Biology Personal Statement

Up until my freshman year of high school, when I studied biology, I’ve never found anything appealing about science. During my elementary and middle school years, I learned a bit of chemistry along with physics, biology, and earth science. Early on this school year, I realized that the problem was not the subject of science itself, but rather, the manner in which I had learned it. My science classes had rarely involved hands-on labs or written reports, and the classes were filled only with lifeless text straight from the textbook. I found it convenient to simply memorize my notes and regurgitate the information presented back onto each test; consequently, I couldn’t see how science had any application to real life, and I thought science was

It is fascinating, how bacteria and other microorganisms work inconspicuously in the environment, yet their absence would fundamentally change all life forms’ existence on earth. Some interesting labs that I conducted were about the enzymes functioning in livers and different antibiotics’ effects on bacteria. General topics of interest me are stem cells, enzymes, evolution, and genes. In environmental or earth science, I am interested in the topics of decomposers and bacteria. This earth science internship would be an incredible opportunity for me to be exposed to specific, in-depth research pertaining to the topics that I’m curious about and interested in. My interest in science is newfound, and even if these topics aren’t addressed in the research that I would do in this internship, I am keen and open to researching other topics, as well. There are many different careers available in science, and this internship would be one step in helping to determine a fitting path for

I’ve also participated in several of the monthly California Mathematics League contests. These experiences have taught me that it’s not enough to simply learn a mathematical concept because there’s rarely a simple and direct approach to solving these problems. I have to utilize a variety of the concepts that I’ve learnt and creatively make use of them in order to solve a problem, which is has direct application in real life. For example, learning to solve for “x” isn’t just to find “x” because it’s only part of a step to solving an even more complex problem. At first, I only got one or two problems correct out of six, so I practiced the problems that I got wrong and reviewed the ones that I got right. After two or three more contests, I made gradual progress and got four correct. This experience has not only taught to me think outside the box, but to also diligently persevere in order to progress, which would be useful for this