Rosalind Franklin is my favorite scientist. It was from her Photo 51 that allowed us to know the structure of DNA. As a female scientist, she faced lots of sexism in the community, but that did not prevent her from being a great contributor to the world of science. I believe that she surely deserved a Nobel Prize for her work, but she, unfortunately, died from radiation exposure before receiving the chance to win the award.

In high school, it’s natural to have a “group”: friends that you often spend time with. I had a so-called group in elementary and middle school, but high school was another story. You see, it was as if I was placed in a group without a choice. I’ll explain this. I moved during the summer of my freshman year, so I experienced my sophomore year at a new school. Due to having mutual friends, I fit in pretty well. Within my first week of being there, I already had a group. Normally this is ideal, as there is a stigma against high schoolers that aren’t part of a group; they’re seen as loners. Though, I realized that the only reason why I had that group was because of my background. Automatically being part of a group of girls with a similar background to mine just didn’t sit right with me. It almost felt like I was assigned to be their friend and restrict myself to them. Of course, it wasn’t like I couldn’t speak to other people at all; it was more so not being comfortable talking to classmates because I felt the social pressure that I needed to stick to my group and other people had their group. Sadly, I gave in to that pressure. I primarily ate lunch with, spent time out of school with, and texted the girls that were in my group. I started to notice a few things over the two years that I was in this group. When we hung out, I felt like an outcast- everyone in the group knew each other before me, so I wasn’t as close as they were. When talking with them, I didn’t like what I heard- often it would be gossip. When texting them, it didn’t feel like I mattered- I discovered that they made a group chat without me. I was essentially alienated, yet I was considered as part of the group because that’s the way others had seen me. In the spring of my junior year, I decided that I had enough. I didn’t want to be friends with these girls. I didn’t want to be associated with people that make cruel jokes and demean others. I didn’t want to be in a clique. I’ll admit, breaking away from my “group” was hard. I didn’t want to be seen negatively by not wanting to be part of a group. It took me some time, but I realized that catering to what others think doesn’t even matter. I’m my own person, and I ultimately am capable of making the best decisions for myself. I didn’t want to be a people-pleaser, I wanted to be comfortable with who I am. Thus, I distanced myself from them. Sacrificing my happiness just to satisfy others wasn’t worth it, and I never want to sacrifice that again. Some may view me as a loner, but I’m happy; above all else, I think that’s what’s most important.

I am passionate about STEM because I have grown up interested in it. From doing annual required STEM projects in elementary school to engaging well with my STEM courses in high school, I have known for the longest time that I want a career in STEM. Specifically, the sciences have always fascinated me because understanding how our natural world works gave me a sense of enlightenment; it was kind of like "that's why X happens! it's because of Y!" This fascination has led me to want to pursue a career in pathology, a career in STEM. I believe that my studies of STEM will help prepare me for a successful career because they provided me with the knowledge of the natural world that I hope to expand in college. Additionally, my STEM studies have allowed me to decide to apply to direct medical programs because these studies have let me be certain in my decision of wanting a career in the medical field that pertains to pathology. Therefore, these studies have been significantly beneficial in planning out my life in STEM.

As a person with a mixed ethnic background, I have had my fair share of being the "token" mixed person. I grew up surrounded by nearly all Pakistani people, and that led to me knowing less about my Filipino culture. While it wasn't as if I was not in touch with the Filipino side of me at all, it was clear that my Pakistani ethnicity had a greater presence in my life. It wasn't until I visited the Phillippines in 5th grade when I really felt like I was learning about myself. After spending a month in the island country, I wanted to celebrate my Filipino heritage in the United States. So, I began watching Filipino-based networks, eating more Filipino food, using the few Bisaya (a language that my Filipino family members speak) words that I knew, and becoming friends with other Filipinos. From this, I started to venture out of my own culture and become interested in other people's cultures. For example, I began to learn more about Japanese and Korean culture by watching anime/k-dramas and learning from people in my life who are of those ethnicities. Soon, I no longer felt like I was "the odd one out" because my friend group was of various ethnicities, and we all celebrated our culture. To make my community more inclusive, I have hopes to educate others that are unfamiliar with cultures besides their own.