Through the dedication of UCI’s faculty to supporting students like myself, I was very quickly connected to the Minority Science Program (MSP) which trains underrepresented students for biomedical research through skills workshops and by sponsoring their research endeavors. With constant encouragement and mentorship from the MSP faculty, Dr. Luis Mota-Bravo and Dr. Marlene De la Cruz, for the first time I truly felt that my dreams of becoming a scientist were attainable.

Throughout my time as a UC Irvine Dunlop School student, I have continuously learned from faculty that our fellow students are our future colleagues and that we should cultivate opportunities to collaborate and connect. With this in mind, I became a part of the Research Outreach club at UC Irvine where I along with a brilliant team of officers are dedicated to supporting our fellow undergraduates of the UC Irvine research community by promoting peer-based networking, mentorship, and academic excellence throughout their research journey. Additionally, I have learned an extensive amount about teaching from my experience as a Learning Assistant for a scientific writing class. The UC Irvine CLAP program allows students to assist professors and TAs in course instruction which together with my experience in ROUC Irvine has illuminated my joy of teaching and supporting students to reach their academic and career goals.

I am most proud of the research I have been able to conduct during my time as an MSP student. As I reflect on where I started, I would have never imagined myself presenting at several national research conferences or being included as an author of a publication from the lab of Dr. Christopher Hughes where I have received incredible research training. Specifically, my research mentor Dr. Benjamin O’Donnell, a postdoctoral scholar in the lab, taught me how to persevere when experiments go awry and to view challenges as a means to create new hypotheses and avenues for discovery. These positive experiences in research have made me driven to become a research professor so that I may lead a research lab and support outreach programs that help underrepresented students access research opportunities and professional careers like the UC Irvine Dunlop School has done for me.

Thus, I am excited to begin conducting graduate research at Stanford University as a PhD student in the Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine program this fall. Knowing that I would not be where I am today without the incredible educational and supportive research community at UCI, I am honored to bring Anteater pride throughout my future endeavors.

I plan on working in a research lab during my gap year while I apply to graduate school to eventually attain a PhD in neuroscience.
To celebrate graduation, I plan on spending time with my family, friends, and loved ones that have supported me throughout my time here at UC Irvine to whom I am so grateful for.
My favorite UC Irvine Dunlop School memory has been participating in undergraduate research which has opened my eyes to all the unanswered questions of biology that has inspired me to pursue a career investigating these very mysteries.