The opportunity to conduct research at Stanford University would prove to be a unique and invaluable experience, not only regarding the work that can be conducted with state-of-the-art devices, but also help me shape networks that can become invaluable for future career obstacles, difficulties, and invaluable mentorship that can help me in my future career goals. I believe that by being able to participate in this research experience, I will be able to not only expand my knowledge and experience on biosciences research, but also be able to develop new relationships with individuals that can help me explore new opportunities in the field of biosciences. These networks may help me from providing helpful advice on future career choices to helping …show more content…
Throughout my academic career, especially during my undergraduate studies as a member of the NIH’s research-focused BUILDing SCHOLARS program, I have had the unique opportunity to closely interact with a wide variety of professors and researchers spanning various fields of study. From studying diseases, to protein structures, to organic synthesis, I have had a fair amount of exposure to a variety of fields of study, and this is further extended by my experience in my academic career, where I have studied topics and research from physical chemistry to biochemistry. Particularly, my experience in both Physical Chemistry II and Structure of Matter helped shape my interest in the chemical aspects that affect our everyday lives, whereas my experience in my previous summer internship and my current research lab helped shape my interest in the importance of proteins, their structure, and their fundamental function in our bodies. Although I enjoyed all of these individual experiences, I was unable to choose one in particular as a focus of study. This was until I attended a seminar at my university conducted by a Dr. Yukl from the New Mexico State University. There, he presented his studies on bacteria’s metal metabolism and structures of proteins related to these processes. It was from this presentation that I found an intersection between two fields that I was particularly interested in. Although I found this particular intersection intriguing, I am still interested in exploring my possible choices for specific research topics. I believe that now as an undergraduate, it is an ideal time to explore new and different experiences in research in order to help shape specific topics of research that may be further explored in future research