Biography

I am from Sharon, Massachusetts, a small town near Boston. I live with my mom, dad, and sixteen-year-old sister. I have always been interested in science. When I was five, and my parents were renovating our house, I picked outer space as the decorating scheme for my room. I chose a rug depicting all the planets in our solar system, including Pluto, and a border for the walls with rockets, stars, and planets, and I even had glow in the dark space sheets on my bed. I have redone my room since then, but I still have the border on the walls. I also had a place-mat at the kitchen table that had pictures of planets and their moons. I would sit at dinner and read the information about the planets and how many moons each one had. I also found it particularly interesting that some planets have rings and some do not. I always wanted to know why.

I like to ask questions about why certain things happen the way they do. This led me to be interested in science, especially in physics and astronomy. I want to know how the universe works, and discover why we are here and what the purpose of humanity is. The universe is so vast and we know so little about it. The unknown fascinates me because there is so much potential for exploring.

I am also interested in science because my grandfather is a mechanical engineer at the MIT Lincoln Laboratory. Even though he retired at the age of 65, the lab asks him to come back every year to consult on a variety of projects. Even though I do not want to become an engineer, hearing about his work has always made me interested in scientific topics, especially optics because of his work with lasers. He has inspired me to read about lasers, optics, and other physics and space related topics.

Besides science, I am also passionate about karate and Model United Nations. I have been doing a style of karate called Uechi Ryu since I was four and half years old. I am currently a third degree black belt. Karate has always been a huge part of my life. I cannot remember a time when I was not going to the karate school ever week to practice. In high school I was involved in a club called Model United Nations. In this club, we debated global issues while representing countries. We went to conferences at colleges a few times a year to compete. I am currently a member of the Model United Nations club at Stony Brook University, and I am loving the opportunity to continue an activity I started in high school.

I am currently a freshman at Stony Brook University majoring in physics and possibly astronomy. I am also in the WISE (Women in Science and Engineering) program. My interest in scientific research is why I applied to both Stony Brook and WISE. Stony Brook is a top research university and the WISE program promotes research and helps students to find labs to work in. My acceptance into WISE is why I chose to come to Stony Brook, and I am looking forward to being able to do research for the rest of my undergraduate career. I am also excited about the opportunity to study optics in the Laser Teaching Center. I want to continue to do research and eventually earn my PhD, so that I can become a full time researcher and delve deep into the unknown.