Growing up with scientist parents, I followed them around the world as they pursued their education and careers in scientific research. I was born in Shanghai, as my parents finished their post-bacs degrees, and moved to Japan at the age of two to accompany them as they obtained their PhDs. When I was seven, my family finally settled down in Seattle. These experiences growing up in the different countries and different cultures have broadened my perspective. Having gone to school in three different countries, I have seen the differences in education styles, and have learned different ideologies in learning. Having been immersed in these different countries, I have incorporated different components of each to produce my own identity. I believe that these experiences in my early childhood have really enriched my passion and interests.
At the same time, these challenges from moving were not easy. Struggling to deal with these different cultures, I learned to wade through the unspoken rules of each culture. These obstacles were not solved overnight; I slowly learned to understand, taking the advice of many helpful teachers and mentors. I had to learn how to ask for help and advocate for myself. As a child, it was also difficult for me to understand and support my parents in their research pursuits as I struggled alongside them at school. Many times as a child, I would spend countless hours in my mom’s lab as she worked. At times, my childhood impatience manifested itself as I became frustrated and bored from the hours I had to sit in the uncomfortable lab chair. Yet over time, as I learned about science and familiarized myself with the new environment, I began to develop a strong curiosity and appreciation for science. From these experiences, I obtained a better grasp of hard work and developed a curiosity for science. These feelings were enhanced throughout my primary education. In public school, I found my interest and strength in the STEM subjects. In this positive feedback of interest and success, I become involved in Science Olympiad and Math Club outside of class. At this time, I moved to a private high school, which forced me to struggle to catch up to the many other bright students. However, I was unfazed in this new environment, I was surrounded by motivated peers and teachers who provided classes beyond general scope of the curriculum. Although I struggled at first, I embraced this new opportunity to learn, compete and work together with the best. Apart from these academic pursuits, the one extracurricular activity that has defined me throughout my life has been swimming. For the last decade, competitive swimming has run parallel with school. Now as a Division III swimmer and full-time student, my experiences juggling school and sports as well as the lessons I have learned in swimming have taught me how to work hard and manage my time. Much of this work ethic and mentality translates to my everyday life. I proceed through life full of enthusiasm, even early in the morning or after hours of work. I often share these experiences with my friends as an advocate for health and fitness as I drag them to the pool, the gym or to the nearby trails. From swimming I see the importance of health and attitude and understand the importance of the balance and structure that is needed in life. Apart from swimming in college, the new environment brought forth new challenges and …show more content…
Having conducted a range of research projects at Caltech and UCSF, I have seen the beauty of trying to ask questions and find solutions in ingenious ways. At the hospital, I admire the doctor’s skills and knowledge that can immediate help their patients. Ultimately, I see a strong connection between these fields. The goal of research is to improve medicine and there are always ways to improve medicine with research. A physician scientist would be instrumental in driving relevant research and truly making a positive impact on the research and medical fields. I have often the miscommunication between these two fields and I really believe they should really work hand in hand. For me, given my experiences, I believe an MD/PhD education would truly benefit me in really understanding the motivations and goals of research and seeing these results benefit my
At the same time, these challenges from moving were not easy. Struggling to deal with these different cultures, I learned to wade through the unspoken rules of each culture. These obstacles were not solved overnight; I slowly learned to understand, taking the advice of many helpful teachers and mentors. I had to learn how to ask for help and advocate for myself. As a child, it was also difficult for me to understand and support my parents in their research pursuits as I struggled alongside them at school. Many times as a child, I would spend countless hours in my mom’s lab as she worked. At times, my childhood impatience manifested itself as I became frustrated and bored from the hours I had to sit in the uncomfortable lab chair. Yet over time, as I learned about science and familiarized myself with the new environment, I began to develop a strong curiosity and appreciation for science. From these experiences, I obtained a better grasp of hard work and developed a curiosity for science. These feelings were enhanced throughout my primary education. In public school, I found my interest and strength in the STEM subjects. In this positive feedback of interest and success, I become involved in Science Olympiad and Math Club outside of class. At this time, I moved to a private high school, which forced me to struggle to catch up to the many other bright students. However, I was unfazed in this new environment, I was surrounded by motivated peers and teachers who provided classes beyond general scope of the curriculum. Although I struggled at first, I embraced this new opportunity to learn, compete and work together with the best. Apart from these academic pursuits, the one extracurricular activity that has defined me throughout my life has been swimming. For the last decade, competitive swimming has run parallel with school. Now as a Division III swimmer and full-time student, my experiences juggling school and sports as well as the lessons I have learned in swimming have taught me how to work hard and manage my time. Much of this work ethic and mentality translates to my everyday life. I proceed through life full of enthusiasm, even early in the morning or after hours of work. I often share these experiences with my friends as an advocate for health and fitness as I drag them to the pool, the gym or to the nearby trails. From swimming I see the importance of health and attitude and understand the importance of the balance and structure that is needed in life. Apart from swimming in college, the new environment brought forth new challenges and …show more content…
Having conducted a range of research projects at Caltech and UCSF, I have seen the beauty of trying to ask questions and find solutions in ingenious ways. At the hospital, I admire the doctor’s skills and knowledge that can immediate help their patients. Ultimately, I see a strong connection between these fields. The goal of research is to improve medicine and there are always ways to improve medicine with research. A physician scientist would be instrumental in driving relevant research and truly making a positive impact on the research and medical fields. I have often the miscommunication between these two fields and I really believe they should really work hand in hand. For me, given my experiences, I believe an MD/PhD education would truly benefit me in really understanding the motivations and goals of research and seeing these results benefit my