Extraterrestrial Science Personal Statement

I like to imagine science as a way to blur the boundaries between science fiction and reality. As I continue my coursework, I realized that the fantastical extraterrestrial creatures I read about as a child pale in comparison to the bizarre life we see on our own planet. Today, I still carry the child-like wonder with me as learn about the extremes life can brave and seek to answer how it all ultimately began.

Although I knew I was incredibly passionate about science throughout high school, I was encouraged to pursue the more practical major chemical engineering. After my first week at UC Berkeley, financial and personal issues at home prevented me from focusing on my studies. These financial difficulties further reinforced my perceived necessity for pursuing a stable and well compensated field. As the semester continued, I grew afraid for my mother and sister’s safety because my father’s violent outbursts had gotten worse in my absence. During my freshman spring, after learning that my father had temporarily moved to Japan, I took responsibility to go back home and provide for my remaining family. I worked my way through El Camino College (ECC) and worked as a manager at BriteMinds Learning Center before launching my own private tutoring

To this end, I interned at JPL in the summer of 2015, where I worked with Dr. Williford and Dr. Bhartia to locate kerogen in 3.5 billion year old carbonate/pyrite samples from Western Australia in order to push back even farther in time the appearance life on Earth. To analyze the thin sections, I took initiative and created a workflow between instruments by creating a coordinate system to accurately translate points from one instrument to another. This workflow has served as a valuable test run for possible future workflows if a Mars sample return mission will