieving my goals or not. I didn’t always follow this principle though. When I was 14, in my freshman year of high school I was diagnosed with autism and ADHD. Before high school, I was considered a “good student” because I did well on tests, but I rarely did my homework or got anything done at home. Even for subjects and activities I enjoyed. I always thought that in comparison to my peers, I was disorganized, unproductive, and less accomplished. My perception of myself only got worse in high school because I was accepted into the IB program. Which meant I was expected to be more self-sufficient and take higher-level coursework. I saw myself struggling while my peers were doing well. I didn’t believe I deserved to be in the program I was in and didn’t think I was capable of succeeding. My grades got worse, I was almost failing classes, and I felt like there was nothing I could do. I managed to pull myself together at the end of the year and managed to bring some of my grades up. I finished the year with a 2.9 GPA. Which under normal circumstances was bad enough for me to be removed from the program. However, my school allowed me to stay in the program as long as I improved. I realized how lucky I was to be in that position and started holding myself accountable. I couldn’t undo the grades I got in freshman year, but I did need to do better. I worked on my grades over the years and slowly improved from mostly Bs to mostly As. I retook classes. I took extra college classes in the summer and during the school year to help improve my GPA. It wasn’t just my grades that improved either. I worked on my own projects. I published an animal fact and coloring book, did a research project in sustainable textiles which earned me a scholarship, and graduated with a 4.0 GPA. Accountability means trying to better yourself no matter what and without it I wouldn’t have become the person I am today. I know that if I ever stop holding myself accountable that means also giving up on myself, and my ambitions.

I would describe my interest in sustainable textile fibers as an "if you give a mouse a cookie" situation. My sister gave me a crochet kit as a gift before my junior year of high school. Then I decided I needed more yarn to practice. Then I decided I needed a yarn collection. After that, I realized that most yarns I could afford were unsustainable, so I wanted to learn how to make yarn. Which eventually led to me working towards a career in making sustainable textiles. The issues I found with my yarn are universal in nearly all parts of the textile and fashion industry. The most common synthetic fibers like polyester and acrylic are made from petroleum-based plastics and are damaging to the environment during production and as non-biodegradable waste. Cotton despite being natural is still not a great sustainable alternative (cotton production uses 25% of all insecticides and 11% of all pesticides used globally while requiring 29 tons of water per kilogram of cotton.) Many other natural fibers have similar issues or are simply more expensive. Not to mention the carbon emissions from transport during processing, manufacturing, and to the store are an issue for any fiber that isn’t sourced locally. Many textiles and clothing items go through multiple countries just to make it to the consumer. With those issues in mind, the journey to make yarn began. My main goal was to find a cost-effective natural textile fiber that could be produced close to the consumer (which was just me at the time) using fewer resources. Currently, my focus is on bacterial cellulose as a possible solution. Cellulose is a core component in most natural plant fibers and bacterial cellulose aligns with my goals. Companies such as Nullabor and Modern Synthesis already create textile products from bacterial cellulose. However, bacterial cellulose is still a relatively new material, and processing bacterial cellulose into yarn without expensive machinery or possibly harmful chemicals wasn’t on the table. Which led me to focus on sustainable textile fibers as a career path. There is a lot of room for improvement for sustainable and versatile solutions involving bacterial cellulose. Eventually, I would also like to branch out into designing other textile materials and maybe even single-use plastics through scientific research. From crochet to a career, I aspire to make the planet a better place long term. I hope to dedicate myself to the creation of thoughtfully designed materials that are sustainable in every way.

I started crocheting in my junior year of high school. By the summer of junior year, I was interviewing scientists and planning for the next 10 years of my life. Now, I’m applying for this scholarship because of a mild crochet obsession that made me want to become a synthetic biologist and researcher. Pop Quiz! What issues are present in the fashion industry? If you said 10% of manmade carbon emissions, excessive water usage, environmental pollution, microplastics from synthetic fibers, inhumane labor practices, and the cost of quality clothing, you would be correct! I learned more about this as I was learning to crochet. So, as a teenager with way too much confidence in my crafting skills, I decided to make my own yarn. Of course, I couldn’t just get a flock of sheep or start a farm. So I turned to science to find a new innovative solution to make myself an infinite yarn supply. This search turned out to be incredibly interesting. I learned that synthetic biologists, people who study and edit organisms to create various products, have been creating new sustainable fibers with tons of pros, cons, and unique features. I wanted a material that would be sustainable, durable, and easy to modify with different properties. Eventually, I turned my attention to bacterial cellulose. Cellulose is the major component in natural plant fibers like cotton and flax. I’m sure you can guess, but bacterial cellulose is produced by bacteria and takes significantly less water, space, and money to grow. Various groups have started investigating the use of bacterial cellulose as a textile. However, there were still problems. Making bacterial cellulose into fiber usually requires dissolving the biofilm and then regenerating it using some kind of expensive machinery, with only a few recent studies focusing on other methods. There’s so much research to do on different feedstocks, the properties of the material, different ways to modify it, and the bacteria that creates it. In the summer of my junior year, I began interviewing synthetic biologists and started formulating research projects to use vegetable oil as a low-cost feedstock and explore new methods of making bacterial cellulose yarns. My hope is to someday create a sustainable, accessible, and durable fiber alternative through research. I’ve had to accept that making any meaningful impact will be laborious, time-consuming, and expensive. My parents are both immigrants and never really viewed college or leaving to go to college as a necessity. At most they encouraged me and my siblings to stay home and attend community college then transfer. This means that my choice to do this hasn’t been easy for me or my parents. That means that I'll need a lot of support and planning to fulfill my educational goals. I plan to become a substitute teacher to support myself financially and help kids interested in STEM or pursuing higher education. I'm sure you can tell, but I’m also applying for scholarships. Any help will be deeply appreciated and will be a stepping stone toward supporting my education and my research.

Just rest for a moment, a lot of times the days before school become stressful as we worry about starting a new year and trying to be the best we can be. Sometimes we buy things we don't really need, do things we didn't need to do and stress about things we don't need to worry about. The first day of school is almost never as scary or as hard as you think. Just relax and don't worry too much so you can be ready to figure out how to move forward and prepare for the rest of the year.