Paying it forward. I know that I grew up privileged. I am safe, have a home, and received a good education. I know how special that is. However, one of the most impactful things that helped me grow included volunteering as an online tutor for a young kiddo who needed extra help with schoolwork. I was able to see the impact I was making directly. In an unprecedented academic period during the COVID-19 lockdown, I provided this 3rd grader with lessons that genuinely improved his performance and viewpoint academically. By giving him the extra time, he needed, I saw how smart of a kid he was. Tutoring helped me discover that I could make an impact. My goal is to continue to pay it forward, as I plan on tutoring at college to help other students succeed. Paying it forward also connects strongly to my career goal. The education I was fortunate to receive enabled me to study in the field I'm passionate about. If I were to achieve something extraordinary, I would want to discover a non-invasive, pre-mortem way to detect prions on a molecular level. Prions, put simply, are infectious proteins that cause other proteins to misfold. They have always fascinated me because of their ability to remain a mystery in the scientific world. In addition, their primary function, protein misfolding, is linked with many neurodegenerative diseases. By gaining a better understanding of how prions work, we could unlock the key to discovering treatments for certain neurodegenerative disorders that involve prions or protein misfolding. I chose to discover how to detect prions because it is an essential step in understanding prion and protein misfolding diseases. Currently, our only way to definitively confirm the diagnosis of diseases such as Creutzfeldt-Jakob, Alzheimer, Dementia, and more is through autopsy. If we cannot properly detect a condition when someone is alive, how can we begin to develop a cure? Personally, I, and many others I know, have had loved ones affected by certain neurodegenerative diseases. I find a particular evil among these diseases. The heartbreaking ability these elusive predators must rip away essential pieces of a person’s mind baffles me. It hurts to know that we can’t conclusively stop, prevent, detect, or understand something that has the terrifying capability to strip someone of their being. I want to serve my community by contributing to important research that directly helps patients and families. When I think of important discoveries, I prefer to look at the findings that act as stepping stones. Each great discovery is the product of thousands of small discoveries. If I could find a way to detect these invisible infections, maybe I could be the next step in a series of solutions to an issue our modern world has yet to understand. Perhaps by detecting prions, one could find a way to destroy them that doesn’t include setting them on fire until they denature. Perhaps one day, we could find a way to create a prion therapy that corrects the misfolded proteins in the brains of those with neurodegenerative diseases. As long as what I do contributes to the bigger picture, I know I can make a difference and serve my community.