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Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or idea. What prompted you to act? Would you make the same decision again?
When I first got my driver's license, my parents and little sister all swore that I spent more time lost and driving in circles than any person who had ever driven a car. Yet, I assured them that I wasn't lost. And that, I might be wasting some time in the short term, but someday, my interest in looking for an alternate route would pay off. This is the same approach when researching this past year also led me in a bit of a circle at first, but proved-I believe-to have changed the direction of my life.
My parents tend to disagree with my view of opportunity and exploring options. It is not that they are closed-minded or bent on me pursuing a path not of my choosing. Rather, they have simply lived decidedly different lives than the one I have and necessarily will live. And, for that, I am both as appreciative as a child can be and amazed in a way that I am not sure I can explain.
My parents are superheroes to me: a dynamic duo who together transformed our simple home into my "base-of-operations," the launch pad for my meteoric aspirations. In tenth grade, Mom pulled an allnighter with me turning a clock into a car, then crawled off to her nursing shift. In eleventh grade, Dad tirelessly drove me to whatever lab would take me, stealing his only sleep on his hour bus ride to work the next day.
My parents did this; they built me together, acting as the personification of unity, imbued with happiness, humility and appreciation. Two people could not have chosen better partners. The funny thing is: my parents didn't choose. Their marriage was arranged. When asked about their marriage, both say, almost matter of factly, "You can't know what will happen, but you can find joy and satisfaction in almost anything that does happen. We find that joy every day." My aspiration was, and continues to be, to find the same joy and satisfaction every, single day, which I have found through exploration and research.
In 2007, UCSF's Dr. Merzenich presented a study to the National Academy of Science that strongly linked rising rates of autism to the transferal of environmental toxins from older mothers to their children through breastfeeding. Yet, the study was not distributed widely. Research did not advance beyond non-human subjects. As Merzenich explained, the medical and cultural implications of the study made its furtherance, at best, "presumptuous." The work I did related to early autism detection met similar cultural pressures, applied by certain sectors of the electorate who feared potential prenatal family choices.
I was stunned. In my eyes, children and families were suffering, some prevention or mitigation was possible, but nothing could be done because the issues were "complicated." I may have actually felt lost...Then, I thought of the fortunate place from which I come, and I realized that the answer was obvious. I had a responsibility, presumptuous as it may be, to respect something more than myself.
I, and all those aspiring to pursue research, have been given the gift, the responsibility, and the awesome power of choice. With that gift came the responsibility to do more, to set higher goals, to work to cure, prevent, innovate, and change the way 8 billion people live, which led to my research to do just that: discover the underlying causes and innovate a potential solution. For, to me, that is a life filled every day with joy; that is a life that could not be more satisfying; that is a life honoring what I have been given...more than anyone could possibly deserve and one I would definitely repeat.
Yet, countless others of such issues exist in the world, just waiting to be explored. A willingness to be at a loss, but a refusal to remain lost as a result of shortsightedness: this is the trait that has come, and will continue, to define me and all my endeavors.
Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or idea. What prompted you to act? Would you make the same decision again?
When I first got my driver's license, my parents and little sister all swore that I spent more time lost and driving in circles than any person who had ever driven a car. Yet, I assured them that I wasn't lost. And that, I might be wasting some time in the short term, but someday, my interest in looking for an alternate route would pay off. This is the same approach when researching this past year also led me in a bit of a circle at first, but proved-I believe-to have changed the direction of my life.
My parents tend to disagree with my view of opportunity and exploring options. It is not that they are closed-minded or bent on me pursuing a path not of my choosing. Rather, they have simply lived decidedly different lives than the one I have and necessarily will live. And, for that, I am both as appreciative as a child can be and amazed in a way that I am not sure I can explain.
My parents are superheroes to me: a dynamic duo who together transformed our simple home into my "base-of-operations," the launch pad for my meteoric aspirations. In tenth grade, Mom pulled an allnighter with me turning a clock into a car, then crawled off to her nursing shift. In eleventh grade, Dad tirelessly drove me to whatever lab would take me, stealing his only sleep on his hour bus ride to work the next day.
My parents did this; they built me together, acting as the personification of unity, imbued with happiness, humility and appreciation. Two people could not have chosen better partners. The funny thing is: my parents didn't choose. Their marriage was arranged. When asked about their marriage, both say, almost matter of factly, "You can't know what will happen, but you can find joy and satisfaction in almost anything that does happen. We find that joy every day." My aspiration was, and continues to be, to find the same joy and satisfaction every, single day, which I have found through exploration and research.
In 2007, UCSF's Dr. Merzenich presented a study to the National Academy of Science that strongly linked rising rates of autism to the transferal of environmental toxins from older mothers to their children through breastfeeding. Yet, the study was not distributed widely. Research did not advance beyond non-human subjects. As Merzenich explained, the medical and cultural implications of the study made its furtherance, at best, "presumptuous." The work I did related to early autism detection met similar cultural pressures, applied by certain sectors of the electorate who feared potential prenatal family choices.
I was stunned. In my eyes, children and families were suffering, some prevention or mitigation was possible, but nothing could be done because the issues were "complicated." I may have actually felt lost...Then, I thought of the fortunate place from which I come, and I realized that the answer was obvious. I had a responsibility, presumptuous as it may be, to respect something more than myself.
I, and all those aspiring to pursue research, have been given the gift, the responsibility, and the awesome power of choice. With that gift came the responsibility to do more, to set higher goals, to work to cure, prevent, innovate, and change the way 8 billion people live, which led to my research to do just that: discover the underlying causes and innovate a potential solution. For, to me, that is a life filled every day with joy; that is a life that could not be more satisfying; that is a life honoring what I have been given...more than anyone could possibly deserve and one I would definitely repeat.
Yet, countless others of such issues exist in the world, just waiting to be explored. A willingness to be at a loss, but a refusal to remain lost as a result of shortsightedness: this is the trait that has come, and will continue, to define me and all my endeavors.
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