I was born in WenZhou, a small town of the ZheJiang province in China. I was interested in science since elementary school in China. My science teacher showed us a very interesting experiment. She used a magnifying glass and demonstrated to us how to use sunlight to ignite and light up a piece of paper. I was amazed at how this worked and decided to become a scientist when I grow up. I attended John Bowne High School in Flushing, Queens. That is the only high school in New York City that has farm! During this time, I took both Biology and Chemistry and did very well in both subjects. While I was in my senior year, my school recommended me to a summer program at the Southampton campus of Long Island University. There, I received a Certificate of Excellence for Marine Science research for the year 2000. Through this project, I learned about the value of the lifecycle and the vast resources of the ocean. I love science and enjoy analyzing anything related to biology. Also, I have a very strong math background as well. I am currently studying biology and would like to pursue my career path in this subject matter in the future as well. - Yixi (Artosho) Chen